Lakers dismantle Kings behind Luka Doncic, LeBron James

LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick had called Saturday night in San Francisco the Lakers’ “most-complete” game his team had played post-All-Star break.

The ingredients for the Lakers to control another buzzer-to-buzzer victory were present early in the second half of a back-to-back against the Sacramento Kings, jumping out to a first-half lead as high as 22 on Sunday night. And while the Lakers weren’t quite as dominant, facing some second-and-third-quarter pushback from the Western Conference’s last-place squad, the Lakers (36-24) ultimately cruised to a 128-104 victory.

Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 28 points, nine assists and five rebounds on 10-of-16 shooting (4 of 8 from long range), sending the home crowd on their feet midway through the third quarter when the Slovenian Star lost his balance attempting to step back from mid-range, falling to the floor.

“It was on purpose,” Doncic joked. “I tripped on purpose.”

The MVP candidate, who leads the NBA with 32.6 points per game entering Sunday, kept his dribble and emerged to his feet to nail a fadeaway 3-pointer from the right wing over Sacramento guard Daeqwon Plowden to give the Lakers a 89-65 lead – an advantage which dwindled to as little as 10 points when the Kings began the second half on a short scoring spurt capped off with a layup from Sacramento guard Russell Westbrook (14 points on 6-of-16 shooting).

“Luka did a great job of getting this going,” Redick said.

Redick used a basketball-based euphemism to describe Doncic’s talents, a word that he heard former Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski say to refer to players that create seemingly out-of-nowhere highlight plays that other players wouldn’t otherwise try to convert.

“Coach K used to always use the word daring; there’s a daring to Luka’s game,” Redick said. “One of the many reasons that makes him such a special player.”

LeBron James, whom Redick said Saturday night may have had some hesitation from 3-point range in recent weeks before “pulling the trigger” against the Golden State Warriors, shot well from long range for the second consecutive game on his way to 24 points. The Lakers’ 41-year-old star sank three 3-pointers in the second half, his first of the bunch coming to beat the buzzer to end the third quarter to place the score at 96-76.

Effort plays across the hardwood, such as Marcus Smart sprawling out for a loose ball and shoveling an off-balanced bounce pass across the court for Austin Reaves and James to run a give-and-go down the court on the way to an alley oop from James for a 10-2 lead, or backup forward/center Maxi Kleber posturizing Kings forward Precious Achiuwa in the second quarter – gesturing to his teammates on the bench as he hung on the rim – for a 51-29 lead with 7:07 remaining in the second quarter, nudged the Lakers toward comfortably holding a double-digit lead for almost three-and-a-half quarters Sunday.

Kleber said he feels the emotion from the bench, the ‘joy’ as Redick put it, that his teammates feel when the veteran big man makes highlight plays such as a second poster dunk, a one-handed slam, that he converted in the second half.

“Every time I do something, you know, you look to the bench, everybody’s celebrating,” Kleber said. “Obviously it’s good push for me, good push for the team.”

Smart led the Lakers with five steals – of the team’s 14 overall, their second most in a game this season – in his 22nd-career five-or-more steal game, flexing his trademark defensive tenacity that he’s become known for across the veteran guard’s 12-year career.

“(Smart) was hustling, literally he was on the ground every time, every loose ball,” forward Rui Hachimura said. “Every loose ball, so yeah, I think it started from him.”

Redick added: “I told the team this after; I thought, Smart’s defense tonight, like just totally ignited us.”

As the clock ticked toward zero on Sunday, rookie forward Adou Thiero slammed down a one-handed jam for a three-point play, guard Kobe Bufkin sank a layup off a nifty assist from guard Bronny James, who then sent Crypto.com into its loudest cheer of the night with a step-back 3-pointer.

Hachimura, after having missed the previous two games on the road with an illness, played in 22 minutes and recorded eight points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field. Kings shooting guard Nique Clifford led Sacramento with 26 points in a career-and-team-high 42 minutes, the second-most he’s scored in a game this season.