The Lakers (14-4) are playing the first of two games in as many nights at home. They host the Phoenix Suns on Monday, which will be the team’s third game in four days after a win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
Playing in just his fourth game of the season, James played 34 minutes in the 129-119 win, scoring 13 points with seven assists. He missed the beginning of the season for the first time in his 23-year NBA career because of right sciatica that sidelined him for 14 games.
Despite James’ limited time, the Lakers have still thrived behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Doncic leads the NBA in scoring with 35.1 points per game. The dynamic duo combined for 72 points in Friday’s win, led by 38 points on 12-for-15 shooting from Reaves. The Lakers guard scored 31 points in the team’s first matchup against the Pelicans, a 118-104 win on Nov. 15 in New Orleans.
The Pelicans (3-17) have the worst record in the Western Conference. The Lakers need James for the tougher matchup against the Suns (12-9) on Monday before playing in Toronto on Thursday, the first game of a three-game East Coast road trip.
The Lakers will also be without guard Marcus Smart (back spasms) for the second consecutive game.
The Lakers’ new big man went to the free throw line. The team’s former big man was on the mind of fans.
“I miss you, AD!” a Lakers fan shouted into the silence as Deandre Ayton prepared to shoot a free throw in the first quarter Friday.
Former Lakers star Anthony Davis played his first game in L.A. since being traded to the Mavericks last season, finishing with 12 points, five assists, five rebounds and three blocks in the Lakers’ 129-119 win at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers (14-4) won their sixth consecutive game and clinched West Group B in the NBA Cup, securing homecourt advantage for the tournament quarterfinals. The Lakers will host the San Antonio Spurs, who won West Group C, on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.
Doncic had 35 points and 11 assists for the Lakers. Former Laker guard Max Christie, who was also involved in the trade, had 13 points and has become a regular starter for the Mavericks.
After two emotional matchups against his former team last year, Doncic said some of the feelings have subsided, but games against Dallas will always have special meaning for him.
Friday’s game was a well-timed return for Davis, who played in his first game after missing a month with a calf strain. The injury stretched for weeks as the Mavericks fell into the basement of the Western Conference.
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 28, 2025: Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) scores two of his 38 points against Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson (31) in the second half at Crypto.con Arena on November 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Meanwhile, the Lakers have the second-best record in the West. Doncic leads the league in scoring with 35.1 points per game.
Doncic’s continued ascent to superstardom and Davis’ growing injury list has only made the trade more bitter for Mavericks fans. They got their form of revenge when former general manager Nico Harrison was fired on Nov. 11, but the change only signaled a new low for the franchise that went to the NBA Finals two short seasons ago.
Now the player who was supposed to help fill the void left by Doncic has been included in trade rumors. The Mavericks went 3-11 without Davis.
To ensure Davis stayed in a positive mental state during the time of turmoil for the franchise, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd encouraged him to simply stay focused on getting healthy.
“The train keeps moving,” Kidd said. “No matter of a trade or a dismissal, you got to keep moving. And so for AD, [it] was to focus on his body, come back healthy. … Can’t get everything solved in 24 minutes tonight, but as we go forward, we feel like we have a chance to win when he’s in uniform.”
Davis was on a 24- to 27-minute limit Friday. To adhere to the restriction, he had to leave the game with 6:56 left in the fourth quarter with the Mavericks down by just three points.
Leaving the court hurt, Davis said. He had gotten two blocks, an assist and a basket during the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, then the Lakers went on a 9-1 run after Davis went to the bench.
To Kidd, Davis is still one of the best in the world when he is healthy. The coach pointed to Davis’ impressive play in the Paris Olympics when he averaged 8.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 62.5% from the field.
The Lakers didn’t need to be reminded of Davis’ talent. Coach JJ Redick said Davis would get the respect that all star players deserve because of his versatile skillset. But more than the shots he blocked or baskets he scored with the Lakers, Redick valued Davis for his support during Redick’s first year as a head coach.
“Very grateful that I had buy-in from him coming in Day 1 never had coached before,” Redick said. “So, it’s one of those things like you’re rooting for certain guys. … There are certain teammates you had, there’s always going to be guys that I coached [who] I either root for them after they are not your teammate and they are not one of your players. Just not when they play against us. Not tonight.”
