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DALLAS — The Lakers are as shorthanded as they can be, their dynamic starting backcourt of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves out with injuries at a pivotal time of the season.

They’re the offensive engines for a Lakers team battling for the No. 3 playoff seeding in a competitive Western Conference.

The 41-year-old LeBron James is now driving the Lakers, and despite falling just a rebound shy of a triple-double, he couldn’t save the Lakers from a 134-128 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday at American Airlines Center.

James had 30 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds. Luke Kennard delivered his first career triple-double with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.

Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg, coming off a 51-point performance against Orlando on Friday, finished with 45 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. He scored 19 points in the first quarter.

“Obviously, Cooper is in a zone over the last couple of games,” James said. “But [he] also has been playing consistent basketball all year so it’s great to see him from early in the season to where he is today.”

For the Lakers, finding ways to win without two of their best players will be their challenge over the final week of the season.

“We’ve got to have the commitment to do it on both ends and that’s the reason that we’ve put ourselves in the position to be in the playoffs,” Redick said, “because we became a really good offensive team and a really good defensive team.”

Doncic was diagnosed with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and will be out the remainder of the regular season — maybe even longer.

Doncic’s agent, Bill Duffy of WME Sports, confirmed to The Times that his client will seek specialized treatment for his injury in Europe with the hopes of speeding up his recovery.

Reaves was diagnosed with a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury and will be out for the rest of the regular season, and likely into the playoffs. The time frame for Reaves’ return is more like four-to-six weeks, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak on the matter.

Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, left, drives against Lakers guard Bronny James during the second half Sunday.

(LM Otero / Associated Press)

“I took my nap after practice and I woke up with that news and it was like another shot to the [head],” James said about Reaves’ diagnosis. “It was a shot to the heart, obviously, and to the chest and to the mainframe with Luka, understanding that.”

Even Marcus Smart, known for his competitiveness and defensive tenacity, missed his seventh straight game with right ankle soreness.

With Doncic and Reaves out, the Lakers lose a combined 56.8 points per game and 13.8 assists per game. Doncic is fourth in the NBA in assists, with 8.3 per game, and he’s second on the Lakers in rebounding, at 7.7 per game.

“We knew that Austin was likely going to be out for a little bit of time,” Redick said. “Obviously, disappointed and devastated for him to have his regular season finish this way. … Both those guys are going to try to come back and it’s our job to extend the season so that they can come back.”

The Lakers have four regular-season games left, starting with Oklahoma City on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena. They play at Golden State on Thursday before facing the Phoenix Suns in L.A. on Friday.

The Lakers are tied with the Denver Nuggets for third in the West at 50-28, although the Lakers own the tiebreaker. The NBA playoffs starts the weekend of April 18.

With that in mind, Redick was asked if he had an optimistic view of Doncic being back for the playoffs.

“I just know that he’s gonna do everything he can to try to be back,” Redick said. “I talked to him Friday. I talked to him again yesterday. I talked to him again this morning. He’s going to go through all the necessary things to be back at some point, and it’s our job again to extend the season so both those guys can get back.”

Denis Bouanga scored three goals, his fifth career hat trick in MLS, and Son Heung-min had four assists to help LAFC beat Orlando City 6-0 on Saturday night.

Sergi Palencia and Tyler Boyd each added a goal for LAFC (6-0-1). Hugo Lloris had six saves.

Orlando City (1-5-0) — which also conceded a hat trick to Sam Surridge the previous time out in a 5-0 loss to Nashville and lost 5-0 at New York City FC on March 7 — set the franchise record for largest margin of defeat in a regular-season match.

Son’s cross was redirected into the net by Orlando defender David Brekalo to give LAFC a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.

Bouanga added goals — all off assists by Son — in the 20th, 23rd and 28th minutes.

Son fed Sergi Palencia for his first goal of the season that made it 5-0 in the 39th, and Boyd capped the scoring in the 70th minute with his first MLS goal since July 13, 2024 for Nashville.

Maxime Crépeau stopped two shots for Orlando.

SAN JOSÉ — Macklin Celebrini tied the score with less than two minutes to play then assisted on Alexander Wennberg’s winning goal with 31 seconds left to complete a four-point game as the San José Sharks beat the Ducks 4-3 on Wednesday night.

With two goals and two assists, Celebrini has 40 goals and 105 points this season, moving him past Erik Karlsson (101 points in 2022-23) for the second highest single-season point total in franchise history behind Joe Thornton’s 114-point effort in 2006-07.

