Scheduled
2026-27 · Regular season
Lakers beat Kings 116-103 as Luka Dončić scores 40 and Los Angeles pulls away late
Luka Dončić scored 40 points with 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and Walker Kessler had 4 blocks, as the Lakers beat the Kings 116-103 and Sacramento fell to 1-7.
In this article
Luka Dončić scored 40 points on 6-of-13 three-point shooting and 12-of-13 free-throw shooting, with 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings 116-103 at Golden 1 Center on Wednesday, November 4. Austin Reaves scored 21 and Walker Kessler had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks for the Lakers (7-2). Darius Acuff Jr. had 22 points and 12 assists for the Kings, who fell to 1-7.
Dončić takes over the second quarter
The first quarter ended 28-28 with Dončić scoring 10 of the Lakers’ points. Sacramento tied it at 46 with 4:43 left in the second quarter, and Dončić then scored 11 straight points for the Lakers: a 16-foot pull-up, a step-back three, a 29-foot running pull-up and a 30-foot three off a Sandro Mamukelashvili pass. He had 23 points at halftime, and Reaves’s layup off a Dončić pass and two Dončić free throws made it 61-51 before Acuff hit a 27-foot three with 39.3 seconds left to make it 61-54 at the break.
Video: NBA / X.
Sacramento cuts it to four, then Los Angeles pulls away
The Kings got within four, 69-65, on a De’Andre Hunter layup with 8:14 left in the third quarter. Dončić then took over the rest of the period, scoring 12 of the Lakers’ 26 points in it with a step-back three, a floater and a turnaround three from 27 feet, and also assisted on a Kessler dunk and a Reaves jumper. Los Angeles led 87-71 after Jake LaRavia’s layup off a Dončić pass with 27 seconds left, and Acuff’s three with 3.5 seconds left made it 87-74 going into the fourth.
Kessler scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. Sacramento made a 9-1 run on Malik Monk threes at 6:06 and 4:55 and an Emanuel Sharp jumper at 4:07 to get within seven, 101-94, but the Lakers answered with a 15-4 run of their own. Dončić went 5 of 5 at the line down the stretch, Kessler added two free throws and two baskets, and Quentin Grimes’ layup off a Jaden Hardy pass with 50.6 seconds left made it 116-98, the Lakers’ largest lead.
Video: NBA / X.
The numbers
Los Angeles shot 35 of 78 (45%), made 12 of 38 threes and 34 of 38 free throws, and had 13 blocks, 11 steals and only 12 turnovers. Sacramento shot 35 of 90 (39%), made 12 of 38 threes and 21 of 28 free throws, had 18 turnovers, and outrebounded the Lakers 46-38 and outscored them 40-34 in the paint. The Lakers scored 23 points off Kings turnovers to Sacramento’s 8 off Lakers turnovers and had a 21-11 edge in fast-break points.
Dončić shot 11 of 23 with 6 turnovers and was +11 in 35 minutes. Reaves shot 7 of 15 with 6-of-6 free throws and 4 assists. Kessler shot 6 of 8 and had 3 steals and 4 blocks. Ziaire Williams scored 10 off the bench, Collin Sexton also had 10, LaRavia had 9 on 3-of-3 shooting, and Grimes scored 6 in 25 minutes and was +19.
Sacramento’s side
Acuff shot 8 of 24 and 3 of 11 from three, with 4 turnovers in 42 minutes, and did not score in the fourth quarter. Zach LaVine scored 21 on 6-of-14 shooting with 6 turnovers, Domantas Sabonis had 16 points and 17 rebounds, including 6 offensive rebounds, Hunter scored 14, and Monk had 13 on 5-of-16 shooting off the bench.
What’s next
The Lakers host the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, November 6, at 10:00 p.m. ET (5:00 a.m. Saturday Cairo time). The Kings host the San Antonio Spurs at the same time.
Full box score and play-by-play: Game Center. All-time head-to-head.
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