The hit was going to come, the Lakers and JJ Redick sure of it.
Sacramento had been thrown into complete chaos, the Lakers taking two straight from the Kings in their building last week — links in the chain of events that led to the Kings firing coach Mike Brown on his way to board the flight for L.A.
Beating the Kings for the fourth time this season was already going to be hard; a shakeup like a coaching change was sure to have Sacramento flying around the court like the turbo button was stuck.
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The Lakers would have to respond, meet force with force and speed with speed — and do it without LeBron James, who was home sick.
But just like they found a way on Christmas with Anthony Davis out because of an ankle injury, the Lakers did it again Saturday in a 132-122 win, spoiling former Lakers player (and rival) Doug Christie’s first game as Kings interim coach.
Austin Reaves, who hit the winning shot against the Warriors on Christmas, orchestrated the offense with James out, scoring 26 and dishing out a career-high 16 assists. Davis, back on the floor after only seven minutes on Wednesday, dominated his matchup with Domantas Sabonis scoring 36 (on only 16 shots) to go with 15 rebounds and eight assists. And Rui Hachimura needed only 11 shots to score his 21 points while giving the Lakers the kind of physicality and activity on the wing they need on both sides of the basketball.
Sabonis scored 14 points before fouling out in 26 minutes. De’Aaron Fox had 29 points and 12 assists and DeMar DeRozan finished with 25 points for the Kings (13-19).
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The Lakers (18-13) led by as many as 20 after a dominant third quarter where they outscored the Kings 42-24.
The Lakers’ 59.7% shooting from the field and their 53.8% three-point shooting were season highs.
In addition to no real concern about James and his illness, more help is incoming.
Jaxson Hayes, who has missed the last 14 games with a sprained ankle, is set to return Tuesday against first-place Cleveland.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
