12-29-2025
LOS ANGELES — With its propensity for shooting 3s, the modern NBA had chased so many big men out of the league.
Just don’t tell that to Anthony Davis, the 6-foot-10, 253-pound Lakers center who proved on Saturday night (Sunday AM in Manila) that size still matters.
Davis gathered 36 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists to power the host Lakers to a convincing 132-122 triumph over the Sacramento Kings’ at the Crypto.com Arena,
Making matters worse for the Kings was the ecellent performance of Austin Reves, who in the absence of LeBron James (illness), turned into LA’s main playmaker and delivered 26 points and 16 assists.
Rui Hachimura also played huge with 21 points while Max Christie added 16. Dalton Knecht accounted for 18 to help Los Angeles shoot a high 59.7 percent from the field (46-of-77) and 53.8 percent from three (14-of-26).
“It’s about playing the right way,” Reaves said of the conscious effort the Lakers put n moving the ball around which resulted in 33 team assists.
Davis was also singing high praise to the Lakers’ guards to kept pace against the speedy Kings, who went into coaching bedlam before tip-off when it fired coach Mike Brown.
De’Aaron Fox paced the Kings with 29 points and 12 assists, and DeMar DeRozan had 25 points.
