Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox (5) arms raised and forward Harrison Barnes (40) during a time out as the Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Wed Nov 15, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Sacramento Kings (6-4) had an amazing first quarter en route to a 125-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers (6-6). They handed the Lakers their first home loss of the season as they outplayed them through the first three quarters. This is the first of a six game road trip for Sacramento and a very positive way to start it.

Game recap: The Kings got a great start in the opening quarter scoring 32 points in nine minutes. With less than two minutes left in the first quarter Sacramento had a 37-19 lead. Both Domantas Sabonis and Kevin Huerter had ten points apiece in the quarter. The Kings made six shots from downtown and were looking to continue to control the pace of this game going into the second quarter with a 38-25 lead.

After leading by as much as 20 points in the opening quarter, the Lakers erased that lead pulling to within eight points in the early minutes of the second quarter. Fast break points favored the Kings so far in this game and at 8:59 Sacramento held a 46-35 lead. With 0.1 left on the clocks the second quarter Fox hit a 27-foot jumper and the Kings took a 72-59 lead into the locker room.

Fox already had a 21 point game with Sabonis coming in with 19 points. So far in this game the Kings were dominating the glass. Sacramento finished the half with ten shots from downtown.

Sacramento finished the third quarter with an amazing 16 shots from downtown with Kevin Huerter responsible for six of them. He was having another solid game as the Kings continued to dictate the pace of this game going into the fourth quarter with a 104-80 lead.

The Kings were leading the Lakers in points from the field, shots from downtown, rebounds and only had ten turnovers through three quarters. The 24 point Sacramento lead was the largest they had in the game so far.

The Lakers got a fast start in the fourth quarter scoring six unanswered points. The Kings called a hasty time-out needing to get their offense back on track. It was a horrible start in the final quarter for Sacramento. They let their 24 point lead dwindle to 16. After missing numerous shots to start the quarter the Kings offense started to heat up again although they were committing too many turnovers with five in the quarter.

Both teams were shooting at 50% and the Sacramento offense began to struggle with five minutes left in the game. The 24 point lead that the Kings took into the fourth quarter had been cut in half with the Lakers trailing by a dozen. Sacramento was able to pull it together enough to win this game. This was the Laker’s first home loss of the season.

LeBron James gave his team an outside chance to win this game in the fourth quarter finishing with 28 points. D’Angelo Russell also had 28 points for Los Angeles. The Lakers did have 23 turnovers which hurt them.

Sabonis had the high for the Kings with 29 points and 16 rebounds. Fox and Huerter had 28 points apiece. Harrison Barnes chipped in double digits with 13.

Game notes: Wednesday night the Kings traveled to Los Angeles taking on the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. The Kings had embarked on a six game road trip that started Wednesday night. The Kings came off a win over the Cavaliers Monday night 132-120 that saw the long-awaited return of Fox.

Fox did not disappoint and finished with 28 points. Sacramento had four starters with 20 plus points in that game and they extended their winning streak to three games. Huerter had a terrific night with 20 points and going 6 of 9 from downtown against Cleveland. Keegan Murray and Sabonis also had an outstanding game last Monday.

The Kings sure started this road trip on a positive note with the win Wednesday night. They will be looking to extend their four game winning streak Friday night taking on the San Antonio Spurs with a scheduled 4:30 PM tipoff.