Kings rally past Lakers to extend win streak

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 over the Los Angeles Lakers on  Wednesday, January 18 (Thursday, January 19, Manila time).

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.

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 January 7 as the Kings won the season series 3-1.

Sacramento won without second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Domantas Sabonis, who was out with a non-COVID illness.

Kendrick Nunn scored 14 points for the Lakers, while Max Christie added 12.

James moved to 38,104 points for his career, 283 behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time NBA scoring lead.

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. – Rappler.com