Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis went 13 of 19 with 29 points, 16 rebounds, and seven assists to lead the Kings to a 125-110 victory Wednesday night over the Los Angeles Lakers at a near-capacity Crypto.com Arena, notching their fourth win in a row.
The Kings put up 125 points, scoring their fourth most points all season. Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox shot 10 of 22 with 28 points, five rebounds, and five assists in 38 minutes. For the Kings, they’re now two games over .500 for the second time this season.
Sacramento moved to 6-4. The Lakers fell to 6-6, snapping their three-game winning streak on a cold, and rainy, night in Los Angeles.
“Good game for our guys,” Kings head coach Mike Brown said. “We had a lot of guys step up and play big for us.”
Domantas Sabonis finished 12 of 20, scoring 29 points, 16 rebounds, and seven assists, three assists shy of a triple-double. On the year, Sabonis is now averaging 19.1 points per game on a 60% FG percentage, tied for seventh-best in the NBA.
“The more wins we can pick up like this, the better,” Sabonis said. “I think we just got to stick to it, we’ve got to keep doing all the little details and can’t get complacent.”
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said early turnovers led to the early 20-point hole they fell into early in the game, down 13 in the first quarter, marking the eighth time this season they’ve gone into the second quarter down by at least three points or more.
“I think we turned the ball over early,” Ham said. “I think we had seven [turnovers] in the first quarter…those self-inflicted wounds really hurt us early, particularly in the first quarter.”
The Lakers trailed 38-25 in the first quarter, with four early points from forward Anthony Davis, who’s the team’s second-leading scorer. Davis finished 3 of 9 for just nine points and nine rebounds, tying a season-low. “I got going early, comfortable,” Davis said. “They were just playing the transition, and we turned it over. They got out to an early lead and that was the game right there.”
Perhaps what was lost in the 15-point rout was Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James’ performance, finishing 9 of 15 for a team-high 28 points, to go along with 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the star’s 21st NBA season.
With 107 career triple-doubles, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer became the second oldest player ever to record a triple-double, trailing only behind hall-of-fame point guard Jason Kidd and James’ former Olympic teammate. James said he learned plenty from the former Suns star, highlighting the importance of sharing the basketball.
At halftime, Sacramento led 72-59. The Kings led for most of the game, stifling several Lakers’ runs. In the fourth quarter, the Lakers cut it to nine points with 3:05 remaining after a 23-foot three-point jumper on a pass from James to forward Cam Reddish. After two late turnovers, it all but sealed the chances for the Lakers to come back.
Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell finished 12 of 20 with 28 points, five rebounds, and assists.
Kings guard De’Aaron Fox 10 of 22 with 28 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
For the Lakers, they lost by double digits for the fourth time this season, failing to break the 100-point mark for only the second time all year. The night before, the Lakers tied a franchise record against Memphis on Tuesday, notching 62.9 percent from the 3-pt line with at least 35 attempts.
Next up, the Lakers face a 3-8 Portland Trail Blazers team that’s only won one game at home this season. The Kings head to San Antonio to face the Spurs and rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama.
