As long as the Lakers have Luka Doncic on the court, they always have a chance of winning, regardless of the opponent.
And regardless of the circumstances.
The Lakers’ 128-117 Friday night win over the Pacers at Crypto.com Arena, which was the second night of a back-to-back and witnessed star forward LeBron James and starting center Deandre Ayton watching from the bench in street clothes, was a quick reminder.
Doncic, who entered Friday leading the league in first-quarter scoring (11.5 points), got off to one of his signature hot starts, scoring 22 points in the first quarter to give the Lakers an early advantage they didn’t relinquish.
Friday marked Doncic’s league-leading fifth 20-point first quarter outing of the season, which is the most by any player in the play-by-play era (1996-97), according to ESPN.
Already the league’s scorer, Doncic finished with 44 points on 14-of-25 shooting, including 7 of 14 on 3s, to go with nine rebounds and five assists in the 32 minutes he played in the first three quarters.
Austin Reaves (19 points, five assists) and Luke Kennard (15 points, seven rebounds off of the bench) picked up the slack in the fourth so Doncic didn’t have to play in the final quarter.
Reaves picked up his sixth foul in the fourth, just the second time in his career he’s fouled out of a game.
What it means
Just one day after losing ground in the Western Conference standings with Thursday’s loss in Denver, the Lakers made up for it by beating the Pacers.
The Lakers, who improved to 38-25 on the season and are sitting at No. 6 in the West, moved to half a game behind the No. 5 Nuggets.
Turning point
When Doncic hit a catch-and-shoot 3 at the 7:48 mark in the first quarter.
Doncic’s second 3 of the game started a personal 6-0 run the Lakers needed to prevent themselves from having another slow start.
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The 27-year-old Slovenian guard scored 13 of the Lakers’ final 15 points of the first to give them a 35-27 lead going into the second.
MVP: Luka Doncic
Friday was Doncic’s 10th 40-point game of the season.
Doncic broke a tie with Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards for the most 40-point games this season.
Stat of the game: 12
Friday was Doncic’s 12th 40-point game as a Laker, passing Gail Goodrich (11) for the ninth-most in franchise history, according to the team.
Doncic is the fourth player in franchise history to record 10 or more 40-point games in a season, joining Kobe Bryant (four times), Elgin Baylor (three) and Jerry West (three).
Up next
The Lakers’ homestand will continue when they host the Knicks on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
The Knicks have won 15 of their last 20 games, including a blowout win over the Nuggets in Denver on Friday.
