The Los Angeles Lakers will be hoping to end the year on a high after starting the season 14-12 and fighting to climb out of the West Play-In Tournament. After an impressive win against the high-flying Memphis Grizzlies, the franchise will prepare for two games in three days against the Sacramento Kings this week.
Head coach JJ Redick, Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, and Rui Hachimura were asked about the upcoming clashes and stressed the importance of taking it one game at a time.
D'Angelo Russell: "Obviously, Sacramento is really good. Love the way they are coached, all those guys are under Mike Brown who comes from Golden State, so he brings a similar run-and-gun style that's tough to guard. I think we get to prepare and learn what we did in the first game and take it into the second game."
Anthony Davis: "Obviously, the game plan will be different going from Game 1 to Game 2, so we'll take it one game at a time. That's what you can do. You don't know what's going to happen in Game 1 that'll affect Game 2, so we'll look at Game 1 as its own entity and see about Game 2 on Friday."
Rui Hachimura: "As a team, we have to rebound. We watched film, and we worked on that. We have a good plan for a guy like Sabonis and those guys, when they get a switch, they'll sit in the paint and try to get an offensive rebound, try to steal, and get easy touches. We've got to be physical. These two games will be really important, especially as two teams in the same Conference and similar ranks. We ready for it."
JJ Redick: "It's gonna be a test for a team. We want to be a team defense. It starts at the point-of-attack. Max was fantastic against Morant the other day but you still have to rely on your low man, your shifts. De'Aaron Fox is a one-man fast-break, so it starts with sprinting back and setting our defense. It's not just on him, it's on the team. Sabonis is a fantastic player too, so we'll be tested."
This is going to be a challenge for the Lakers, as the hungry Kings are 13-14 so far this season and need to turn their form around to keep themselves in the hunt for a Playoff spot. They're currently the No. 12 seed in the West and have had a slow start to the season despite the continued excellence of Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox.
The Kings have been a regular season boogeyman for the Lakers in recent history, winning eight out of nine regular season games until a 131-127 loss to the Lakers in October 2024. Their fast-paced offense has always bothered this iteration of the Lakers with Sabonis having great success in his head-to-head matchup with Davis until the Kings' loss earlier this season.
If the Lakers can earn both wins, they'll win the season series against the Kings and be placed ahead of them in a tie-break situation as they're divisional rivals as well. The Lakers need to maximize wins against teams below .500 and the Kings are one of those squads despite the talent on the roster.
The Lakers end the year with these games before a matchup against the Detroit Pistons. They face the Golden State Warriors on Christmas before
