LeBron James leads Lakers to comfortable win over Kings

Despite a cold shooting night from the field, the Los Angeles Lakers coasted to a comfortable 101-86 win over the Sacramento Kings Saturday at the Golden 1 Center thanks to a dominant offensive performance by LeBron James.

In just 31 minutes for the Lakers, James scored a team-high 25 points which included a team-high three 3-pointers on 50 percent shooting from behind the arc. He also contributed 5 rebounds, an assist and a steal.

James has had higher scoring nights this season — nine to be exact — but the Lakers needed his offensive production while they tried to get it together from the field.

As a team, the Lakers shot 41.4 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from behind the arc. They also struggled from the charity stripe, making just 7 of their 17 total attempts.

Luckily, the Kings weren’t making shots either, but the Lakers can’t count on teams shooting a season-worst percentage from the field on most nights. They need more from their scorers, especially Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma.

Defensively the Lakers looked sharper, building on their performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. They look especially good on the boards, grabbing a season-high 59 rebounds against the Kings.

Tyson Chandler was a huge part of the Lakers’ effort on the glass once again, as the 36 year old grabbed 12 rebounds, including a game-high 5 offensive rebounds. Chandler is still getting accustomed to his new team, but he’s had no problem fitting in so far with his high basketball IQ and defensive effort.

With a win on Saturday, the Lakers are 6-6 on the season. The Lakers haven’t been 6-6 since the 2012-13 season.

They’ll be back at it on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. PST against the Atlanta Hawks at Staples Center.

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