On the show, we talk a lot about the level Anthony Davis has to play at for the Lakers to have a good chance to win. 

Thursday in Sacramento, Davis met that standard, and then some. 

21 points, 18 rebounds, four assists, three steals, six blocked shots. As JJ Redick noted after the game, Davis was able to dominate the game without actually being efficient from the floor, where Davis shot 7-20. But his activity completely controlled the game, including early as the Lakers established a high end defensive tone that would would carry throughout the 113-100 win. 

So why did Redick say this was maybe his favorite of LA's 15 wins on the season? Well, it starts with Davis and the way he was able to dominate despite not having an efficient night shooting. But there was a lot more, as well. LeBron James gave the Lakers 19/8/7 with a block. He was engaged defensively, and was able to do that because the effort across the board was balanced. They got 28 points from D'Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent. Max Christie gave them eight points, three offensive rebounds and made De'Aaron Fox work for his keep. 

And Austin Reaves kicked in with 25, hitting 3's and getting himself to the basket effectively. There wasn't efficiency, but there was balance. And the Lakers did all the little things that translate into winning basketball that coaches love, especially on nights where the offense (after a great first quarter) was not good. The Lakers generated multiple second and third opportunities, with 15 offensive rebounds, while only allowing four offensive boards to the Kings. They limited their own turnovers (11), and turned over the opposition (16). LA got to the line more than Sacramento. 

Do all that stuff, and you end up winning comfortably on a night where the Kings shot a higher percentage from both the floor and beyond the arc. 

Its's a four-game stretch where the Lakers have played better defense, and started winning some games again. It looks different, but can they carry it through as the schedule picks up again? There's been a ton of rest lately, which will disappear. 

If the answer is yes, it's easier to take an optimistic view of what's coming in 2025. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Anthony Davis dominates. 

SEGMENT 2: The Lakers get balanced effort. 

SEGMENT 3: Is this defense sustainable? 

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Anthony Davis scored 21 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and had 6 blocks and Austin Reeves scored 25 points, and LeBron James added 19 points and 7 assists as the Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings 113-100 in what was arguably the best Lakers win of the season. The Lakers will look to extend their winning streak to three games on Saturday when they play the Kings in Sacramento again.

Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui, Austin Reeves, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dalton Knecht, Lakers vs Kings, Los Angeles Lakers vs Sacramento Kings

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The modern NBA schedule, where the league tries to limit back-to-backs and excessive travel, has some quirks. 

Among them? The home-and-home, or in the case of consecutive games between the Lakers and Kings, the road-and-road. The Lakers play Sacramento twice, both times up north, first tonight and then Saturday afternoon. The Kings, lIke the Lakers, have performed below expectations. Unlike the Lakers, though, Sacramento's metrics indicate they should be better than their record, not worse. And certainly the Kings are a dangerous team, adding DeMar DeRozan to an already potent lineup featuring De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. And the Kings, for a long time, at least, had the LA's number. And in particular, Sabonis has dominated his matchups with Anthony Davis. 

So needless to say, this is a tricky set of games for JJ Redick and Co. (and, just for fun, they'll play again on December 28). 

To preview the game, we turn to Matt George, the excellent and insightful host of Locked On Kings. 

What's wrong with both of these teams, and what can be made right? Can Davis hold his own against Sabonis? What about Max Christie vs. Fox? Christie was very effective against Ja Morant and Memphis on Sunday, but the Grizzlies don't run pick and roll often. Sacramento does it all the time, putting a different sort of defensive pressure on Christie and the team alike. 

How will they respond? 

These are two teams battling each other in the bottom portion of the Western Conference draw. The results of the season series could be very important. A couple of wins would do the Lakers a world of good. But it won't be easy. At least, as George notes, the Kings have been pretty lousy at home, and LA always draws up there. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky (Guest, Matt George) 

SEGMENT 1: What's been holding the Kings back? 

SEGMENT 2: How can the Lakers defend Fox and Sabonis? 

SEGMENT 3: Concerning matchups for the weekend. 

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When Darvin Ham was fired after last season—something most of us saw coming—we didn't hear much from the man himself. It's not surprising. Ripping the team that let you go is not a great way to set yourself up for the next job. 

On the show, we guessed (again, no big leap) that Ham felt he was treated unfairly, and was being scapegoated for issues that were out of his control. And to some degree, he had a point. 

But in a new interview with ESPN's Marc Spears, he removed any doubt about his feelings. Some excerpts: 

“To do as well as I did, I swear to God, anywhere else I’m probably looking at an extension with what I did,” Ham said. “I’m not talking about feelings. I’m talking actual facts. They go from not making it to the playoffs to the final four in the NBA, the conference finals. And then you win the in-season tournament, navigate through all the injuries and win both of your play-in games to get to the playoffs.

