Not LeBron or Kobe: Luka Doncic does something no Lakers player ever has

The Los Angeles Lakers remain firmly in the race for a direct playoff berth, avoiding the play-in round, after defeating the Indiana Pacers 128–117. The victory came as a welcome response following their tough loss to the Denver Nuggets the previous day and ahead of Sunday’s visit from the New York Knicks (2:30 p.m. ET).

Indiana, with little left to play for this season, presented a manageable opponent sandwiched between two far more daunting challenges – and the Lakers made the most of it thanks to an exceptional performance from Luka Doncic.

The Slovenian star dominated the opening quarter, pouring in 22 of his 44 points in that period alone. He did it with a flawless 5-for-5 from three-point range (finishing 7-of-14 overall). It marked the fifth time this season he has scored 20 or more points in the first quarter – something no other player in Lakers history has ever done.

“It’s the most special of the special,” said Rick Carlisle before the game. The Pacers head coach – who gave Doncic his NBA debut with the Dallas Mavericks back in 2018 – praised the guard’s command of the game. “He’s a player who’s extremely difficult to game plan for. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an NBA player control the game the way he does.”

Doncic reached his 44-point total without scoring in the fourth quarter. It marked the tenth time this season he has recorded 40 or more points. Only Kobe Bryant (four times), Elgin Baylor (three), and Jerry West (three) had previously done so in Lakers history. “He’s a special player. He’s a special person. He’s a special competitor,” said JJ Redick of his star, who also finished with nine rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks in a remarkable stat line.

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Los Angeles Lakers

Stats

28 Rui Hachimura
36 Marcus Smart
11 Jaxson Hayes
77 Luka Dončić
15 Austin Reaves
18 Kobe Bufkin
9 Bronny James Jr.
10 Luke Kennard
4 Dalton Knecht
12 Jake LaRavia
30 Chris Mañon
1 Adou Thiero
17 Drew Timme
2 Jarred Vanderbilt

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
28 Rui Hachimura	23	13	3	0	3	1	0	0	0	1/1	3/5	2/3	0	0
36 Marcus Smart	28	11	3	0	3	3	2	0	0	0/0	1/2	3/4	0	3
11 Jaxson Hayes	25	9	4	2	2	2	0	1	0	3/3	3/6	0/0	0	2
77 Luka Dončić	31	44	9	0	9	5	3	3	2	9/10	7/11	7/14	0	1
15 Austin Reaves	28	19	2	0	2	5	3	0	0	6/7	5/10	1/4	0	6
18 Kobe Bufkin	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/2	0	2
9 Bronny James Jr.	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
10 Luke Kennard	26	15	7	1	6	3	0	0	0	0/0	3/4	3/5	0	0
4 Dalton Knecht	3	3	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	0/0	0/0	1/1	0	0
12 Jake LaRavia	15	8	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	2/2	3/5	0/2	0	3
30 Chris Mañon	3	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/1	0	2
1 Adou Thiero	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
17 Drew Timme	22	4	2	0	2	1	1	0	0	0/0	2/2	0/0	0	1
2 Jarred Vanderbilt	21	2	8	2	6	3	1	1	0	0/0	1/3	0/1	0	2

Indiana Pacers

Stats

43 Pascal Siakam
5 Jarace Walker
32 Jay Huff
2 Andrew Nembhard
23 Aaron Nesmith
24 Kobe Brown
29 Quenton Jackson
7 Kam Jones
9 T.J. McConnell
33 Micah Potter
26 Ben Sheppard
1 Obi Toppin

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
43 Pascal Siakam	29	26	5	0	5	3	2	2	0	6/9	10/17	0/3	0	1
5 Jarace Walker	26	10	9	1	8	5	2	1	0	1/2	3/6	1/3	0	2
32 Jay Huff	33	16	6	3	3	2	0	1	2	2/2	4/7	2/6	0	1
2 Andrew Nembhard	31	17	2	1	1	8	1	1	0	2/2	6/8	1/6	0	3
23 Aaron Nesmith	22	7	3	0	3	1	1	0	2	0/0	2/4	1/6	0	3
24 Kobe Brown	9	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1/2	2/2	1/1	0	1
29 Quenton Jackson	17	8	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	2/2	3/4	0/2	0	2
7 Kam Jones	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
9 T.J. McConnell	17	10	1	0	1	4	0	2	0	0/0	5/10	0/0	0	1
33 Micah Potter	14	8	6	3	3	3	0	0	0	3/4	1/1	1/2	0	0
26 Ben Sheppard	25	5	2	2	0	4	1	3	0	0/1	1/1	1/5	0	3
1 Obi Toppin	10	2	4	1	3	1	0	0	0	0/0	1/3	0/1	0	2