The Lakers played a tribute video last year when Davis was sidelined with an abdominal injury for his first game back after the trade. Fans were showered him with cheers when he was introduced in the starting lineup Friday. LeBron James playfully bumped Davis at the center of the court before the game then they did the same intricate handshake they performed before games as teammates.
Lakers guard Luka Doncic puts up a jumper between Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington and guard Max Christie on Friday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
After the game, Lakers players lined up to hug Davis. Austin Reaves, who dominated with 38 points on 12 for 15 shooting with eight rebounds and three assists, gave him a two-armed bear hug. Davis grabbed the strap of his jersey and pointed toward Reaves.
“I always liked his game, what he was able to do,” Davis said. “Just now he’s doing it on a more consistent basis, putting up elite numbers. … He’s a player who I always knew could play to this level.”
Reaves left the Lakers locker room with Davis’ blue No. 3 jersey signed by his former teammate.
“He’s one of the best players to ever touch a basketball. I don’t know why he wanted my jersey,” Reaves said. “But for me to get his, it’s pretty fun. … From Day 1, he was telling me to be myself, don’t be anybody else. Continue to work and really be myself on the court. So I owe him a lot.”
Lakers guard Austin Reaves drives to the hoop as Clippers center Ivica Zubac defends in the second half at Crypto.com Arena.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
The Lakers locked up their spot in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, but there are still meaningful Cup games to be played.
With a 3-0 record in West Group B, the Lakers can clinch home-court advantage in the quarterfinals with a win Friday against the Dallas Mavericks in the group stage finale. A win would be the simplest way to avoid resorting to the point differential tiebreaker that could still be in play to decide the No. 1 seed in the West. Outscoring opponents by 36 points, the Lakers’ point differential is 27 points behind West Group A leaders Oklahoma City (2-0 in group play) for the potential No. 1 seed. The top-seeded team will host the wild-card team, which earns its spot in the quarterfinal by virtue of being the best second-place team in group play. Portland and Denver are tied atop West Group C with 2-1 records.
The three-year-old NBA Cup, inspired by similar in-season tournaments in European leagues, has sparked confusion about the colorful courts and ever-changing group stage scenarios. The potential extra road trip and extra championship game could end up putting more wear on teams that have larger playoff ambitions, but the prize makes it worth the trouble: $500,000 for each player.
“Obviously I’ll accept money,” Doncic said with a sarcastic smile. “That’s easy. … I played it in Spain, something like this, so I like it. Just the courts, please.”
Doncic said the Lakers’ NBA Cup court — bright yellow with the gold and black trophy painted into the key — caused problems for a few players as they slipped on the new hardwood. An area near the free-throw line in front of the Clippers bench appeared to be especially slippery. Doncic said he could tell immediately during warm-ups that the surface could be a problem.
“I slipped a lot of times and you could see a lot of players slipped,” Doncic said. “And that’s dangerous, man.”
Redick said he noticed players slipping, but also that they were falling prior to that. He said the team will look into the court.
Luka Doncic drilled a three-pointer right in front of the Clippers’ bench late in the first quarter and then glared at them, shaking his head as he ran back down court to play defense for the Lakers, just one of the many piercing stares he sent their way after delivering one of his three-point bombs.
It seems as if Doncic has his own personal rivalry against the Clippers and it just simply folded into the inter-city rivalry.
And once again, Doncic overwhelmed the Clippers in directing the Lakers to a 135-118 win Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
He came up one rebound shy of a triple-double, dropping 43 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds. He was 14 for 28 from the field, seven for 12 from three-point range and eight for 11 from the free-throw line.
In leading the Lakers to their fifth straight win, Doncic now has recorded 39 double-double games of at least 40 points, which moved him past Anthony Davis for the fourth most among active players and tying Magic Johnson for the sixth most 40-point double-doubles as a Laker.
Doncic also tied Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal for the most 40-point double-doubles as a Laker before the age of 27 since the NBA/ABA merger (five).
“I think we played a great game,” Doncic said. “I think they were getting a lot of shots, especially in the first half.”
Late in the fourth quarter, the game turned physical, and Doncic was in the middle of it.
