The Lakers host the Kings at home in Los Angeles on December 28, and it’s a weird one because the stakes feel completely different depending on which sideline you’re looking at. Tip-off is set for 6:30 PM PT.
The Lakers enter at 19-10, sitting 5th in the West, while the Kings are 8-23 and 14th in the West. These teams have already seen each other once this season, with the Lakers taking a 127-120 win on October 26 to grab a 1-0 edge in the season series.
This preview starts with the stars, because this matchup is basically begging for a takeover. Luka Doncic has been outrageous at 33.7 points, 8.7 assists, and 8.5 rebounds per game. LeBron James has posted 20.2 points, 6.8 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in his games played.
For the Kings, DeMar DeRozan is at 18.7 points per game and he’s shooting 50.7% from the field, while Russell Westbrook is at 14.6 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.8 rebounds.
Injury Report
Lakers
Austin Reaves: Out (left calf strain)
Jaxson Hayes: Out (left ankle soreness)
Gabe Vincent: Out (lumbar back strain)
Drew Timme: Questionable (concussion protocol)
Kings
Zach LaVine: Out (left ankle sprain)
Domantas Sabonis: Out (left knee partial meniscus tear)
Keegan Murray: Out (right calf strain)
Devin Carter: Out (left ankle sprain)
Drew Eubanks: Out (left thumb avulsion fracture)
Why The Lakers Have The Advantage
This one comes down to math and shot creation, and the Lakers win both categories when they play serious basketball.
They’re scoring 116.9 points per game, shooting 50.0% from the field, and their offensive rating sits at 118.4. That’s the kind of offensive profile that should punish a Kings team with a 119.6 defensive rating, which is flat-out brutal.
And the scary part is that the Lakers don’t need to be “pretty” to score. Luka has been the ultimate pressure point this season. He forces help, he forces rotations, and once the defense shifts, it turns into layups, free throws, or open threes. Even with Austin Reaves out, the Lakers still have a simple formula: Luka controls the game, LeBron picks his spots, and everybody else’s job is to finish possessions with clean decisions.
The Kings being short-handed inside matters too. Without Domantas Sabonis, the Kings lose their best hub, their best screener, and their most reliable rebounding presence, which already feels dangerous against a Lakers team that can play big and live at the rim when it wants to.
Now, here’s the honest warning for the Lakers: their defense has been shaky. A 118.9 defensive rating tells you they’ve leaked points, and when they get lazy, it snowballs fast. But if the Lakers bring normal effort, this matchup screams “control the game by halftime.” The Kings’ offense is sitting at a 109.8 offensive rating for a reason.
In other words, this is the kind of game contenders win without making it dramatic. If the Lakers make it dramatic anyway, that’s on them.
Why The Kings Have The Advantage
The Kings’ advantage is that they can play free and aggressive, because nobody expects them to survive this spot, and that can be annoying for a team that’s been fighting its own focus lately.
They play fast, 100.9 pace, and they generate chaos with 9.4 steals per game. If they can turn missed shots into runouts, or turn careless passes into live-ball turnovers, they can steal points before the Lakers’ half-court defense even gets set.
There’s also a clear emotional angle: the Lakers have been in a slump, dropping three straight and six of their last ten, even with a strong record overall. That’s exactly when a “nothing to lose” opponent can turn the game into a grind, especially if the Kings start hitting early threes and the building gets tense.
And while the Kings are missing key names, they’ve still had nights where the shot-making pops. They just beat the Mavericks while missing Sabonis and Zach LaVine, and Westbrook and Keon Ellis both dropped 21. DeRozan can still manufacture points late in the clock, and Westbrook is still capable of turning the pace up to an uncomfortable level for stretches.
The problem is the floor. The Kings are scoring 112.0 points per game, but they’re also bleeding efficiency, and that’s not a profile you trust on the road against elite shot creators. Their best chance is making this ugly: win turnovers, win hustle, and keep it close into the fourth so DeRozan can hunt mismatches.
Lakers vs. Kings Prediction
I’m taking the Lakers. The Kings are missing too much, and the Luka-LeBron creation edge is massive against a defense giving up that kind of efficiency.
If the Lakers treat it like a business game, they should pull away by the middle of the third.
Prediction: Lakers 120, Kings 108