The 19-year-old Celebrini also has 17 games this season with three or more points, second among teenagers in NHL history only to Wayne Gretzky, who had 19 in 1979-80.

Will Smith had a goal and two assists for the Sharks and Yaroslav Askirov made 28 saves.

Troy Terry scored 4:04 into the third period to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead.

Celebrini tied it with 1:39 to play.

Ryan Poehling and Alex Killorn also scored for the Ducks, who have lost three straight games but remain atop the Pacific Division. Drew Helleson had a pair of assists and Lukas Dostal made 16 saves and also got his first assist of the season on Poehling’s goal.

The Ducks played without their leading goal scorer, Cutter Gauthier, who suffered an upper-body injury in Monday night’s 5-4 loss to Toronto.

Nathan Gaucher made his NHL debut for the Ducks. He was selected 22nd overall by Anaheim in the 2022 draft.

San José has a 2-1 lead in the four-game regular-season series between the teams.

Up next for the Ducks: vs. St. Louis at Honda Center on Friday night.

The Lakers followed the lead of their oldest member, the triple-double producing LeBron James, in dispatching the Wizards 120-101 at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night.

Two days off between games left James looking spry, with lob dunks and dunks on the fast break contributing to his 21 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. James was eight for 16 from the field in notching his third triple-double of the season and the 125th of his 23-year NBA career, ranking him fifth all time.

At 41 years and 90 days old, James once again became the oldest player in league history to record a triple-double, passing his previous mark (41 years, 79 days).

Lakers star LeBron James dunks against Washington at Crypto.com Arena on Monday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I mean, I’ve had moments more this year and last year that I’ve enjoyed more in the moment,” James said. “It’s pretty cool to know that I’m at this point in my career (and) I’m still able to do those things, man. It’s super dope. It’s super humbling. And I just try to put the work in and continue to put the work in and those are the results of it.”

James achieved the triple-double despite playing just 33 minutes.

“Yeah, I don’t know what to say. He’s very praise-worthy,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “I tried to give every version of the same soliloquy about his longevity. But I don’t have anything for you tonight.”

For James and his teammates, Sunday’s practice had “value” because it allowed them to clean up some things, do some “teaching” and get some “reps” that will pay off with the playoffs approaching.

They put that into action against the Wizards, but the Lakers did so without star guard Luka Doncic, who did not play after being given a one-game suspension by the NBA for his 16th technical foul.

Austin Reaves took over the primarily ballhandling duties with Doncic out, running the show in delivering a near double-double with 19 points and nine assists. Reaves was just four for 11 from the field and he missed all four of his three-point attempts, but he was 11 for 12 from the line.

Lakers guard Luke Kennard, center, drives between Washington’s Tre Johnson, left, and Jamir Watkins during the first half Monday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Backup center Jaxson Hayes was outstanding in scoring 19 points on eight-for-eight shooting, including a three-pointer with six minutes and 41 seconds left.

Luke Kennard had 19 points off the bench, knocking down four of five from three-point range.

Deandre Ayton was a force for the Lakers, his efficient five-for-five shooting leading to 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

Each of them played their part to help the Lakers win for the 12th time in 13 games and limit the effect of Doncic’s absence.

Doncic leads the NBA in scoring (33.7 points per game), is fourth in assists (8.2), second three-pointers made (4.0) and first in points scored in the first quarter (12.0). He’ll return against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

“Yeah, I mean we had a professional approach,” James said. “We came in, we got the job done, understanding it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we’re still trying to build habits for the postseason. So, a good win for us.”

Although the Lakers won handily, it was against a Wizards team tied for the worst record in the NBA (17-58). Washington has lost 18 of its past 19 games.

For the Lakers (49-26), the game was about making strides from a practice they rarely get to have.

“The value is being able to continue to improve,” Redick said before the game. “And again, I said this, we’ve placed a heavy emphasis on what we’re teaching in film and what we’re cleaning up in film, because we haven’t had court time to do that. So [Sunday], it was some of the game clean-up stuff. All the guys got some reps doing some things that they probably won’t do during a real game.”

VANCOUVER, Canada — Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves for his third shutout of the season and 39th of his career to lead the Kings to a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

Trevor Moore had a goal and an assist for the Kings, and Scott Laughton, Artemi Panarin and Quinton Byfield also scored. Mikey Anderson had a pair of assists.

