Lakers beat Heat 138-117 on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena, and the story was Luka Doncic again. His line: 42 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds. The Los Angeles Lakers finished a back-to-back with their 39 assists, the most of JJ Redick’s tenure. The Miami Heat sent two defenders at Doncic for much of the night. He kept passing out of it, and the Lakers kept making shots: 57% from the field and 19-for-43 from three. Los Angeles is 6-2 and has won two in a row.
In the postgame video above, Doncic talks about the 39 assists, beating the double team and Walker Kessler’s third straight double-double. “They obviously put two on me, so we just share the ball,” he said. “When we win, it feels way better and that’s the only important stuff.”
Five straight games of 37 or more
Doncic shot 14-for-24 from the field, 6-for-15 from three and 8-for-10 at the line in 36 minutes, and he finished plus-26. According to the Associated Press, it was his fifth straight game with at least 37 points and his fourth 40-point game in five games, a stretch in which he is averaging 43.4 points. His previous four games were 45, 37, 41 and 52. He reached 40 on a three-pointer that made it 128-106 with 5:37 left.
He started fast again. Doncic had 16 points, five assists and four rebounds in the first quarter as the Lakers led 37-30. The AP says he is averaging 15.0 points in first quarters this season. He had 24 points at halftime and nine more in the first 4½ minutes of the third quarter. The last of those came on a three after Jake LaRavia chased down his miss, which pushed the lead to 93-74 and forced Miami to call timeout. Doncic was called for a technical foul late in the first half, his second of the season, per the Los Angeles Times.
“Feels good,” Doncic said. “You know, when you win by [21] against a team like Miami, it’s really awesome, especially on a back-to-back.” In Spanish, he added that “some people say it looks easy, but it’s not. You have to read a lot of defenses.”
Doncic vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo
The game was billed as Doncic against Giannis Antetokounmpo, the NBA’s top scorer against the No. 5 scorer, playing his first season in Miami. Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists on 10-for-17 shooting. He also had seven turnovers and went 10-for-15 at the line against a crowded defense.
“He’s a freak of nature, man,” said Ziaire Williams, who returned after missing three games with left foot soreness. “It takes three, four guys loading up to him. One-on-one, he’ll go through anybody in this league.” Williams scored nine off the bench on three three-pointers. Jake LaRavia kept the starting spot.
Williams was also asked how teams defend Doncic. “Like the defensive mindset in me is always like, ‘Why are they not blitzing him or why are they not doubling?'” he said. “He just is that good and he just makes it look that easy.”
39 assists and 60 paint points
Miami’s pressure created open shots, and the Lakers moved the ball well enough to use them. They had 39 assists on 51 made baskets and scored 60 points in the paint. “The 39 assists, that’s the most assists we’ve had since I’ve been the [coach],” Redick said. “A lot of that, of course, is Doncic and what he’s able to do and bend the defense… he can make every pass.” Redick also praised Quentin Grimes for attacking closeouts and praised the hustle of LaRavia and Sandro Mamukelashvili.
Austin Reaves scored 27 points on 10-for-15 shooting with five assists and finished plus-21. Kessler had 15 points and 15 rebounds (11 defensive) for his third straight double-double. “He’s a big piece for us,” Doncic said. “When he plays good, he gives us a way better chance to win.” Mamukelashvili added 13 points. LaRavia scored seven on 3-for-4 shooting with two blocks, and Collin Sexton (five assists) and Quentin Grimes (four assists) kept the ball moving off the bench.
Miami Heat side
Klay Thompson scored 19 points and made 4 of 7 threes. Bam Adebayo had 16 points and nine rebounds. Davion Mitchell went 5-for-5 from the field, including 4-for-4 from three, for 15 points and seven assists. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored nine off the bench on three three-pointers. Andrew Wiggins was held to seven points. Miami committed 19 turnovers, which the Lakers turned into 18 points. The Heat won the fast-break battle 20-6, but according to ESPN’s team stats they led for only 3% of the game, and there was just one lead change.
The Heat (2-5) had not played since Friday. They were starting a five-game West Coast trip and have lost five of their first seven games. Lakers fans gave Heat president Pat Riley a big ovation when he was shown on the video board. The Lakers unveiled a statue of their Showtime-era coach outside the arena last season.
By the numbers
- Quarters: Lakers 37-42-32-27, Heat 30-42-21-24.
- Shooting: Lakers 51-for-89 (57%), 19-for-43 from three, 17-for-24 at the line.
- Turnovers: Lakers 16 and Heat 19. Points off turnovers: Lakers 18, Heat 20.
- Largest lead: 24.
- Attendance: 18,752.
What’s next
The Lakers vs Heat result capped a successful Lakers back-to-back, and the NBA scoring leader gets a day off before the Lakers play at the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Then they host Portland on Friday and visit Detroit on Sunday, Nov. 8. Adou Thiero (knee) is the only Laker listed as out. Cameron Carr, Bronny James and Jaden Hardy each played the final minute. Kevon Looney was again a coach’s decision.
Notes and conflicts
- Jerry West mark: In the postgame video, Doncic was asked in Spanish about tying Jerry West. One outlet reports this was his 66th 40-point game as a Laker, which tied West. Reuters counts 22 40-point games in 99 games as a Laker, which it says is the sixth-most in franchise history. Those numbers cannot both be right, and we could not confirm which record was tied. Treat the West mark as unconfirmed.
- Sunday’s line: The AP recap says Doncic had “45 points and 15 assists” against Toronto. The box score shows 45 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.
- Season average: The Los Angeles Times listed Doncic’s scoring average as 37.7 going into the game. Another site reports 38.3 after it. Check the official stats before citing an updated number.
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