On December 29th, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued with the Lakers facing the Kings at home. Although the Lakers had previously won all three encounters this season, they received bad news today as James was absent due to illness. It remains to be seen whether DeRozan's buff will disappear in James' absence.
In the first quarter, the Lakers were on fire, with Davis, Christie, and Reeves almost flawless in their shooting, helping the Lakers take the lead. However, the Kings then made a small run to overtake the score. In the closing stages, the Lakers, led by Davis and Reeves, made a run to establish an 11-point lead. At the last moment, Fox assisted Ryan with a buzzer-beating alley-oop dunk, ending the first quarter with the Lakers leading 40-31.
In the second quarter, the Kings took advantage of Davis' absence, continuously attacking the paint to reduce the gap to one point. After Davis returned, the Lakers briefly extended the lead again, but the Kings found their rhythm and couldn't be stopped. The two teams engaged in an offensive shootout, with the score tied or alternating leads multiple times. At halftime, the Kings led 66-65.
In the third quarter, the Kings continued their second-quarter form, maintaining a slight lead. However, after leading 76-73, the Kings suddenly lost power, unable to make shots on offense. On the Lakers' side, Hachimura and Davis used their size advantage to repeatedly attack the paint for points, along with some fast breaks, resulting in a massive scoring run. The Lakers led 107-90 after three quarters, a 17-point advantage.
In the fourth quarter, the Lakers once extended the lead to 20 points, but then missed consecutive shots. The Kings made defensive counterattacks with a 12-0 run to reduce the gap to eight points, bringing suspense back into the game. Then, Knott scored four points to help the Lakers stabilize the situation slightly. Davis followed with six points to help the Lakers regain a double-digit lead. After the Kings reduced the gap, Reeves and Christie responded to extend the lead again. Finally, the Kings' continuous passing errors cost them the game, and the Lakers ultimately defeated the Kings 132-122, achieving a four-game sweep against the Kings this season.
Individually, Davis scored 36 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists. Without James' suppression buff against DeRozan, Davis led the team to victory over the Kings, truly breaking the spell against Sabonis. Reeves had 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 16 assists (a career-high in assists), Knott scored 18 points, Hachimura had 21 points and 4 rebounds, Christie scored 16 points, and Russell had 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists.
For the Kings, DeRozan scored 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists, Fox had 29 points, 5 rebounds, 12 assists, and 4 steals, Monk scored 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists, Sabonis had 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists, and Ellis scored 11 points.