By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
With tennis legend Novak Djokovic in attendance at crypto.com Arena on Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers finalized a perfect weekend, overpowering the Sacramento Kings with a 128-104 victory, improving their 2025-26 NBA Regular Season record to 36-24.
The atmosphere was charged by the presence of the Serbian icon, who shared a warm exchange with the Lakers‘ leader, Luka Doncic. The Slovenian superstar dominated the floor, fueling the win with 28 points on an efficient 10-of-16 shooting performance, including four strikes from beyond the arc. Despite playing only 29 minutes in the blowout, the 27-year-old guard orchestrated the offense with nine assists, while adding a block and a steal to his stat line.
In the postgame press conference, Doncic expressed his admiration for his fellow Balkan athlete. “For me, he’s the GOAT. So, for him being here, watching me, it’s just unbelievable. I talked to him. I’ll probably see him after. I’m just excited he’s here,” he noted.
Addressing the external pressure on the team, he cleverly referenced actual white noise humming outside the media room: “Obviously, there is a lot of noise outside. I try to not pay attention to that. We got to go game-by-game, and the last two games I think we played great.”
Support for the Lakers also came from German forward Maxi Kleber, who contributed six points and six rebounds off the bench for coach JJ Redick.
The Kings struggled without Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis, ruled out for the rest of the season. While French starter Maxime Raynaud posted a 16-point double-double, fellow countryman Killian Hayes went scoreless.