Luka Doncic recorded 44 points, nine rebounds and three steals in three quarters of action to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a solid 128-117 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
Doncic made seven 3-pointers and notched his 10th 40-point effort of the season to break a tie with Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards for the most this season. He also became the fourth different Laker to record 10 or more 40-point games in a season, joining a trio of Hall of Famers — Kobe Bryant (four times), Elgin Baylor (three) and Jerry West (three)
Doncic’s scoring was needed on a night in which the Lakers were without LeBron James (left elbow, left foot). James injured the elbow in a hard fall during Thursday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Austin Reaves scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter before fouling out for Los Angeles, which won for the fourth time in the past five games. Luke Kennard had 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench, Rui Hachimura scored 13 points and Marcus Smart added 11.
Pascal Siakam scored 26 points for the Pacers, who lost their eighth straight game. Indiana has dropped the past five games by an average of 19.6 points.
Andrew Nembhard added 17 points and eight assists and Jay Huff scored 16 points for the Pacers. T.J. McConnell added 10 points off the bench for Indiana.
The Lakers, who also were without Deandre Ayton (left knee), shot 52.9% from the field and made 17 of 37 from 3-point range.
Indiana connected on 46.9% of its attempts but was just 8 of 35 from behind the arc.
Doncic was 5 of 5 from 3-point range and scored 22 points in the opening quarter as the Lakers led 35-27.
Doncic scored seven points in the second quarter to increase his output to 29 as Los Angeles led 64-51 at the break.
He tallied 15 points in the Lakers’ 35-point third quarter before exiting. He capped the period in style by banking in a 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left as Los Angeles took a 99-80 advantage heading into the final quarter.
The Pacers were within 103-89 after a 3-pointer by Jarace Walker. However, Reaves scored nine points during an 11-2 surge as the Lakers pushed the lead to 114-91 with 7:34 left. The margin topped out at 24 before Indiana narrowed the score.