Kris Dunn pushed Doncic in the back, and Doncic confronted Dunn, who then put the basketball in Doncic’s chest. Jaxson Hayes then stepped in and pushed Dunn.
In the end, Dunn was assessed two technical fouls and ejected from the game and Hayes was assessed a technical foul. Doncic shot a technical foul free throw with 3:33 left in the game.
“Of course, I appreciate it,” Doncic said about Hayes stepping in to help him. “I told him right away, ‘Thanks for having my back.’ And that says a lot about him. That says a lot about this team. Everybody has got each other’s back.”
Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers was called for a foul after knocking down Austin Reaves on this play.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Doncic scored 24 points against the Clippers in the first quarter alone, making his first five three-pointers before finishing the quarter five for eight from three, nine for 14 from the field, many of the baskets punctuated by a stare down at the Clippers’ bench.
By the half, Doncic had posted 32 points on 11-for-17 shooting and six for 10 on three-pointers and six assists.
Over the course of his career with the Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks, Doncic, who is averaging 12.5 free-throw attempts per game, has torn the Clippers apart.
Entering Tuesday night’s game, he had averaged 32.2 points per game over 20 games, his highest against any Western Conference foe. He had produced 7.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists and shot 48% from the field, 36% from the three-point line.
When asked why he has performed so well against the Clippers, Doncic shrugged.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I think we just met a lot of times in the playoffs. They beat me the first two times, so I don’t know what it is. I guess I like it.”
With Deandre Ayton (right knee contusion) out and Hayes starting in his place, Austin Reaves (31 points) and LeBron James (25), did their part to help the Lakers clinch Group B of the NBA cup with a 3-0 record.
The Lakers finish group play against the Dallas Mavericks here Friday night and the Clippers complete their group play against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at Intuit Dome.
Etc.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said that Ayton got an MRI exam on his knee that “was clean other than just some swelling, a little bit of a bruise.” Ayton was injured in the first half against the Jazz Sunday. “Don’t think it’s going to be a long-term thing,” Redick said. “Hopefully it’s a game-to-game thing and he’s back at some point by the end of the week.”…The Lakers announced that they signed forward Drew Timme to a two-way contract and waived two-way center Christian Koloko. Timme has played for the Lakers’ G League team, the South Bay Lakers, and posted averages of 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 25.5 minutes over six games. The 6-foot-10 Timme played his college basketball at Gonzaga.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Lakers won their fourth consecutive game Sunday, holding off the Utah Jazz 108-106 in Delta Center behind 33 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists from Luka Doncic.
The Lakers (12-4) nearly squandered a 10-point lead in the final six minutes and 36 seconds, allowing the Jazz to cut the lead to one with 41.3 seconds remaining on a three-pointer from Lauri Markkanen. The Utah Jazz crowd that had been cheering loudly for the Lakers finally erupted for the home team when the Finnish forward knocked down the shot.
Markkanen could have given the Jazz (5-11) the lead with a 17-foot shot in the key, but the midrange jumper rattled out with 11.4 seconds to go. After Doncic split a pair of free throws, the Lakers forced Jazz guard Keyonte George into a contested three at the buzzer to seal the win.
LeBron James, playing in his second game of the year, had 17 points with eight assists. Austin Reaves had 22 points with 10 rebounds and four assists.
Starting center Deandre Ayton missed the second half because of a right leg contusion. He had just two points on one for two shooting in the first half while Doncic still powered the Lakers to a seven-point lead.
The guard continued to struggle with his three-point shot, missing seven of his first eight shots from beyond the arc Sunday, but dazzled with his playmaking again. He intercepted a pass, bounced the ball between Kevin Love’s legs while running the fastbreak and scooped up a lob pass to Jaxson Hayes. The roar from the pro-Lakers road crowd was just as loud as anything the Jazz did.
When Doncic attracted a triple team in the paint, he fired a two-handed, no-look pass backwards over his head to Marcus Smart who knocked down a three that put the Lakers up 55-49.
The Lakers entered the game shooting 33.8% from three, ranked 24th in the league. Doncic and Austin Reaves, the team’s highest volume shooters, have struggled the most. Reaves was one for eight from three on Sunday. Doncic was three for 12, including shots so off course that they barely grazed the rim.
