Very little has gone according to plan for the Lakers this season, and that drumbeat continued Tuesday as the Lakers learned LeBron James would be forced into the league’s Covid health and safety protocols. How long he’ll be out depends on his symptoms and how fast he returns two negative tests, but at the least he’ll miss Friday’s game against the Clippers, and it would be prudent to plan on him being out for a couple more after.

By now, the Lakers know what it’s like to play without him, even if “knowing” doesn’t mean “succeeding.” They’ll have to figure it out, and in the second half Tuesday, seemed to come up with a pretty good formula: Work really hard, and play real defense. After a terribly lazy first half against the Kings, Frank Vogel laid into the group, and it worked. The Lakers blew the doors of Sacramento over the final 24 minutes, turning a nine-point halftime deficit into a 25-point win.

It was led by Anthony Davis and a strong second half from Russell Westbrook. Malik Monk was great, as was… Dwight Howard (!!!) who was not expecting to play (because Vogel told him he wouldn’t) but was inserted into the game early for an ineffective DeAndre Jordan. Howard responded with his best game of the season, by a mile. Does that mean he’s the primary “traditional big” going forward?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers were awful early against Sacramento, but responded to a halftime butt chewing from Vogel. In the end, they had a moment to feel good about themselves. No small thing for a group that has struggled.

SEGMENT 2: Dwight Howard emerges. Does this game fundamentally change the way Vogel uses his center pairing?

SEGMENT 3: LeBron in the protocols. How long might he be out? How does it hurt them if LBJ misses another 3-6 games?

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