James and Malik Monk combined for 55 points, including five 3-pointers in a fourth quarter that allowed the Lakers to beat Kings 122-114.
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LeBron James led the LA Lakers to victory against Sacramento Kings in the NBA fixture on Tuesday night. James is in superb form having helped his team to get past Portland Trail Blazers, on New Years Eve, with a dominant 139-106 win. After that, they overcame the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 108-103 win on Sunday. Today they got through Sacramento Kings at the Crypto.com Arena. In all those games, the Lakers didn’t have a great game as a team but James was at his usual best to carry the team forward.
.@Lakers get a close win at home ? pic.twitter.com/lsyEOwHkcD
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 5, 2022
James and Malik Monk combined for 55 points, including five 3-pointers in a fourth quarter that allowed the Lakers to beat Kings 122-114. James finished with a game-high 31 points and Monk had 24 as the Lakers won the third straight game to open a five-game home stand. De’Aaron Fox scored a team-high 30 points and Buddy Hield tallied 26 for the Kings, who suffered only the second loss in their last five games.
The Lakers were down 96-89 with eight minutes and 11 seconds left, before James scored 14 points and Malik Monk 11 to help turn things around. Talen horton-Tucker and Russell Westbrook added 19 points for the Lakers. While Dwight Howard put up a double with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Harrison Barness scored 14 points and Damian Jones 11 for the Kings. Marvin Bagley III led Sacramento with 12 rebounds, while haliburton amassed a game-high nine assists to complement seven points.
Elsewhere, David Booker scored 33 points and Chris Paul had a double-double as the short-handed Phoenix Suns defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 123-110. Paul had 11 points and 15 assists, Mikal Bridges scored 23, Cameron Johnson added 18, Bismack Biyombo had 16 and Jalen Smith had 12.
Paul was once again brilliant with his showtime dimes, he was delivering them left and right to all his teammates. The Suns overcame the absence of head coach Monty Williams, starters Deandre Ayton and Jae Crowder, and backups JaVale McGee and Abdel Nadar, all of whom were in the health and safety protocols.
Devonte Graham scored 28, Jonam Valanciunas had 25 points and 16 rebounds, Brandon Ingram scored 16 and Josh Hart had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans. They sure tried to keep up with Booker and a generous Paul but the suns were simply too good.
