With their fifth straight win over the Kings, the Lakers continued their comeback

While Lakers fans fear an injury to Anthony Davis will prevent Los Angeles from continuing its rise in the standings, LeBron James and his squad, however, continue to reap the rewards.

In Sacramento, “King” (37 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists) and his squad won for the fifth straight (136-134), returned to Wolves for 11th place in the Western Conference (19 wins – 21 losses) and within reach Utah (20 wins – 22 losses), which placed 10th, qualified for the “play-in.”

WHAT YOU SHOULD REMEMBER

– Defense? After three quarters, the teams were tied at 109 everywhere. With no bullies near the circle, and no real desire to stop an opponent’s penetration, the attackers can present themselves on either side. However, it provided 61% shooting success for Los Angeles (50/82) with notably 70 points scored on the Kings rackets, to offset the team’s limit (9/21) of 3 points.

– De’Aaron Fox “clutch” but frustrated. The Kings point guard scored 17 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, stringing together crucial baskets to give his club a chance to win. Unfortunately for him, Sacramento never managed to pull off the “stop” needed to get ahead of LeBron James, and he had the final foul whistle against Dennis Schröder that sealed the game’s fate, while he missed the last 3-point shot of the game, from midfield. He was furious with the referee at the final bell…

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ Duo Westbrook / Schroder. Both leaders are valuable in their respective rosters. Russell Westbrook is having a good time off the bench, and he delivers the streak (23 points, 15 assists, +15 +/-) while Dennis Schroder is valuable (27 points 4/5 from range, +13 at +/-) and decisive for seal victory.

✅ Lebron James. His 3 point shot still unfinished? Not a problem with the King, who offered him the boulevard corridor to the circle. Enough to allow the 38-year-old veteran to enjoy his list of favorites.

✅Thomas Bryant. His opportunism and positional sensitivity in attack hurt Domantas Sabonis and Raja, who were constantly surprised to see him receive the ball under the hoop…

✅ De’Aaron Fox. The Kings point guard nearly snatched this encounter with his 17 points in the final quarter. Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t enough in the end.

⛔Wenyen Gabriel. A tricky entry for the substitute interior, who scored 6 points in 13 minutes but who notably made 6 errors in this short amount of time, ended with -12 +/-!

⛔ King’s Defense. That from the Lakers isn’t flamboyant either but given the Lakers weakness behind the 3-point line, Sacramento’s inability to protect its hoops is at the very least costing it a lot. Collect 70 points in the racket, impossible when you want to find the playoffs.

FOLLOWER

LA Lakers (19-21): trip to the Nuggets, Monday night (03:00)

Sacramento (20-18): Magic reception, also Monday night (04:00)