SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Facing one of the best big men in the game, the Los Angeles Lakers knew this one would be a fight.
But as they matched the Sacramento Kings and DeMarcus Cousins blow for blow, they showed themselves ready for the bout. The Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings, 101-91, for their second road win of the season. With the win they improved their record to 5-4. Lou Williams led the Lakers with 21 points, scoring 13 of them in the fourth quarter. D'Angelo Russell added 17, Nick Young, 16, Julius Randle 15 and Timofey Mozgov 10. The Lakers improved to 5-1 when they have at least five players in double figures.
The Lakers began their second road trip in a once-hostile city, facing a Kings team trying to get their winning percentage to .500.
The energized Kings raced to an early lead, on the back of their talented center DeMarcus Cousins. By the end of the first quarter, Cousins already had 10 points and the Lakers didn't have any players with more than five.
A constant specter throughout the early part of the season, continued to torment the Lakers early. They turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, for 20 Kings points. For a time, that was the difference in the game. The Lakers trailed by 19 points during the first half before riding a 9-2 run to cut the Kings' lead to 10 at halftime.
The Kings lead remained solid for much of the third quarter, until a 7-2 run cut it to three.
Larry Nance Jr., who had missed the Lakers last game with a concussion, fought the Lakers back into the game. In the final five minutes of the third quarter, Nance had three rebounds, two steals and a cutting dunk on an assist from Jordan Clarkson.
Late in games, stars have hurt the Lakers. Paul George did so in Indianapolis. Russell Westbrook did so throughout the Lakers loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Cousins threatened to do so in the fourth quarter on Thursday. He hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 80, then followed with a layup to give the Kings an 82-80 lead.
The Lakers responded with a 12-0 run punctuated by a banked-in three from Nick Young, which led to a Kings time out and frenzied the sizable group of Lakers fans at Golden 1 Center.
Lakers Coach Luke Walton closed out the game with Brandon Ingram, Nick Young, Timofey Mozgov, Williams and Julius Randle.
Cousins plucked away Williams' inbounds pass as the fourth quarter closed, but the Kings couldn't score off that turnover. They fouled Randle 16.2 seconds remaining, and as he shot his free throws, Kings fans filed out of the building, while their Lakers counterparts remained.
