Lakers come from behind to defeat Kings
SACRAMENTO -- Nick Young, D'Angelo Russell and Lou Williams put a second-half hurting on the Sacramento Kings, and the Los Angeles Lakers added another feather to their impressive start.
Young scored 13 of his 16 points after halftime, while Russell and Williams combined for 20 in the final 24 minutes, and the Lakers overcame a 19-point deficit in a 101-91 victory over the Kings at Golden 1 Center.
Los Angeles (5-4), coming off the worst three seasons in franchise history and not expected to make a huge leap under first-year coach Luke Walton, made 20 of 37 shots from the field in the final 24 minutes, and methodically took apart Sacramento to win for the fourth time in five games. The 4-1 stretch marks the first such spurt for the Lakers since November 2013.
Williams finished with a team-high 19 points, and Russell finished with 17 points for the Lakers.
Center DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings (4-6) with 28 points and nine rebounds, but the Lakers held him scoreless for a 21-minute stretch over the second and third quarters as they turned around the game.
It appeared initially as if the Kings would cruise. Cousins scored 18 of their first 51 points as they built a 19-point lead with 3:46 remaining in the first half. But Los Angeles closed with a 13-4 run before intermission, sparked by Russell's six-point spurt, then carried that momentum into the third quarter, outscoring Sacramento 25-18.
Williams' floater in the key 20 seconds into the final quarter gave Los Angeles a 74-73 lead that they eventually built to 87-82 with 4:34 left on his 3-pointer from the left wing.
The Kings went cold on their end, connecting on only seven field goals in the third quarter and canning just 12 of 41 shots after halftime. Cousins didn't score his first points after halftime until hitting a 3-pointer to tie the game 80-80 with 6:31 to go in the contest.
The Lakers scored seven of the next nine points and built a 97-89 lead to put the Kings away.
Julius Randle added 15 points and Timofey Mozgov added 10 for the Lakers. Rudy Gay scored 15 points and pulled eight rebounds for the Kings.
NOTES: Sacramento plays in Portland on Saturday in the second of their fourth set of back-to-back contests already this season. The Kings split the first three back-to-backs en route to playing 11 games in the season's first 17 days. After facing the Blazers, the Kings take four days off before opening a five-game homestand Wednesday against San Antonio. It will be their longest break of the season, excluding the seven days they get for the All-Star Game. ... Lakers F Larry Nance Jr. returned to the floor after being cleared by the NBA's concussion protocol team. He missed the Lakers' 109-97 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday after taking an elbow in the head. ... C DeMarcus Cousins entered Thursday 10 free throws ahead of Mitch Richmond as the Kings' all-team leader in free-throw attempts (3,098) -- a mark he set Tuesday -- but needing to make 357 more to move past Richmond as its all-time leader in free throws made. ... Nine Lakers players are averaging at least 20 minutes a game this season.