Sacramento Kings light the beam despite big game by Lakers star Luka Doncic

Jason Anderson, The Sacramento Bee on Jan 13, 2026

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Malik Monk came off the bench for the second night in a row to provide the spark the Sacramento Kings needed to pull off an impressive win.

Monk posted season highs of 26 points and eight assists to lead the Kings to a 124-112 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday before a sellout crowd of 17,832 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

Monk, who fell out of coach Doug Christie’s rotation recently, went 9 of 15 from the field and 7 of 9 from 3-point range.

“Shot was falling, man,” Monk said. “My 3 was falling. That’s really about it. My 3 was falling and I just stuck with it.”

DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points for the Kings (10-30), who improved to 2-5 in back-to-backs after beating the Houston Rockets on Sunday.

Russell Westbrook had 22 points, five rebounds and seven assists for Sacramento. Zach LaVine scored 19 points.

Luka Doncic scored had 42 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for the Lakers (23-14), who have lost three in a row. LeBron James scored 22 points. Deandre Ayton had 13 points and 13 rebounds.The Kings shot 58.5% from the field and made 17 of 26 (.654) from 3-point range. They have won consecutive games for just the second time this season.

“Credit to the guys,” Kings coach Doug Christie said. “I told them before the game that you’re going to face adversity. Adversity doesn’t miss you, but their willingness to continue to compete and overcome that, that says a lot about who you are in those moments. So, great effort. Just love the compete level. You’re going to win some. Whatever, but you play like that, with your heart like that, you can look at yourself in the mirror.”

Halftime report

James threw down an alley-oop dunk on the opening possession to set an early tone. James and Doncic combined to score 16 points over the first six minutes as the Lakers jumped out to a 17-10 advantage.

The Kings came back to take a 28-27 lead on a layup by LaVine. They led 32-28 at the end of the first quarter after outscoring the Lakers 18-6 over the final 4:38.

Sacramento went up 43-33 on a 3-pointer by Monk, who came off the bench to provide a spark for the second night in a row after scoring 15 points in Sunday’s win over the Rockets.

Monk scored 18 points in his first 12 minutes, going 6 of 7 from the field and 5 of 5 from 3-point range. His fifth 3-pointer put Sacramento up 57-41 with 3:18 to play in the first half.

Los Angeles ended the half with an 11-2 run to cut into Sacramento’s lead. The Kings led 61-54 at the halftime break after Doncic hit a 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds remaining.

Doncic led all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, but his teammates combined to go 11 of 32 from the field. The Kings shot 53.7% while making 8 of 13 (.615) from 3-point range. The Lakers shot 45.7% while going 3 of 19 (.158) from long distance.

Second-half summary

The Kings came out strong to start the second half, outscoring the Lakers 18-5 over the first 5:02. They took a 73-53 lead on a 3-pointer by LaVine and went up by 20 on a long ball by Westbrook with 6:58 to play in the third quarter.

Doncic did all he could do to keep the Lakers in the game. He scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the third period, but the Lakers still found themselves trailing 95-83 at the start of the fourth quarter.

The Kings went up by 14 points early in the fourth, but the Lakers found a way to cut into their lead with Doncic on the bench. Gabe Vincent hit two 3-pointers in a span of 1:58 as Los Angeles came back to cut the deficit to seven with 8:03 to play.

Doncic returned with ill intentions as the Lakers tried to complete their comeback, but Monk, DeRozan and LaVine hit big shots down the stretch to help the Kings hang on for the win.

Up next

The Kings will be back in action Wednesday when they play host to the New York Knicks in the third game of a seven-game homestand.

The Knicks (25-14) are led by former Kings coach Mike Brown, who was fired in December 2024 after posting a 107-88 record in two-plus seasons. New York is second in the Eastern Conference, 3 ½ games behind the Detroit Pistons.

Jalen Brunson is averaging 28.9 points and 6.3 assists for the Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns averages 21.2 points and 11.4 rebounds. Mikal Bridges (15.9 ppg), OG Anunoby (15.6 ppg), Miles McBride (12.7 ppg) and Josh Hart (12.4 ppg) are also scoring in double figures.

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