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October 6, 2026 at 10:50 PM UTC

Postgame Report

Lakers Open Preseason With a 127-103 Rout of Kings

Luka Doncic scored 21 points in 16 minutes as the Lakers opened their preseason in Sacramento with a 24-point win over a Kings team that had few answers.

Sacramento hosted a preseason party and the Lakers showed up and scored 127 Photo: Yahoo Sports.
Sacramento hosted a preseason party and the Lakers showed up and scored 127 Photo: Yahoo Sports.

The Lakers waited a long time for this one, and on Monday night at Golden 1 Center they made the first game of their preseason look easy. They beat the Sacramento Kings 127-103, a 24-point margin that was never really in doubt once the Los Angeles bench settled into the second half. After months of camp talk, it was the first real look at a roster that has changed a good deal.

The larger question going in was how much the regulars would work, and Luka Doncic answered it for one night. Doncic started and played 16 minutes, scoring 21 points with three assists and two rebounds. J.J. Redick has not said how often the stars will play over the coming games, and nothing Monday settled that. Doncic's night was efficient and brief, and that is about as much as can be read into it.

The schedule will shape those decisions. This was the front end of a back-to-back and the first of three games in four days, which tends to keep rosters thin and minutes spread out. The Lakers leaned on that depth. Cameron Carr scored 19 points in 23 minutes off the bench, and Quentin Grimes added 16 in 19 as a starter. Ziaire Williams had 13, Jake LaRavia had 12, and Chris Manon scored 12 in just 12 minutes. Kevon Looney started and grabbed nine rebounds in 18 minutes without scoring much.

This also gave the first extended look at many new faces in Lakers uniforms, and the picture was mostly encouraging. Sandro Mamukelashvili had five assists, and Adou Thiero finished with four rebounds and four assists. For Sacramento, Nique Clifford led all scorers' second tier with 23 points and nine rebounds, Darius Acuff Jr. added 19, and Dylan Cardwell had 10 rebounds. Domantas Sabonis played only 10 minutes and Zach LaVine 15, which suggests the Kings were also easing into the schedule.

LAL 127, SAC 103. Photo: Yahoo Sports.
LAL 127, SAC 103. Photo: Yahoo Sports.
Lakers beat Sacramento 127-103, and the Kings' schedule apparently offered no time for defense Photo: Yahoo Sports.
Lakers beat Sacramento 127-103, and the Kings' schedule apparently offered no time for defense Photo: Yahoo Sports.

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