Can the Lakers Contain De'Aaron Fox? Can Anthony Davis Outplay Sabonis? Lakers-Kings Preview!

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

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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