SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The game hadn't even started yet and LeBron James could feel a throbbing headache come on that he could only surmise was from the smoke that had enveloped downtown Sacramento and the haze hovering inside the Golden 1 Center.

Smelling smoke in the arena during the team's morning shootaround, James wasn't sure how the conditions from the Camp Fire that originated about 70 miles north of Sacramento would affect the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.

But the Lakers of late have been a team that appears to be learning how to handle adversity. Or perhaps they're discovering how to better deal with it.

With exception to perhaps the ugliest first quarter the Lakers have ever played that led to a hideous loss against the Toronto Raptors last Sunday, the team has won four of its past five games. The Lakers put the brakes on a Sacramento Kings team that had won seven of their past 10 games with an impressive 101-86 victory.

And for the first time in the still fresh James-Lakers era, the Lakers reached .500.

Perhaps this feels like significant progress since the Lakers (6-6) lost five of their first seven games and the sky felt as if it were on them just a little over a week ago.

The Lakers were already expected to have a potentially rocky start, but no one counted on Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram drawing multiple-game suspensions for the Houston Rockets brawl just two games into the season or Magic Johnson chiding Luke Walton after only seven games. Walton found himself engulfed in scrutiny over his job security until Johnson came out and said his coach was safe barring something drastic.

But after all the turbulence, the Lakers might be approaching 35,000 feet and "cruising altitude." Could things be stabilizing? There will undoubtedly be more drama in the future ahead for the Lakers because it's LeBron and it's L.A. But this win in Sacramento was a definite sign of progress.

Look no further than the effort on defense. Just a few days ago, Johnson, the Lakers' president of basketball operations, expressed his displeasure by explaining that part of his meeting with Walton was because "we're last in defense. We got to get better."

Entering Saturday, the Lakers had given up 110-plus points in each of their first 11 games, tied for the longest streak in franchise history to begin a season (1961-62). It was the longest streak by any team to start a season since the 1983-84 Nuggets, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

But facing an improved Kings team that was No. 1 in pace at 109.0, the Lakers managed to slow down Sacramento at times and shut down the Kings in the half court. According to Second Spectrum, Walton's defense held Sacramento to 24.7 percent shooting in the half court, the best by any team in any regular season or playoff game over the past five seasons.

Delayed Lake Show On Tuesday, Oct. 30, Lakers head coach Luke Walton and president Magic Johnson had a meeting to discuss a 2-5 start. Coincidence or not, the Lakers have won four of five games since that meeting, and the defense has led the turnaround. It helps that the Lakers have been the best team in the league in preventing trips to the free throw line since Walton and Johnson's meeting. Lakers (rank) Before Oct. 30 Since Oct. 30 W-L 2-5 (T-20th) 4-1 (T-4th) Off. Eff. 113.0 (7th) 105.8 (18th) Def. Eff. 113.2 (23rd) 103.1 (5th) Opp. FTA rate .292 (21st) .178 (1st)

The Lakers had emphasized limiting fast-break points for the past couple of days and the team heard the coaching staff.

"Gotta get back in transition, misses and makes, dead balls, everything," James said. "Just gotta get back. De'Aaron Fox is one of the quickest guards that we got in our game, and they're No. 1 in pace right now. So we made a huge emphasis on getting back and putting multiple bodies in front of all of 'em."

LeBron James had a game-high 25 points in Sacramento on Saturday night. Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty

"We stuck to the game plan for 48 minutes," James added. "And we've been doing that of late, and it's been resulting in wins."

Several factors have contributed to the Lakers' uptick in play. Their chemistry appears to be forming now that they are 12 games into the season. Sure, the young players like Ingram and Lonzo Ball still look as if they're searching for their comfort zone with the improved roster. And vets like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Lance Stephenson are still struggling to adjust to their fluctuating playing time.