LOS ANGELES – LeBron James started the fourth quarter on Saturday and scored 16 of his game-high 32 points in three minutes, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 131-127 victory over the Sacramento Kings and a 3-127 victory over the Sacramento Kings helped. 0 start of the season.

James was responsible for 18 points in the Lakers’ 21-0 run to start the fourth period, scoring 11 straight points, then assisting on a Jaxson Hayes dunk and then scoring five more points.

While it was a top-notch performance for the 22-year-old veteran, James said he didn’t feel like the fourth-quarter, game-long breakthrough was necessary for LA to win this season.

“Listen, I could do this at 22, but at almost 40, I don’t have to do it for four quarters,” James said after adding 14 rebounds and 10 assists, marking the 113th triple-double of his career. “I have the luxury of having an MVP-caliber player alongside me (in Anthony Davis). AR (Austin Reaves) can get it going in groups, D-Lo (D’Angelo Russell) can catch fire, Rui (Hachimura) has been consistent and can also score in bulk.

“So this team is not built for me to have 16-point quarters in all four quarters. That’s not how it’s structured and it shouldn’t be. We are a team and we all play together.”

In fact, it was so hot that James started the fourth period, but it was Davis who ended it, hitting a 3 and adding a free throw in the final minute to give LA the lead.

“We encourage him, coaches encourage him, we as his teammates encourage him to shoot that 3-ball and probably the best shot of the night was him making that 3-ball, so it made my life easy,” James said of Davis, who scored his third straight 30-point game, tying Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Kobe Bryant for a franchise record for most consecutive 30-point games to start the season.

James had remained relatively quiet in the Lakers’ first two wins against Minnesota and Phoenix, which saw them score a combined 37 points.

“Just when you think he’s slowing down, he continues to show the world why he’s the greatest,” Davis said of James. “During that stretch he actually looked at the bench and tried to get out of the game. We told him, ‘You’re not coming out.’ He comes out and hits another three-pointer. He continues to surprise each of us because we just know what he is capable of and what he can do.”

While every other Lakers starter had 16 points or more, supporting James’ assertion that he doesn’t need to strive to score aggressively from the first tip to the final whistle, there’s nothing left for LA to do once he finds a rhythm like that Do, but embrace it.

“What can you say?” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We’ve all been so fortunate to watch his greatness for so long, and the fact that he can continue to do so is just crazy.”