“People always talk about us losing to Denver, but they never talk about how we got to Denver. We beat a kick-ass young squad in Memphis and we beat Golden State..." 

"...“I’m not a mudslinger and I’m not going to wait until I’m 51 to become one,” Ham said. “You feel like you did enough to sustain in one spot. I felt like I did that. I get it. The franchise I’m working for, the expectations can be unrealistic at certain points in time. To be 33-49 when I was hired, with an unbalanced roster, turn that around, make it to the Western Conference finals. The very next year we were a plus-10 in wins, going from 33-49 to 43-39. And guys got paid on my watch. It went from a lot of unknown scenarios to I think we have a little bit of a core. And then we got hit with the injury bug like crazy last [season]. We might have been Top 5 in games lost to injury.

“It’s being reported like I’m just throwing some lineups up against the wall to see what sticks. No man, we were really navigating a lot from guys being hurt to having the oldest player in the league [James] to navigating A.D.’s injury history. It was a lot.

“Some of the s— that was coming out? Wow, bro I don’t know X’s and O’s? I was winging it. Dude, that was the most disappointing stuff, how mean and so much stuff people are saying online. The best thing I could do was block out the outside noise,” Ham said.

So is he right? 

With the Lakers still struggling to make headway in the West, does it put Ham's tenure in a different (and perhaps more favorable) light?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

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The Lakers may have steadied the ship a little over their last three games, winning two and putting a decent defensive performance on the board in the third. But they're still a group that obviously needs improvement if they're going to contend in a crowded Western Conference. 

Making trades, though, is no easy feat for this team, for a variety of reasons. Three big ones: 

1. The Lakers have limited trade capital. Not just picks (a couple first rounders, three seconds), but in useful salary. D'Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura both make near $20 million. Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt are just above $10 million. (This assumes that, for now at least, Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht are off the table.) But is Vanderbilt really tradable right now, with three years left on his contract and no sign of good health? How much of that limited draft capital would they have to include? So if Vando isn't really a practical option, LA's salary path gets that much more narrow. 
2. The Lakers are limited by the CBA. As we've heard from Rob Pelinka many times, we live in an Apron World now, and the Lakers are right up against the second one. Not only does that hamstring them (they can't take back money that would push them past the second apron) in trade scenarios, it also means they might have to use second rounders to get off certain players, just to create a little more space. Using picks to offload, say, Jaxson Hayes or Christian Wood leaves one less pick to try and elevate the talent on the roster. 
3. The Lakers don't have spare parts. While trading Vanderbilt would feel like a loss—in theory, he's the type of player the Lakers need more of in the rotation—he's not currently available, and may not be for a while longer. Trading him doesn't remove a player from the rotation. Trading Russell, Vincent, or Hachimura? Those are guys that would need to be replaced. Package a couple of those guys in a deal, and the Lakers could be filling one roster hole by creating another. 

None of this is to say the Lakers can't make deals, or won't get anything done. Or that Pelinka deserves any sort of sympathy or free pass. This is the box he put the team in, after all. But it's a reflection of reality. So much of what comes next will be out of LA's control. A seller's market puts them out of reach for a lot of players. 

But if the buyers have the advantage? Maybe then the Lakers have enough to do something consequential, perhaps even bringing multiple players back in a single deal (say, Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith), patching weak spots on the roster in ways that feel coherent. 

We'll see. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers are in a bind. 

SEGMENT 2: What are the trade offs the Lakers have to make to make trades? 

SEGMENT 3: Redick lays down the law? 

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December 15 is generally seen as the start of NBA Trade Season, because so many players become trade-eligible at that point. 

And over the weekend, a couple of trades—including one sending former Laker Dennis Schröder to Golden State—got the ball rolling. Schröder was a name at least some Lakers fans had their eye on, but the Nets not only got a couple of second rounders, but also the expiring deal of DeAnthony Melton. That is a package the Lakers would be hard pressed to match, without overpaying and eliminating the possibility of executing more consequential deals. But it's also not a crazy high price overall, which is encouraging to LA, given their lack of high-appeal trade assets. 

So where should they turn their attention? 

Is it the backup center, where Jonas Valančiūnas has been on the radar for a while? What about Robert Williams III, on Portland? Does another big make as much sense as a potential package of wings? Dorian Finney-Smith and Cam Johnson could be the next two guys on the move for Brooklyn. Could the Lakers make a compelling offer there? Certainly those guys would bring a lot of roster balance and versatility, even while leaving the team short at guard (because presumably D'Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent would both have to go to make the money work). 

What about revisiting older targets, like Dejounte Murray, now leading a fast-crumbling Pelicans squad that reportedly is interested in trading Zion Williamson? Myles Turner, if Indiana can't get its act back together? Would they consider moving on from a guy who is just a little older than the timeline that franchise seems to be on? 