The victory moved the Kings within one point of the Nashville Predators, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff race.

One of the best stops by Kuemper, whose last shutout was on Dec. 6 against Chicago, came at the 10:43 mark of the first period when Teddy Blueger launched a blast from the slot and the goalie kicked out his right leg to send the puck soaring with the toe of his skate.

Kevin Lankinen made 34 saves for the Canucks, who lost their fourth straight game. Vancouver has been shut out five times this season, with four coming at home.

The Kings opened the scoring with Laughton’s power-play goal 17:34 into the first period. Stationed at the top of the faceoff circle, Byfield took a shot that hit the skate of Laughton as he jumped in front of the net, deflecting the puck in past Lankinen.

Byfield sealed it with an empty-netter with 2:24 left in the game.

Up next for Kings: vs. Utah at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

INDIANAPOLIS — Even LeBron James couldn’t muster the energy. With a wide-open lane in the ending moments of the Lakers’ 137-130 win over the Indiana Pacers, James simply dumped off a pass to Jake LaRavia. The 24-year-old had hops to put the finishing touches on the Lakers’ successful six-game trip.

Tired and shorthanded, the Lakers punctuated their extended trip with a fifth win Wednesday. Luka Doncic effortlessly scored his league-leading 14th 40-point game of the season, 43 points and seven assists.

The NBA’s leading scorer appeared ready to settle for simply his 11th consecutive 30-point performance — which is tied for the longest streak of such games in the last 20 years — after the Lakers opened a 20-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but he returned to the game because Indiana, despite having the worst record in the NBA, was still pressuring with its starters. The Pacers (16-57) trailed by as many as 29 in the third quarter and trimmed the deficit to six with 27.9 seconds left.

“I think everybody was a little bit tired,” Doncic said. “It’s been a long trip, but we got the win in the end; that’s what matters.”

The wear and tear of an intense trip in which the first five games all came down to the final minutes didn’t faze Doncic. He nearly outscored the Pacers alone in the first quarter, putting up 21 while the Pacers trailed 45-28. He threw a lob to Maxi Kleber for a dunk in the third quarter then pumped both of his fists. Doncic nailed a step-back three from the top of the key, held his follow through and hopped backwards on one leg.

The Lakers (46-26) toyed with the struggling Pacers (16-56) for much of the night. Indiana’s Andrew Nesmith and Pascal Siakam fell over each other trying to contest a Euro-step layup by James, who then posed over them and pointed to the Pacers players. Nesmith and Siakam could only grimace at each other.

James finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Austin Reaves had 25 points and eight assists Jaxson Hayes dunked seven times as the center had his first double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds, both season highs.

While players typically would drag through the end of such a long trip, Hayes found home-cooked fuel. Hayes stayed with his parents in his hometown of Cincinnati on Monday night after the Lakers’ win in Detroit. He woke up to a full home-cooked breakfast from his mother, who stacked plates of pancakes, eggs and bacon in front of her son. He scoped out properties he’s hoping to buy in the summer and hung out with his dad all day. The family made the hour-and-a-half drive to Indianapolis and had dinner Tuesday night.

“Best way to end the trip for sure,” Hayes said with a blissful smile.

Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, battles Pacers center Jay Huff for a rebound during the first half Wednesday.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

Hayes brought the energy for the shorthanded Lakers, who were without Deandre Ayton (back soreness), Marcus Smart (right ankle contusion) and Rui Hachimura (right calf soreness). Smart and Hachimura remain day-to-day as they missed their second consecutive games while Ayton was ruled out immediately before the game. Even the reinforcements were shorthanded as rookie Adou Thiero missed the game because of left knee soreness.

Thiero, who has been back and forth between the NBA and the G League‘s South Bay Lakers, played 29 minutes in a G League game on Saturday and flew directly to Detroit for Monday’s game. He played two minutes against the Pistons, making his first appearance in a first half of a game since Dec. 7, but his knee didn’t feel good the following morning, Redick said. The team held the forward out for precautionary reasons, Redick said, as Thiero has struggled with injuries in both knees this season.

The Lakers relied on another part-time G League contributor to carry them through a sloppy fourth quarter. Bronny James had four points, two steals and one block in 13:22 off the bench. Lakers coach JJ Redick said the second-year guard’s pull-up free-throw line jumper with 3:55 to go “was big to kind of settle us.” It stopped a 6-0 run by the Pacers.

