Youthful Kings reign over slow-starting Lakers

(Reuters) – The Los Angeles Lakers  continued their stumbling start to a new era with a 100-91 road  loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday as the visitors matched  their poorest opening to a campaign for nine years.
Following their fourth-quarter meltdown against the Chicago  Bulls on Christmas Day, the Lakers (0-2) were overpowered by the  young Kings, leaving new coach Mike Brown still searching for  his first victory since taking over in the off-season.
Marcus Thornton scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth  quarter for Sacramento and Tyreke Evans added 20 to cancel out a  game-high 29 from Los Angeles’s Kobe Bryant.
The Kings looked fresh in what was their season opener,  continually beating the Lakers for pace around the court to  build a 14-point advantage through three quarters.
Los Angeles, however, woke from their slumber and fought  back to trail 89-87 late in the game, but Sacramento used an 8-0  run in the final few minutes to ensure the Lakers lost their  first two games of a season for the first time since 2002.