With just a few games remaining in the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night in a contest that carried enormous standings ramifications.

The Kings had defeated the Lakers in both of their previous meetings this season, and Sacramento continued to dominate from the second quarter onward to win 130–120.

Thanks to five points from Austin Reaves and a three-pointer from LeBron James, the Lakers were up early in this one. After that, Anthony Davis added a three-point play of his own, and D’Angelo Russell made a deep 3-pointer to give Los Angeles an early 16-7 lead.

From there, the Lakers kept up the pressure, first with a long-range jumper from Spencer Dinwiddie and then with five straight points from Rui Hachimura to increase the advantage to 30-13.

Towards the end of the quarter, De’Aaron Fox gained momentum, though, and the Kings went on a tear to reduce their deficit to 37-28.

The Lakers were forced to call a timeout as Sacramento’s lead shrank to six points in the second quarter.

After that, Taurean Prince’s 3-pointer and James’ incredible poster slam helped the Lakers regain momentum. Though the Lakers were having trouble scoring points, Malik Monk did a fantastic job of providing a spark off the bench for the Kings as they went on to gradually take a 50-48 lead.

From then on, the Kings continued to dominate, making three triples to take a double-digit lead of their own. Throughout the entire second quarter, Fox and Monk alternatedly assaulted different players, making it appear as though the Lakers defence was unable to stop them. The Lakers were behind 72-57 going into the locker room after Fox beat the halftime buzzer.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Sacramento increased their lead to twenty points, and the Lakers quickly followed with six straight wins. Nevertheless, the Kings maintained their dominance after a cunning timeout by Fox. Davis was sent to the bench after picking up his fourth foul, which allowed Fox to easily get to the rim.

By the end of the third quarter, James attacked the hoop to cut the lead to 12 points, and the Lakers finally looked like a team. The Lakers entered the fourth quarter losing 104-92, and that’s where it remained at the end of the third quarter.

James came off the bench to start the fourth quarter, and the Kings rapidly increased their lead to 17. With about five minutes remaining, the Lakers managed to cut the lead to 12 after bringing LeBron back in for a final push.

However, the Kings came back after the stoppage and won the game handily.