It was just the second game father and son have shared the court together this season. The elder James had the perfect shirt for the occasion. He walked out of the locker room wearing a gray T-shirt with a photo of him and his son on the front. Across James’ shoulders on the back read “The Chosen 1.” Across the bottom of the shirt, it read “The 1 who chose.”

“Felt like this was a game we really needed him,” Redick said of Bronny James. “It was a game that [we needed] his athleticism, his defense. … I think the biggest thing with him is he’s got a lot of confidence right now.”

The Lakers have won 13 of their last 15 games to vault to third place in the competitive Western Conference. They have six of their last nine regular-season games at home and, after this grueling stretch, they can’t get there soon enough.

“Do we have to do this?” Redick said quietly as he sat down for his postgame news conference.

He knew everyone in the room wanted to get home.

SALT LAKE CITY — Nick Schmaltz scored his second goal of the game at 1:46 of overtime to give the Utah Mammoth a 4-3 victory over the Kings on Sunday night.

Schmaltz carried the puck in on a two-on-one rush with defenseman Mikhail Sergachev on his left and fired a snap shot between goalie Darcy Kuemper‘s legs.

After the Kings controlled play in the three-on-three overtime and nearly ended it on Alex Laferriere’s shot that went off the right post, Kevin Stenlund won a faceoff against Quinton Byfield to set up Schmaltz’s seventh winning goal of the season.

Artemi Panarin tied it for the Kings with 3:30 left in regulation with his 25th goal of the season. His shot from deep on the far right side eluded goalie Karel Vejmelka.

Schmaltz pushed his career-high goals total to 26 and reached 63 points to match his career high set in 2024-25. Lawson Crouse scored twice in the first period and added an assist, and Vejmelka made 33 saves to help Utah end a four-game home losing streak. The Mammoth hold the first wild card in the Western Conference, five points ahead of Nashville.

Byfield had a goal and an assist, and Laferriere also scored for the Kings. Kuemper stopped 30 shots.

The Kings are two points behind Nashville for the final wild-card spot.

Kaleena Smith averaged 31 points, seven assists and four steals a game this season while playing for the No. 1 program in the Southland, but her expanded leadership role is what earns her the honor of The Times’ girls’ basketball player of the year.

The 5-foot-6 junior point guard marshaled Ontario Christian to the CIF state championships in Sacramento for the first time in the program’s history and along the way her voice spoke almost as loudly as her game — surprising for someone who is not talkative by nature.

“Her numbers speak for themselves but the biggest difference in Kaleena this season has been her leadership,” Knights coach Aundre Cummings, said. “She’s always coming to practice first and leaving last, which teammates respect, but also knowing when to speak up.”

Smith has been nicknamed “Special K” for her talent and charisma, traits that make her one of the top national recruits in the class of 2027. She is garnering attention from multiple college programs. USC women’s coach Lindsay Gottlieb was even on hand to witness Smith score 23 points and contribute six assists in the Southern California regional semifinals against Etiwanda on March 8 and the state championship game against Archbishop Mitty at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

“I’m being more vocal, yes, because I’m gonna have to do that in college,” said Smith, who spent countless hours refining her mid-range jumper this winter. “As captain it’s one of my responsibilities.”

One hundred games into her high school career, Smith is living up to the hype thrust upon her when she was named MaxPreps’ national freshman of the Year in 2024. She passed the 2,000-point plateau when she scored 51 points against Esperanza in November.

Smith paced Ontario Christian to the Southern Section Open Division title as a sophomore and although the Knights were denied a repeat (she had 30 points and five assists in a finals defeat to Sierra Canyon) her stats are better in every significant category. Intertwined with her competitive spirit and winning mindset is the maturity and confidence of an upperclassman.

“Her leadership is what stands out,” sophomore teammate Tatianna Griffin said. “She’s a very quiet person. I’m not sure it comes naturally or not but when she says something we listen.”

Griffin’s own game has blossomed because of Smith’s willingness to give her the ball in clutch situations, and Smith has been a mentor to freshman Chloe Jenkins, who led the team in rebounds (11.3 per game).

Adding leadership to her basketball IQ, court vision, defense, quickness, shooting, passing and dribbling has made Smith a complete player, one who is poised for a senior season worth talking about.

A look at the Los Angeles Times’ All-Star boys’ basketball team for the 2025-26 season:

Brandon McCoy, Sierra Canyon, 6-5, Sr.: The Mission League co-MVP averaged 19.2 points and 7.4 rebounds while helping his team go 30-1 and win Open Divison championships in the Southern Section and state.