When he finally got a shot to trickle over the rim in the third, Doncic held both arms out in disbelief and relief as the ball bounced up high and then through the net in the third quarter.
While the game didn’t provide any definitive answers about what LeBron James will do in his record-breaking 23rd season, it offered promising signs about what he won’t do.
James indirectly said that leading up to his season debut on Tuesday and he indirectly said that again after.
The point was made most emphatically by how he played in the 140-126 victory over the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena.
In the 30 minutes he played, James shot the ball only seven times, less than any other Lakers starter.
He didn’t have problems with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves remaining the team’s primary options.
He didn’t mind picking his spots.
He didn’t mind spending most of the game as a peripheral figure on the court.
“Just thought he played with the right spirit,” coach JJ Redick said. “Very unselfish all night. Willing passer. Didn’t force it. Took his drive and his shots when they were there.”
The 40-year-old James acknowledged that his conditioning remained a problem — “Wind was low,” he said — but he played so much within himself that he never looked visibly fatigued.
This is what the Lakers needed from James on Tuesday, as it allowed them to build on the 10-4 record they compiled in the games he missed because of sciatica. And this could be the kind of mindset the Lakers will need James to adopt for the remainder of the season, especially if Doncic and Reaves continue to score at their current rates.
“I don’t have to worry about [chemistry],” James said.
James sounded offended by questions implying he could have trouble fitting in with the team.
“I don’t even understand why that was a question,” he said.
Concerns over his ability to meld with his particular team were never based on his basketball IQ or skillset but instead how open he would be to accepting a reduced role.
This is a player who was the centerpiece of every team on which he’d ever played. This is also a player who craves attention and is notoriously passive aggressive.
In retrospect, suggesting that James couldn’t adapt to a new role might have sold him short. Whatever he’s said off the court, he’s usually made the right decisions on them.
“There’s not one team, not one club, in the world that I cannot fit in and play for,” James said the day before his return. “I can do everything on the floor. So whatever this team needs me to do, I can do it when I’m back to myself.”
Or even before that.
James scored only 11 points against the Jazz, but he still had his moments.
Starting in the final second of the third quarter, James assisted on seven of the next eight Lakers baskets, a four-minute-30-second stretch over which the team extended its lead from eight to 17.
From the left wing, James found Gabe Vincent in the opposite corner for an open three.
Double-teamed at the top of the key, James dropped a bounce pass to Jaxson Hayes, who soared for an open dunk.
James flipped a couple of no-look passes to Deandre Ayton and delivered a backdoor assist from the post to Jake LaRavia.
James finished with a game-high 12 assists.
“Good player,” Reaves said.
Describing his frustration over not playing the previous 14 games, James said he was grateful to just be playing.
“A lot of joy,” he said. “You probably saw me smiling and talking a lot on the court today.”
But he also sounded as if he wanted to prove something.
“I said it, was it yesterday’s practice, post practice?” James said. “I can fit in with anybody.”
Carefully watching his teammates in the games that he missed, James said he pictured where he could position himself and how he could contribute.
James will average more than 11 points this season. He’s still too good to not. But the Lakers almost certainly won’t need him to average 24 points as he did last season. How open he is to that could determine if they are just a playoff team or a legitimate contender.
The Lakers (11-4) accomplished plenty without James during their first 14 games. Luka Doncic jump-started his most valuable player campaign and rose to the top of the NBA scoring leaderboard. Austin Reaves is averaging career highs nearly across the board. Some wondered how much the team would really benefit from James’ return when it started 10-4 already.
Then the Lakers scored a season-high 140 points, shot a season-best 59.5% from the field and locked down on defense to allow just 32 points in the first 21 minutes of the second half before the benches cleared.
“I can fit in with anybody,” James said. “I don’t even understand why that was a question.”
Doncic continued his scoring spree with 37 points and 10 assists, but with eight turnovers. Reaves had 26 points.
The Lakers lauded their early season chemistry, and coach JJ Redick praised his players for leading themselves through difficult times. He purposely restructured timeouts to give players time to discuss alone before the coaches would join them, hoping that the opportunities for player-to-player communication would prompt stronger team connection. Adding James’ voice to the conversation was an easy transition.
