Luka Doncic had 28 points and nine assists, LeBron James added 24 points and the Los Angeles Lakers finished a back-to-back set with a 128-104 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
Austin Reaves scored 12 points for the Lakers, who also won at Golden State on Saturday to end a three-game skid. After a week of unimpressive play following the All-Star break, Los Angeles snapped back into form on the weekend, beating its two Northern California rivals by a combined 52 points.
Doncic made four 3-pointers as the NBA’s leading scorer played only the first three quarters, while James, Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard hit three 3s apiece. The Lakers made 17 of their first 33 3-point attempts while the starters were still playing, flirting with the franchise record for 3-point shooting percentage before finishing 18 of 39.
The 41-year-old James had a pair of rim-shaking dunks that he celebrated with zeal during a comfortable win for the Lakers, who never trailed again after Sacramento scored the game’s opening basket.
Nique Clifford scored 26 points for the Kings in their fourth consecutive loss at the Lakers’ downtown arena. Russell Westbrook had 14 points against his former team in his hometown.
Deandre Ayton had 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting for the Lakers, who opened a 22-point lead in the first half.
Doncic, Reaves and Ayton all got the fourth quarter off to rest up with four games looming over the next seven days. Los Angeles is still early in a five-week stretch with no consecutive days off.-AP
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