Jason Crowe Jr., Inglewood, 6-3, Sr.: The Missouri commit is the state’s all-time scoring leader with 4,718 points and averaged 43.6 points this season to become the first four-time All-Star selection.

Drew Anderson, Santa Margarita, 6-10, Sr.: The Oregon State commit was co-MVP of the Trinity League while averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Joe Sterling, Harvard-Westlake, 6-4, Sr.: The Texas commit has been one of the state’s best three-point shooters, averaging 21.4 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Open Division finalists.

Maxi Adams, Sierra Canyon, 6-8, Sr.: The North Carolina commit averaged 16 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, including 26 points against Harvard-Westlake in the Open Division regional final.

Christian Collins, St. John Bosco, 6-9, Sr.: The McDonald’s All-American and USC commit averaged 25 points, 12 assists and four assists per game.

SJ Madison, Redondo Union, 6-5, Sr.: The Nevada commit and Bay League MVP led the Sea Hawks to a 27-5 record, averaging 18 points and 6.1 rebounds.

Maxwell Scott, Corona del Mar, 6-2, Jr.: The Sunset League MVP averaged 21.7 points after leading his team to a 27-1 regular-season record and averaged 24.5 points in three Open Division games.

Will Conroy Jr., Village Christian, 6-0, Fr.: He burst onto the scene as the best first-year freshman player in the state, averaging 26.7 points.

NaVorro Bowman Jr., Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 6-3, Jr.: He shared Mission League MVP honors, averaging 22.5 points as one of the top juniors in the state.

ORLANDO — Appearing in his 1,612th NBA regular-season game Saturday, LeBron James claimed the league’s all-time record for games played, passing Hall of Famer Robert Parish.

The 41-year-old James started for the Lakers against the Orlando Magic on Thursday with the Lakers currently on a season-best eight-game winning streak. James is averaging 21.3 points and 6.9 assists per game this season.

With the Lakers (45-25) surging up the Western Conference standings to third place during this winning streak, James has averaged 20.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists on 64.6% shooting from the field during the last five games.

Already playing his record 23rd NBA season, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer has also moved up to first in all-time field goals made, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar this month.

“He’s got to be insane,” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said when James tied Parish’s record Thursday against the Miami Heat. “Can’t be normal. Things going on in his brain to do it so well at such a high level, there’s nothing left to prove, but he finds something to continue to motivate him.

“It’s a beautiful thing, and it’s a beautiful thing to have him as one of the leaders of this team, because if there’s anybody in the world that could take games off, mentally not be there in a film session, practice, whatever it might be, it couldn’t be him, and that’s not how he’s wired.”

Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov scored in a shootout to give the Philadelphia Flyers their fourth victory in five games, 4-3 over the Kings on Thursday night.

Noah Cates had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 22 saves. The Flyers remained six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.

On Wednesday night against the Ducks, Cates scored in overtime in the Flyers’ 3-2 victory.

Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin failed on their shootout attempts for Los Angeles, though the Kings still moved into the second wild-card in the Western Conference.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist for the Kings. Quinton Byfield and Anze Kopitar also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves.

Panarin ensured the Kings picked up a point in the standings with a blistering wrist shot on a power play that tied it 3-3 with 9:32 remaining.

The Flyers were without forwards Sean Couturier (upper body), Luke Glendening (lower body) and Denver Barkey (upper body), leaving them to play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Up next for the Kings: vs. Buffalo at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Victor Wembanyama had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs overcame an early 14-point deficit before blowing most of a 24-point lead and recovering to hold off the Clippers 119-115 on Monday night at Intuit Dome.

Stephon Castle had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead the Spurs (50-18), who reached 50 wins for the first time since 2016-17 and trail the first-place Thunder by three games in the West. Devin Vassell added 20 points.

Fighting to secure a spot for the play-in tournament, the Clippers’ second straight loss dropped them back to .500 with Kawhi Leonard watching from the bench. The NBA’s sixth-leading scorer sat out with a sprained left knee.

Darius Garland drives to the basket against De’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs in the second half.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

Darius Garland led six Clippers in double figures with 25 points and 10 assists. Jordan Miller had 22 points off the bench, which outscored the Spurs’ reserves 57-30.

After the Spurs ran off seven in a row to lead 115-102, Garland scored seven of the Clippers’ nine points to get within four with 38 seconds remaining. But the Spurs made four straight free throws to preserve the win.

