The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night in the second game of a back-to-back, hoping to improve to 3-0 on the young season.

The Lakers lost all four of their meetings with the division rival Kings last season, but this is a new year and they managed a 131-127 victory to remain undefeated.

Anthony Davis’ 0-10 career record against Domantas Sabonis is well documented, but he went to the opposing center for an and-one to start this one. Everyone got involved offensively for the Lakers early and they locked in defensively, jumping out to a 14-6 lead.

After a Kings timeout, Kevin Huerter helped put them in place with back-to-back triples. The Kings had no answer for Davis down low, but they hit another 3 to end the quarter and cut their deficit to 28-26.

LeBron James began to assert his dominance to start the second. He found Dalton Knecht for a triple and then scored himself to give the Lakers a double-digit lead. LA started the second quarter on a 14-1 run, forcing another Kings timeout.

However, the Lakers had a number of careless turnovers from then on and that led to a Kings run that saw Malik Monk get hot. After a D’Angelo Russell three-pointer to end the half, the Lakers went into the locker room with a 64-60 lead.

Sacramento’s momentum continued in the third as Sabonis hit a pair of inside shots, giving them their first lead since the opening minutes. The referees allowed both teams to play physical and the Lakers had a number of costly substitutions as a result.

James found some energy to lead a run and close out the third quarter, making good looks for himself and his teammates. However, De’Aaron Fox stopped that momentum by hitting back-to-back 3s to give his team a 94-87 lead entering the fourth.

It didn’t take long for the Lakers to answer early in the fourth as Knecht made a 3 and James then scored 11 straight points to regain the lead after a 14-0 run.

A timeout for the Kings didn’t seem to solve anything as James continued his nuclear move for LA. The Lakers’ run eventually ended 21-0 when Fox had a steal and a triple.

While DeMar DeRozan and Fox did what they could to keep the Kings within striking distance and cut the lead to two, they had no answer for James and Davis as the Lakers would get the win.

What’s next for the Lakers

After playing the first three games of the season at home, the Lakers will now hit the road for a five-game road trip that will see them play the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies.

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