SACRAMENTO -- The Kings had one of their best overall offensive nights, getting six players in double figures against a short-handed Lakers team playing without Luka Doncic.
It hardly mattered.
Austin Reaves had a career night.
Reaves, who put up 26 and 25 points in the Lakers’ first two games, matched that combined total against the Kings. Reaves set a new career high with 51 points to go with 11 rebounds and nine assists.
That was enough to extend the Lakers' recent dominance of the Kings to five wins in a row.
Domantas Sabonis had 10 points and 14 rebounds. Dennis Schröder scored 18 points and had 12 assists.
NBA
Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s game:
Russ vs. his former team
For all the drama that comes with facing a former team, Westbrook has done an admirable job against the Thunder over the years and added another chapter to that book Sunday against another past squad.
The Thunder franchise leader in scoring and triple-doubles, Westbrook has averaged more than 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 18 previous games against OKC.
He had the Golden 1 Center crowd oohing and ahhing throughout the evening, especially after he scored following a wicked crossover that shook Reaves almost out of his shoes.
You got a sense early on that this game might have meant a little more to Westbrook. After not logging a single second in the first quarter, the nine-time All-Star broke out in the 12 minutes before halftime; he made good on four of six shots in the second frame, including all three of his attempts behind the arc.
LaVine lights it up
Golden 1 Center was buzzing all evening, and not just because fans were anticipating the lighting of the beam. They didn’t need to wait for any postgame electricity, as LaVine was lighting the court up all night with his offensive wizardry.
LaVine used his speed to create spacing and open shots, or to zip past defenders. During one stretch in the third quarter, LaVine scored eight consecutive points for the Kings on two free throws and three turnaround mid-range jumpers.
Who's defending AR15?
Without James or Doncic, the Kings should have had a fairly easy time putting the clamps on the Lakers' offense.
Reaves had different ideas.
Already off to a solid start to the season, Reaves was his usual strong self from the perimeter and repeatedly made good on drives to the basket. Far too many of his points came on open looks or easy drives down the lane. Reaves is obviously talented, but the Kings didn’t have much else to worry about, so where was the focus?