LOS ANGELES — — Mike Brown is starting to run out of adjectives to describe De’Aaron Fox.
The Sacramento Kings coach might need a thesaurus with the type of season his top-performing guard is having.
Fox tied a career high with 44 points as the Kings continued their mastery of the Los Angeles Lakers with a 130-120 victory Wednesday night. It was Fox’s seventh game this season with at least 40 points, the fourth most in the NBA.
“He was incredible. I hate using that word because to me, that’s who he is,” Brown said. “It’s tough to score 44 points every night, especially with the percentage he did it at, but he’s more than capable with his abilities. It was a big game for him in a big game environment.
Malik Monk added 26 and Domantas Sabonis recorded his 22nd triple-double this season – and his fourth in seven games – with 16 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists as the Kings won their fourth straight game against the Lakers since last season.
Sacramento has won six of the last seven games against its Pacific Division rival and remained seventh in the Western Conference with a 35-26 record. The Kings are a half-game behind Phoenix for sixth place and do not have to participate in the play-in tournament.
“Right now in the standings, if we lose this game, we’re a half-game ahead of them rather than 2 1/2 like we are right now,” Fox said. “So right now, especially playing teams that are around us in the standings, these games mean a little bit more.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 31 points and 13 assists. He exited with 3:56 left with the game out of control after twisting his left ankle. James has been listed as questionable on the injury report since the All-Star break due to the ankle.
“Some games are better than others. I didn’t feel it in the Oklahoma City game (Monday) and I didn’t feel it tonight until the fourth quarter,” he said. “Some days are better than others.”
Rui Hachimura scored 29, while Anthony Davis had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Los Angeles (34-30) had a chance to catch up in the conference standings, but remains 10th.
Sacramento arrived having lost three of its last four games, including a 113-109 loss to Chicago on Monday after holding a 22-point lead late in the third quarter.
The Kings looked early as if Monday’s loss still bothered them as they fell behind by 19 points in the first quarter. But Sacramento dominated the second quarter, outscoring LA 44-20 to take a 72-57 halftime advantage.
“We got some deflections and got out in transition, which was huge for us in the second quarter,” Fox said. “We scored 44 points, but I think a lot of that was due to the way we played defensively.”
A 3-point basket by D’Angelo Russell gave the Lakers a 37-18 advantage with 1:52 left in the first quarter before the Kings began to rally.
Sacramento finished the first 12 minutes with 10 straight points. The Kings trailed 48-40 before closing the half on a 32-9 run.
The Kings began their surge with 10 straight points. Mitchell’s 3-pointer tied it at 48 midway through the quarter before a Trey Lyles dunk put them in front.
Sacramento was 13 of 14 from the field in the final 7:32 of the first half, including six 3-pointers. Mitchell and Fox scored nine points each and Monk added seven.
“They had some easy chances in transition and they were able to get in and make some tough shots. We have to be able to maintain the sense of urgency,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “We’re talking about imposing our will on the game. We obviously started it, but we didn’t sustain it and we certainly didn’t finish it.
The Kings’ largest lead was 22 points late in the third quarter before the Lakers closed out the streak on a 15-5 run.
The Lakers, however, never managed to reach single digits.
FOLLOWING
Kings: Host San Antonio on Thursday.
Lakers: Host Milwaukee on Friday.
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