“Us as a young team, I’m glad we got hold of accountability before LeBron got out there,” Ayton said. “I’m glad we went through some tough games and a little of hardships and ups and downs and adversity. And it made us prepare for times like this where he says one thing and we get it done right away.”
The Jazz (5-9) knocked the Lakers back with guard Keyonte George making five threes in the first half and 23 points on nine for 15 shooting. Utah jumped out to a 11-point lead in the first half, but the Lakers tied it with 18.8 seconds left in the second quarter and went into halftime down by four, prepared to make a push.
“I think the word we were using as a coaching staff was our poise as a group,” Redick said. “Not overreacting, not pulling apart, problem solving, all that stuff, in real time. Just continuing to play. That, at times, was missing last year, and for us to get that on the first night [fully healthy] was really good.”
LeBron James will make his season debut Tuesday when the Lakers host the Utah Jazz, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity, after sciatica kept James sidelined for the Lakers’ first 14 games.
James is “trending in the right direction,” coach JJ Redick said before Tuesday’s game, which will mark the beginning of James’ NBA-record 23rd season. The 40-year-old missed the beginning of a season for the first time in his NBA career after starting to feel discomfort in his right side this summer.
James missed all of training camp and the preseason. The Lakers put together a 10-4 record despite playing without their biggest star. In his place, Luka Doncic has emerged as the NBA’s leading scorer and guard Austin Reaves is off to a career season.
The star trio played together for several months last year after Doncic joined the Lakers in a blockbuster trade, helping the team grab the third seed in the Western Conference. Redick expects the experience to help James integrate smoothly this year.
“He’s smart enough and [there’s] enough carry over from last year, both with personnel and with our schemes, that I think it’ll be easy for him to be integrated right away,” Redick said.
James said after practice Monday he was not yet pain-free, but he has been able to manage the nerve injury enough to progress through practices with the G League team, the full NBA squad and then Tuesday’s shootaround. James said dealing with sciatica came with unexpected challenges. He often could only hope he wouldn’t feel pain when he woke up in the morning or when he went to sleep.
Redick said the team and James are approaching “uncharted territory” when it comes to managing the superstar’s health. Conversations have been consistent and will be ongoing as the season progresses.
“We’ll figure out ways to get him rest when he needs rest,” Redick said.
Staff writer Broderick Turner contributed to this report.
LeBron James said his lungs felt like those of a “newborn baby” and his voice was “already gone” after his first Lakers practice Monday as he moved a step closer toward making his season debut after being sidelined by sciatica.
The Lakers listed James as questionable for Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena, and he sounded as if he was close to playing in his NBA-record 23rd season.
“We got a long time,” said James as he wiped sweat from his face while speaking to reporters. “I mean, we’ve been taking literally one minute, one hour, one step at a time throughout this whole process. So, see how I feel this afternoon, see how I feel tonight. When I wake up in the morning. … We’ll probably have [a] shootaround [Tuesday]. So, just gotta see how the body responds over the next 24 hours-plus.”
LeBron James on how he’s feeling: “My lungs feel like a newborn baby.”
Says he’s trying to get his conditioning back up and his voice is already shot from yelling at practice, but he was happy to be back. pic.twitter.com/rl6WMAuYmw
James, who will turn 41 next month, was asked how long it took him to become pain-free.
“I wouldn’t take it that far,” James said. “Like I said, if you ever had it, you go about it and you wake up one day and you hope that when you step down from the bed that you don’t feel it. You go to bed at night, and you hope that when you’re in the bed that you don’t feel it. So I’ve been doing pretty good with it as of late. There’s a lot of exercises and a lot of mobility things and a lot of things you can do to help it. So I’m just keeping a positive mindset.”
Lakers coach JJ Redick said it was like having a new player in practice with James on the court.
James agreed, saying, “Definitely feels new, for sure.”
The Lakers have four days off after Tuesday’s game against Utah — including three practice days — before playing the Jazz in Salt Lake City on Sunday.
“One day back, barking out calls and assignments and stuff, getting my voice working again,” said James about his first day at practice. “Be a lot of tea and rest tonight.”
James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer (42,184 points), admitted he had to mentally adjust to missing the start of a season for the first time in his career.
“It sucks. It definitely sucks,” James said. “Never in my life since I started playing the game of basketball have I ever not started the season — in my life. It’s been a mind test, but I’m built for it and it’s been putting in the work, both mentally and physically trying to get myself ready to rejoin the team.
