The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night in Game 2 of a back-and-forth, looking to improve to 3-0 on the new season.
The Lakers lost all four of their matches against their rival Kings last season, but this is a new year and they were able to achieve a 131-127 victory to remain undefeated.
Anthony Davis’s 0-10 record against Domantas Sabonis in his career is well-documented, but he went to the opposition center for one and one to start this game. Everyone was getting involved offensively for the Lakers early and they were stymied defensively, taking a 14-6 lead.
After a Kings timeout, Kevin Huerter helped seal the game with straight threes. The Kings had no answer for Davis, but scored another 3 to end the quarter to cut their deficit to 28-26.
LeBron James began to assert his dominance to start the second half, as Dalton Knecht hit a hat-trick and then scored himself to give the Lakers a double-digit lead. Los Angeles started the second quarter on a 14-1 run, giving the Kings another shutout.
The Lakers had some sloppy turnovers from there leading up to a Kings run with Malik Monk overheating. After a 3-pointer by D’Angelo Russell to end the half, the Lakers went into the locker room leading 64-60.
Sacramento’s momentum continued in the third period as Sabonis hit two shots from inside to give them their first lead since the opening minutes. The referees were letting both teams play physical and the Lakers had some costly turnovers as a result.
James found some energy to lead the way until the end of the third quarter, getting good looks for himself and his teammates. However, De’Aaron Fox halted that momentum, making back-to-back 3s to give his team a 94-87 lead going into the fourth.
It didn’t take long for the Lakers to respond early in the fourth, as Knecht hit a 3 and then James scored 11 straight points to regain a 14-0 lead.
The Kings’ timeout didn’t seem to solve anything as James continued to become a nuke for Los Angeles. The Lakers’ run finally ended on a 21-0 run when Fox got a steal and a three-pointer.
While DeMar DeRozan and Fox did what they could to keep the Kings within striking distance and cut it down to two, they had no answer for James and Davis down the stretch as the Lakers would go on to close out the victory.
What’s next for the Lakers?
After playing their first three games of the season at home, the Lakers will now head out on a five-game road trip where they will take on the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies.
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