Be careful reading too much into Dallas, though. The Mavericks were without Kyrie Irving, lost Max Christie to a hip injury during the game and went 7-for-33 from 3. Sacramento also turned it over 20 times and needed a 34-26 4th quarter to pull away. Before that, the Kings had given up 123, 130, 132 and 136 points in 4 straight losses. That's a long way from fixed.
Clippers103-87
The real Lakers question is Doncic's back. He sat a game against the Clippers with back tightness, which was the 2nd night of a back-to-back after Portland, and the Lakers called it caution during a stretch of 5 games in 7 days. He was cleared for the Heat and went for 42. This one comes after a night off, so it isn't the kind of spot where the Lakers have rested him so far. Adou Thiero (knee) is still sidelined for LA. Ziaire Williams is back off the injury report, and rookie Cameron Carr has made his season debut.
Sacramento's injury report is long. Keegan Murray (ankle) is out with a 10-to-14-day re-evaluation window, and Ben Simmons had surgery for a torn right Achilles. Both centers are out too, so Domantas Sabonis is holding up the frontcourt more or less alone. Against Doncic, that's a problem in 2 directions. Every pick-and-roll forces a big to step up to a player hitting 43% from deep, and the Kings' best counterpunch is a guard group of Acuff, Monk and LaVine that has to outscore him. That worked against a short-handed Dallas team shooting bricks. Against a Lakers offense that just hung 138 on Miami, the Kings probably need another big night from their guards and a lot fewer than 20 turnovers.
No lines are posted yet, so there's nothing to price. The matchup itself is simple: one of the best players in basketball against a 1-6 team that's missing its bigs and has struggled to guard anybody. If Sacramento is going to build on the Dallas win, this is about as hard a test as it gets.
