The Lakers’ evaluation did not end just because they played an exhibition game with a weakened roster.

If anything, Lakers coach Darvin Ham stated before the Lakers’ game against the Sacramento Kings at the Honda Center on Wednesday night that there were lessons to be learned from the guys on the court.

So, with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Jarrett Vanderbilt sitting next to each other in street clothes, with Austin Reaves and Cam Reddish not playing and sitting nearby, the objective was for the other players to continue to develop good habits.

“We’ll just continue to build on our mentality and our mission, which is the mentality is to compete, defend and share and the mission is to build winning habits,” he said. “And no matter who suits up, who plays, that has to be the constant, that has to be the consistent approach.”

That plan was set in place by starters D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, Taurean Prince, and Jaxson Hayes.

And they set the perfect tone, particularly Russell and Vincent in the Lakers’ 109-101 victory over the Kings.

Russell continued his strong play in the exhibition season, scoring 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting and going 2 for 5 on three-pointers, while also dishing out eight assists in just 21 minutes.

Vincent finished with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting and three assists.Prince contributed 13 points and seven rebounds while playing solid defense, and Hachimura contributed 13 points and six rebounds.