Keep in mind, the Lakers likely can't make more than one or two moves before they run out of stuff, and even small deals involving second rounders have to be weighed carefully, because those picks would be needed to sweeten the pot in whatever way the Lakers can, should bigger names/better trades become available. 

There have been times this season the Lakers looked worth investing in. Other times, they seemed like a team that should be selling, not buying or even standing pat. 

Hard decisions are coming, and the Lakers have to hope the (very) early trends in the market prove sustainable. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: LeBron returns to action, but his foot isn't quite right and likely won't be going forward. 

SEGMENT 2: Dennis Schröder to Golden State. Helps a rival, but the market could be encouraging. 

SEGMENT 3: What other trade targets are there for LA? 

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The Memphis Grizzlies have been a very good team this season, and have been flat-out excellent over the last month or so—one of the best teams in the NBA both offensively and defensively.

So for the Lakers, who have not exactly set the world on fire over their last 11 games, a visit from Memphis to the Crypt represented a major test. And while it wasn't easy—quite frankly, it got a little hairy in the fourth—the Lakers ultimately passed, winning 116-110. This was truly a team effort, one that had to please JJ Redick greatly. Anthony Davis led the way, dominating on both ends to finish with 40 points and 16 rebounds. But Austin Reaves (19 points) provided some punch (a much better effort than in Friday's loss, where Reaves looked very rusty after five games off).

And in his return to the lineup, LeBron finished with 18/8/8.

It wasn't the best James game you'll see from a statistical standpoint, but he was a big part of the defensive energy the Lakers put out, particularly in the first half, that pushed the Lakers to a big early lead they never gave up. Cam Reddish and Max Christie (who stayed in the starting lineup) both did enough offensively to keep Memphis honest, while also elevating the team's defensive intensity.

So on the heels of a good defensive game Friday, have the Lakers found something? It's hard to say. Memphis, as Redick noted in his halftime interview, doesn't run a lot of pick and roll, meaning they didn't test that hyperswitching strategy the Lakers often deploy. James was a catalyst for the upgraded intensity (he plays too many minutes to ignore the defensive side of the ball). Can he bring that, if not every night, most of them? Especially if the Lakers can get by with fewer points from him? How much consistency is it reasonable to expect from James? Can the Lakers get enough from the supporting cast from night to night to allow LeBron to do 15-20% more defensively?

Is Max Christie part of the equation to tie all of this together? As a starter on Sunday, it sure seemed he might be.

These are ultimately the types of questions that will determine the team's upside, and how Rob Pelinka might feel in upgrading the roster before the deadline. What the Lakers did defensively, especially in the first half, is a potential game-changer if anything like that can be done with some consistency. They used activity and effort to hold Memphis to 46 points in the first 24 minutes. That effort and activity translated to good movement on the other end, too.

So was it one night, or are the Lakers maybe, maybe, just maybe turning the corner a bit?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: LeBron James returns, the Lakers crank it up defensively. 

SEGMENT 2: A badly needed win over a quality team. 

SEGMENT 3: Can the Lakers repeat a winning formula? 

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Anthony Davis scored 40 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and after missing two games, LeBron James returned to the lineup, where he scored 18 points, had 8 rebounds, and dished out 8 assists as the Lakers beat the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 116-110. 

The Lakers will look to continue their winning ways Thursday night at Sacramento.Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui, Austin Reeves, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dalton Knecht, Lakers vs Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers vs Memphis Grizzlies

Give the Lakers credit. They played hard Friday in Minnesota, and particularly in the second half, they played defense. 

But the trend of horrible offense, interrupted by a couple competent performances, continued as the purple and gold fell 97-87, their eighth loss in 11 games. The Lakers turned the ball over 11 times in the first quarter alone, en route to 21 for the game. They shot 38% from the field, 29% from 3-point range, and were only 11-17 from the free throw line. 

It was as inept a showing as you'll find. Only one starter was over 50% from the floor (Max Christie, at 5-9... and he compensated for that by turning the ball over four times). 

Austin Reaves was very out of rhythm after missing his last five games. D'Angelo Russell was 2-10 from the floor, and missed six of seven 3's. The list goes on. 

On a night where LeBron James wasn't with the team—and no, JJ Redick doesn't know when he'll be back—the Lakers simply can't absorb this much negative production on that side of the floor and expect to win. 

It doesn't get any easier Sunday, with a hot Memphis team coming to the Crypt. And at some point, if his absence continues folks will need an update on James and why he's not with the team. Is it the foot? Burnout? And how long will he be away? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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Anthony Edwards scored 23 points including 16 in the second half and former Laker Julius Randle added 21 as the Minnesota Timberwolves outlasted the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 97-87. For the second straight game LeBron James didn’t play, as he’s been excused from personal reasons. In his absence, Anthony Davis had 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Austin Reeves scored 18 in his return to the lineup. The Lakers will look to get on the winning side of things Sunday night when they’ll host the Memphis Grizzlies.

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