Luka Doncic pours in 51 as Lakers surge past Bulls in LeBron’s comeback
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LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic erupted for 51 points Thursday night, propelling the Los Angeles Lakers to a 142-130 victory over the Chicago Bulls and marking his highest-scoring performance since joining the franchise.
The outburst came in LeBron James’ first appearance after missing three games with foot, elbow and hip issues. James finished with 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting, seven rebounds and seven assists while repeatedly urging the Crypto.com Arena crowd to salute Doncic as the guard exited late in the fourth quarter.
All five Lakers starters reached double figures, combining for 137 points — the most by any starting unit in a regulation game since the 1970-71 season, according to ESPN Research. Austin Reaves poured in 30, Deandre Ayton added 23 and Rui Hachimura scored 15.
Head coach JJ Redick said he and James agreed on emphasizing ball movement and allowing Doncic and Reaves to spearhead the offense. “He wants to do everything possible to help his team win,” Redick said of the 41-year-old forward. “It speaks to how much he cares about his teammates and winning.”
James acknowledged adapting his role. “The team is most important,” he said. “Everybody’s successful when we win.” The Lakers are now 8-3 this season when James does not rank among the club’s top two in field-goal attempts, per ESPN Research.
The win was Los Angeles’ seventh in eight games, lifting the team to third place in the Western Conference with 16 regular-season contests remaining. Doncic narrowly missed a triple-double, adding 10 rebounds and nine assists. He credited his scoring burst to an exchange with Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis. “Somebody started talking to me, so that woke me up,” Doncic said without repeating the remark.
Reaves, scoring at least 25 for the third straight outing, became the 46th undrafted player in NBA history to surpass 5,000 career points. “I obviously have delusional confidence in myself when it comes to basketball,” the guard said.
Chicago could not keep pace despite 28 points from Zach LaVine and 26 from DeMar DeRozan. The Bulls dropped to 31-35.
With the postseason a month away, James stressed urgency. “Every game matters and the way you approach the game matters,” he said. Doncic echoed the sentiment: “If we relax now, it’s not going to be worth anything.”
Source: ESPN
