NBA: Kings rally past Lakers to extend win streak
De’Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings takes a shot against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second half at Crypto.com Arena on January 18, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images/AFP
De’Aaron Fox scored 31 points and Harrison Barnes added 20 as the visiting Sacramento Kings rallied from a slow start to extend their winning streak to five games with a 116-111 victory Wednesday over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kevin Huerter scored 18 points as the Kings went down 14 points in the first quarter before pushing ahead by halftime. Sacramento has won consecutive road games, the only two away from home over the last two weeks. The Kings improved to 5-2 during that time.
Sacramento won without second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Domantas Sabonis, who was out with a non-COVID illness.
LeBron James scored 32 points and Russell Westbrook added 19 as the Lakers lost for the fourth time over their past five games. Los Angeles was unable to repeat the victory it earned at Sacramento on Jan. 7 as the Kings won the season series 3-1.
De'Aaron Fox led the Kings to the W in LA with 31 PTS and 6 AST 🔥
Sacramento has won 5 straight pic.twitter.com/uhHjv6iGQ4
— NBA (@NBA) January 19, 2023
Kendrick Nunn scored 14 points for the Lakers, while Max Christie added 12.
LeBron moved to 38,104 points for his career, 283 behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time NBA scoring lead.
LeBron tonight:
32 PTS
8 REB
9 AST pic.twitter.com/QsOAXrhkOB— NBA (@NBA) January 19, 2023
The Lakers got off to a hot start, leading by 16 points in the first quarter and holding a 39-28 lead at the end of the opening period. The Kings turned on the defense in the second quarter and took a 61-60 advantage at halftime.
Sacramento pushed its advantage to as many as 14 points in the third quarter and led 90-82 heading into the final period. The Kings led 108-103 lead with 2:34 remaining but a three-point play by James got the Lakers even at 108-108 with 1:01 left.
The Kings answered with a three-point play from Barnes with 50.0 seconds remaining, got a defensive stop on the other end and a free throw from Fox with 12.3 seconds left for a 112-108 advantage. The Kings sealed it with four free throws over the final 5.0 seconds.
Richaun Holmes had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, while Keegan Murray had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
