Lakers get first big performance from Luka Dončić in win over Nuggets

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That was the Luka Dončić the Lakers were expecting to acquire. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Luka Dončić has officially arrived for the Los Angeles Lakers.

After a few slow games, Los Angeles got its first performance befitting all the hype that came with the former Dallas Mavericks star in a 123-100 win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. Dončić finished with 32 points on 10-of-22 shooting, 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

“Finally felt like myself a little bit, so that’s why I was smiling the whole game,” Dončić told ESPN after the game.

He got 16 of those points in the first quarter, showing off the long-range, heat-check shots he was known for making in Dallas at an unnatural rate.

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He also still had his playmaking acumen, finding LeBron James on a long outlet pass for an easy bucket.

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It was a big night for the Lakers in general, as Dončić was one of four 20-point scorers alongside James, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. On the defensive end, they did everything they could to limit opportunities for Nikola Jokić in the paint, and the result was only 12 points on 2-of-7 shooting for the three-time MVP, as well as 13 rebounds, 10 assists and six turnovers.

The Lakers never trailed in the game and led by as many as 26 points. Given how they have performed against the Nuggets in the past few years, that’s significant.

Entering Saturday, Dončić’s time with the Lakers hadn’t been an immediate success, though it’s also not like there should have been any significant concerns about this. He didn’t make his Lakers debut until a week after his trade from the Mavericks because he was still sidelined with a calf strain, and also missed the second leg of a back-to-back as part of the recovery process.

In the three games he did play, he averaged 14.7 points per game on .356 shooting (.208 from deep) plus 6.7…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/lakers-get-first-big-performance-from-luka-doncic-in-win-over-nuggets-040508278.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-23 04:05:00

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