The Spurs led by 24 points in the third before the Clippers closed with a 16-3 run to trail by 10 going into the fourth.

The Spurs started slowly, missing eight of their first nine shots, while the Clippers surged to a 17-3 lead. They shot 65% from the floor in the opening quarter, hit five of seven three-pointers and made 10 of 12 free throws.

San Antonio turned things around in the second. The Spurs erased all of their 14-point deficit, helped by 15 straight points over the end of the first and start of the second. In the period, they outscored the Clippers 37-15 to lead 66-52 at halftime.

Dejan Joveljic had a goal and an assist against his former team, Lasse Johnsen had a goal and an assist in his league debut and Sporting Kansas City beat the Galaxy 2-1 on Saturday night.

Neither team scored until Joveljic used assists from Manu García and Johnsen to score two minutes into stoppage time for a 1-0 lead at halftime. García earned his first assist after tallying nine as a rookie last season.

Joveljić, along with Stephen Afrifa, set up an insurance goal by Johnsen in the 74th minute for a 2-0 advantage. Afrifa’s helper was first this season and his second in 39 appearances.

That proved necessary for the victory after Marco Reus used his head for an unassisted score in the 82nd minute to cut the Galaxy’s deficit to a goal. Reus scored for the first time this season and the seventh time in 31 career matches.

John Pulskamp finished with four saves to help Sporting KC (1-2-1) earn its first victory of the season while putting an end to a seven-match losing streak on the road dating to last season.

Novak Micovic saved two shots for the Galaxy (1-2-1).

Joveljic totaled 34 goals and 11 assists in 106 starts with the Galaxy from 2021-24. He had 15 goals and six assists during the Galaxy’s championship run in 2024 when he scored the second goal in a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bullls. His third goal this season gives him 21 along with three assists in 36 matches with Sporting KC.

The Galaxy played without Gabriel Pec, who was suspended for the match after receiving a red card in a 4-1 road loss to the Colorado Rapids last week. Joseph Paintsil was sidelined with a hamstring injury.

The Galaxy have a slim lead in the all-time series 29-28-18, including a 19-9-9 record at home.

Both teams posted home victories in two matchups last season.

Up next for the Galaxy: at Portland Timbers on Sunday.

He didn’t miss it this time.

Luka Doncic recorded his first 50-point game of the season Thursday, hitting two late free throws as the crowd at Crypto.com Arena showered him with “MVP” chants in the fourth quarter. Doncic checked out with 1:41 remaining to a standing ovation with 51 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Lakers to a 142-130 win over the Chicago Bulls.

The Lakers (41-25) jumped into third place in the Western Conference with their seventh win in their last eight games, climbing from sixth in just one week behind Doncic’s brilliance. The NBA’s leading scorer has averaged 40.2 points in the last four games, all wins. Doncic had a chance at 50 points in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in October, but missed a late free throw that forced him to settle for 49 points.

LeBron James returned after missing three games because of elbow and hip contusions he sustained against the Denver Nuggets on March 5. He finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Austin Reaves had 30 points and seven assists, surpassing 5,000 points for his career. Center Deandre Ayton held down a short-handed big man rotation with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lakers were without starting guard Marcus Smart (right hip contusion) and backup centers Jaxson Hayes (back soreness) and Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain). Smart has been playing through the injury for several games, but with a six-game road trip starting next week, “we need it to calm down,” coach JJ Redick said. The coach expected Smart to be available Saturday when the Lakers play the Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena.

The Lakers gave up a 12-3 run to end the first quarter and led the struggling Bulls (27-39) by only five at halftime. James helped give them the breathing room going into the locker room as he scored his first points of the game with 54 seconds left in the first half. His three-point play sparked a quick five-point run to end the half, which ended with a dunk from Rui Hachimura.

Lakers star LeBron James, center, drives between Chicago’s Rob Dillingham, left, and Matas Buzelis during the second half Thursday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

James came alive in the third quarter, beginning with his dunk off a hit-ahead pass from Doncic. He returned the favor by diving out of bounds for a steal on the next possession and the save led to a three-pointer from Doncic.

Doncic made nine of 14 three-point attempts as the Lakers made 17 of 36 shots from beyond the arc, their best three-point percentage in a game since Feb. 20.

After not taking a single shot in the first quarter, James had 11 points, three rebounds and two assists in the third quarter as the Lakers’ lead grew to 22 points.