LOS ANGELES (AP) — Domantas Sabonis had 29 points and 16 rebounds and the Sacramento Kings defeated LeBron James’ 108th career triple-double and the Lakers’ fourth-quarter comeback to claim their fourth victory, 125-110 over Los Angeles on Wednesday in a row night.
De’Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter each scored 28 points for the Kings, who ended Los Angeles’ three-game winning streak with their fifth win in six meetings against their downstate rivals.
“We got off to a great start,” said Hürter, who scored six three-pointers. “We established ourselves offensively, got out in transition and played quickly. I don’t think we held that for the rest of the game, but it shows what we’re capable of when we play at this level.”
James recorded 28 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in his first triple-double in his 21st NBA season, breaking his tie with Jason Kidd for the fifth-most points in NBA history. He also led the Lakers’ fourth-quarter rally as they cut Sacramento’s 26-point lead to nine before running out of steam.
Sacramento coach Mike Brown called the 38-year-old James’ performance “amazing.”
“I don’t know if you can put a timetable on when he’ll be ready,” added Brown, who coached James for five seasons in Cleveland. “I think there’s only one person who can do that and that’s him. Well, maybe two, because maybe his wife can do something about it. He’s absolutely amazing at what he’s doing at his age. It’s phenomenal. I’m amazed every time we play against him.”
The Kings have won three straight against the Lakers in Los Angeles, and their top three scorers gave them a 106-80 lead early in the fourth quarter. Surprisingly, the Lakers kept their starters in the game and went on a 30-13 run, but couldn’t close the yawning deficit.
“Whenever we get stops (and) take care of the ball, we usually do well,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “I know how many goals our team scored, especially the five guys who finished for us. You have to give them a chance to see what we can do. Maybe a few turnovers, missed shots on their part, you can grab the lead and make a game out of it, and I thought we did that.”
D’Angelo Russell scored 28 points for the Lakers, who lost at home for the first time in six games this season. Anthony Davis scored just nine points on 3-of-9 shooting with nine rebounds and four blocked shots in Los Angeles’ fourth game in six days.
Davis scored four points in the first four minutes of the game but didn’t score again until the fourth quarter.
“I just played bad,” said Davis, who has been dealing with a hip muscle injury in recent days. “I won’t bring it up to anything. They were just missed shots. …I still deal with it every day. Obviously you don’t have the time that day to really attack it (playing) back-to-back. It still bothered me a little bit, but I still have to go out and do my job.”
Last month, the Kings needed overtime to beat the Lakers in Sacramento, but they held a 19-point lead in the first quarter of that game. Los Angeles closed the deficit to 119-110 on Cam Reddish’s 3-pointer with 3:05 left, but James committed a turnover and missed a 3-point attempt on the Lakers’ next two possessions.
The loss ends a positive stretch of play for the Lakers, who snapped a three-game skid to snap a three-game winning streak capped by their first blowout win of the season on Tuesday against Memphis. Los Angeles once again struggled to defend the perimeter, allowing the Kings 16 3-pointers after the Grizzlies made 20.
NEXT
Kings: At San Antonio on Friday.
Lakers: At Portland on Friday.
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