The Los Angeles Lakers are "trending in the right direction" after beating the Sacramento Kings on Saturday, according to coach Darvin Ham.

An awful start to the season saw them lose 10 of their first 12 games, but the Lakers' form has evened out and their 136-134 win over the Kings made it five victories in a row to move them on to 19-21 for the campaign.

LeBron James posted 37 points as well as eight rebounds and seven assists as the visitors secured their latest win at Golden 1 Center.

Ham pointed to his team's struggles earlier in the season – including two defeats to the Kings – as partly responsible for their recent upturn, saying after the game the Lakers are "trending in the right direction and learning from our mistakes." 

He added: "A couple of months back we'd have lost a game like this, and back then sitting here with you guys in post-game pressers telling you as much as it hurt, we need to go through this process, we need to learn, trial by fire.

"All those experiences are causing us to be more conscious on offense, not just throwing away possessions late in the game.

"At the end of the day, everything we have gone through this season I think has been a huge education for us."

Thomas Bryant, who scored 29 points along with claiming 14 rebounds, also praised his team-mates for their resilience.

"It says a lot about the confidence, the strong resiliency that we try and bring each and every night out," the former Washington Wizards center said.

"I know each and every last one of those guys are proud of each other out there."

Thomas Bryant is once again a Los Angeles Laker after the free agent centre signed a one-year contract with the team on Wednesday. 

A second-round pick by the Utah Jazz in the 2017 NBA Draft, Bryant was then traded to the Lakers on draft night but only appeared in 15 games with Los Angeles, averaging 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds. 

He was then waived by the Lakers following his rookie year and signed with the Washington Wizards, where he has spent the past four seasons. 

His last two years with Washington were marred by injury, however, as he appeared in a combined 37 games due to a torn ACL suffered in January 2021.  

Prior to the injury, Bryant was off to an encouraging start to the 2020-21 season, averaging 14.3 points on 64.8-per-cent shooting, along with 6.1 rebounds in starting the first 10 games for Washington. 

Bryant, who turns 25 years old on July 31, played well at times in his return last January, averaging 7.4 points and 4.0 rebounds in 27 games. 

The Lakers are hopeful after another off-season of training that he will be able to regain his prior form and provide frontcourt depth.