The Lakers handed the Sacramento Kings their second loss of the season, 131-127, after LeBron James took the lead in the fourth game.

Anthony Davis scored 31 points with nine rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks. LeBron finished with 32 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and a block. Rui Hachimura contributed 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

D’Angelo Russell had 16 points with four rebounds, five assists and two steals. Dalton Knecht had 10 points. Austin Reaves grabbed seven rebounds to go with his 16 points and six assists.

Kings center Domantas Sabonis started the scoring with an emphatic dunk. AD and D’Lo both followed with And-1s, which they converted. The Lakers went up by six. The Kings missed most of their shots from behind the arc In the first game we shot 3-13 as a team.

Kevin Huerter’s two 3-pointers helped jump-start the Kings’ offense and made it a one-point game. The Lakers immediately countered and extended their lead to five.

Sacramento went on an 8-2 run and cut the deficit to two at the end of the first period.

LeBron started the second period with a layup and behind-the-back pass to Dalton for a 3-pointer, giving LA a 12-point lead on a difficult fadeaway shot over Keegan Murray.

After the Lakers led by as many as 15, Sacramento slowly began to pull away and cut the deficit to 10.

Both teams exchanged baskets, helping the Kings stay close enough to mount an attack. Sacramento cut the deficit to two with a sudden 10-0 scoring run. D’Lo knocked down a three-pointer to stop the bleeding.

The Kings made a strong push to end the half, but another three-pointer from D’Lo brought the Lakers within four points at halftime.

The second half started the same way as the first, with Sabonis striking first. Austin responded with a nice mid-range shot. The Kings had turned the momentum in their favor and were up by three.

LA’s turnovers were up to 12 and they looked very sloppy with the ball. Sacramento still had the momentum while the Lakers played with less energy and struggled to put points on the board.

LeBron hit a much-needed 3-pointer to bring the score closer, but the Kings answered and extended their lead to seven. Once Sacramento increased the momentum even further, LA fought through its struggles and crept closer.

The Lakers had made it a one-point game, but DeAaron Fox knocked down two 3-pointers to extend Sacramento’s lead to seven at the end of the third.

The Lakers opened the final frame with two 3-pointers, so there was only one point left. LeBron knocked down another shot, putting LA up by one. He continued his barrage, converting an and-1. LeBron made another three-pointer and suddenly the Lakers had all the momentum.

Los Angeles’ run had expanded to 21-0, with LeBron scoring basket after basket. Fox knocked down a three-pointer of his own to stop the bleeding for Sacramento.

The Lakers maintained the momentum while the Kings desperately tried to score any way they could.

DeMar DeRozan started with his usual mid-range shots, knocking down three-pointers. With 4:35 minutes left, LeBron was substituted on again and the Lakers were ten minutes ahead. AD made two shots in a row, but the Kings responded and the lead shrank to four.

A 3-pointer from AD and a dunk from Rui put the final nail in the coffin as the Kings couldn’t put up enough points to come back in the end.

Key Takeaways:

In these first three games of the season, the Lakers gave it their all with turnovers. Tonight’s game was a poor ball-losing game – there were a lot of ball-handling miscues that need to be addressed.

AD’s MVP case skyrocketed again with his performance tonight.

It’s remarkable to see how LeBron has been able to take over a game in 22 seasons.

The Lakers’ next game is against the Phoenix Suns on Monday at 7:00 p.m. PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.