The Los Angeles Lakers will head into Sunday’s game against Russell Westbrook and the Sacramento Kings with high hopes of making it two wins in a row after crushing the Golden State Warriors on Saturday at Chase Center.
Although the Lakers have been relatively healthy as of late, Rui Hachimura missed the last two games due to an illness. The veteran forward will make his return to the floor for this divisional matchup against the Kings after being cleared on Sunday.
However, superstar forward LeBron James’ status was in doubt against the visiting Kings at Crypto.com Arena, as he continues to manage left foot arthritis in back-to-back situations.
LeBron James Officially Active vs. Kings
LeBron James (left foot arthritis) has been upgraded to AVAILABLE for tonight’s game versus Sacramento.
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) March 2, 2026
It’s not all that surprising that James would’ve rested during this game, especially considering the Kings have a league-worst record of 14-47 coming into this game and have already shut down half their roster for the season. Zach LaVine (right hand surgery), Domantas Sabonis (knee surgery) and De’Andre Hunter (eye surgery) have been ruled out for the rest of the 2025-26 campaign, while Keegan Murphy is nursing a sprained left ankle.
However, he’ll be on the floor to take on the Kings in Los Angeles, which greatly improves the Lakers’ chances of getting a second straight win and taking another step forward in the final stretch of the season.
Lakers Face Tough Stretch in March
Jan 20, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) dribbles the ball up court in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Following Sunday’s game against Westbrook and company, the Lakers will have 22 regular-season games left on the schedule, with the NBA playoffs set to get underway on April 18.
The Lakers are currently battling the elite teams in the Western Conference, sitting in sixth place in the standings, barely ahead of the Play-In Tournament, with the Phoenix Suns a game and a half behind them.
After the matchup against arguably the worst team in the league on Sunday, Los Angeles will host the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday before going on the road to face Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena on Thursday.
The schedule gets that much tougher for the Lakers starting with the Nuggets, as they’ll have some tough matchups for the rest of the month of March, facing the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Nuggets (again), Houston Rockets (twice), Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers.
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