It only took Luka Doncic four games wearing the purple and gold uniform to earn a 30-point performance, as he only needed the first quarter of Saturday’s win against the Nuggets to match his highest scoring with the Lakers, tallying 16 points to out his team ahead at Ball Arena.
From there one, he kept things precise, reaching a game-high 32 points in the 123-100 victory that gave the Los Angeles squad their first win in Denver in nearly three years. “It’s very tough to play here against that team,” the Slovenian star said postgame.
“Just to win like that, it’s an amazing win for us and gives me a lot of confidence moving forward,” said Luka, who also added 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals in his fourth display since being traded before the deadline from Dallas to California.
One of the most exciting takeaways from the match, was the ever-growing chemistry between Doncic and LeBron James. “He was super dialed in,” the 40-year-old said of his partner. “He was very locked in on what he wanted to do out here on the floor tonight. Once he started hitting those step-back 3s and got to yelling and barking, either at the fans or at us, or himself.”
During his first three outings in a Lakers jersey, the 25-year-old averaged 14.7 points on 35.6% shooting (plus 20.8% from 3), showing slow progress into his integration into the lineup. The former Mavericks had been recovering from a left calf injury had kept him sidelined since Christmas.
His coach JJ Redick anticipates the player will have more of the ball. “I think Luka needs to be the guy that controls the offense,” the tactician said. “And Bron and AR, because we’re going to stagger everybody, they’re going to have their times to be on the ball. But all three of those guys are very intelligent basketball players, and we can create mismatches. We can get teams in the blender.”
James was the biggest beneficiary of having Luka lead the attack with the ball in his hands, because he always finds him on the court. “I’m a natural-born wide receiver and he’s a natural-born quarterback, so it fits perfectly,” LeBron assured.
