Los Angeles snapped their losing streak with a 125-101 win over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
LA’s superstars started the offense off with a combined eight points. Smart missed his only shot attempt,
but was doing a bit of everything with one steal and two assists, including a beautiful lob to LeBron.
At the 6:45 mark, Los Angeles was down by one.
The Lakers were struggling from beyond the arc, shooting 16% from 3-point range. Luka finally drained a three after missing his first three attempts. He quickly jumped to nine points for the quarter.
LA ended the first strong with LeBron scoring four more points, putting him in double figures. Going into the second period, Los Angeles was up by six.
The triples were flying early in the second quarter. Smith Jr. nailed his second 3-pointer of the half, Malik Monk knocked down two of his own and Jarred Vanderbilt drained one as well.
LaRavia was having a strong game off the bench with six points, but did have three fouls. Luka was subbed back into the game and knocked down another 3-pointer, putting him at 40% from behind the arc in this half.
LeBron dazzled with his second dunk of the half, a reverse, that wooed the crowd.
DeRozan was keeping Sacramento in the game with his 16 points. With 1:55 left until halftime, the Lakers were up by nine. Luka was the first player for either team to hit 20 points in the half.
Los Angeles ended the half on an 11-2 scoring run to put them up by 15.
The second half began with Luka draining his fourth 3-pointer of the game. Ayton then found LeBron for a lob and a jam. LA was now up by 20 points. Things kept going well for the purple and gold as they kept growing their lead.
LeBron was nine for 10 from the field, a near-perfect game. As a team, Los Angeles was shooting a red-hot 62% from the field.
Sacramento scored a quick eight points, trying to mount a comeback. Hachimura seemed to heat up with four points. After the Kings put up five points in a row, the Lakers called a timeout.
Out of the break, Luka scored on a jump shot.
Smith Jr. scored eight points in a row, pushing his point total to 18 massive points off the bench. The Kings put up eight points as the quarter was winding down. At the end of the third, Los Angeles was up by 19.
The Lakers started the final frame still hot, scoring eight points in a row. At the 6:39 mark of the quarter, LA was up by 20. LeBron remained hot, missing just two shots all game.
Los Angeles’ lead ballooned again with Luka and Hachimura draining back-to-back triples. At the 4:36 mark, the Lakers emptied their bench.
Key Player Stats:
Luka Dončić ended with 34 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals. LeBron James scored 24 points, three rebounds, five assists and two steals. Deandre Ayton pitched in with 11 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Rui Hachimura scored 12 points with four rebounds and two steals. Jake LaRavia had 11 points, two rebounds, four assists and two steals. Nick Smith Jr. notched 21 points with three rebounds. Marcus Smart did the dirty work with three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
The Lakers’ next matchup will be against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday at 7:30 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