“It’s just been kind of the same revolving door. Just repetition, repetition, repetition; rehabbing, rehabbing, rehabbing. Just trying to get back where I can feel like myself again. It’s great to be out here today.”
James said this wasn’t the first time in his career that he had sciatica.
“I had it two years ago,” he said. “You had it, then you know what the hell it’s about. If you ain’t never had it and people are making jokes about it, I pray you never get it. It’s not fun.”
James practiced with the Lakers’ G League team, the South Bay Lakers, twice last week, getting in some five-on-five work.
“It was great,” James said. “I got cleared to play some five-on-five for the first time since … hurting my MCL versus Minnesota. And that was the blessing.”
The Lakers have gone 10-4 without James. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have led the way as one of the most potent two-way tandems in the early part of the NBA season.
Doncic leads the NBA in scoring (34.4 points per game) and Reaves is ninth (28.3). Doncic is fifth in assists (8.9) and Reaves is seventh (8.2).
James, who is 50 games away from breaking Robert Parish’s all-time record of most games played in NBA history (1,611), knows he’ll have to adjust things when he returns.
“I have to work my way back into it,” James said. “The guys have been going on road trips, shootarounds, flights. So it’s kind of like a kid going to a new school again. Got to learn the guys and everything. So they got some great chemistry. Feeling my way back in and do it organically. It shouldn’t be hard. But it’s definitely a feel-out process.”
Etc.
Redick said all 14 players practiced for the first time this season and that Rui Hachimura (left call soreness) and Marcus Smart (viral illness) will be available to play against the Jazz after sitting out against Milwaukee on Saturday.
The Lakers finished an uneven road trip on a high note with consecutive wins at New Orleans and Milwaukee, salvaging a 3-2 record on the trip after a 119-95 win over the Bucks on Saturday. The only thing that seemed to excite the players more than the victory was what waited for them after the nine-day journey.
“Let’s go homeee,” forward Jake LaRavia posted on his Instagram story.
Here are five takeaways after the five-game road trip:
Lakers recapture their magic
Laker Deandre Ayton fouls Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo on Saturday in Milwaukee.
(Morry Gash / Associated Press)
Deandre Ayton took credit for the postgame locker room’s Frank Sinatra soundtrack, but JJ Redick had Jay-Z on his mind. After wrapping up a grueling trip, one of Redick’s first thoughts was Jay-Z’s track “A Week Ago,” which begins with the lyric: “It was all good just a week ago.”
A week ago, the Lakers were 7-2. They were riding the high of a five-game winning streak heading into practice in Atlanta.
Then things turned sour.
The Lakers (10-4) were blown out against Atlanta and Oklahoma City on this trip. They played about one good half of basketball in their first three games. But during the most demanding part of the stretch, the Lakers rallied to find themselves again with critical wins against the Pelicans and Bucks.
“This is the NBA,” Redick told reporters. “And you gotta find moments to recapture what makes you a good basketball team. And I think over the last 24 hours we’ve done that.”
Redick credited Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for continuing to lead the team through choppy waters Saturday. Despite the team arriving in Milwaukee at 3 a.m. on Saturday morning and Doncic playing 40 minutes the night before in New Orleans, the superstar guard was still diving on the floor for a loose ball in the second quarter. He pushed the ball ahead to Reaves, who found Ayton for a layup.
As Doncic becomes more comfortable with his teammates, his leadership has shown through not only his play but his sarcastic personality, which has helped develop a strong bond.
“It’s great chemistry,” Doncic told reporters. “When I came, I was probably a little more quiet, trying to get to know people. But right now, I’m just being myself, just joking around a lot, trash-talking. So I think one of the biggest things for the team to win is have a great chemistry, and I think we have that.”
Doncic’s MVP campaign rolls along
The Lakers’ Luka Doncic drives past the Bucks’ Gary Harris on Saturday in Milwaukee.
(Morry Gash / Associated Press)
With 41 points, nine rebounds and six assists against Milwaukee, Doncic collected his fourth 40-point games this season, equaling his total for such games all of last year.
He leads the league with 34.4 points per game and officially became eligible for the leaderboard after playing in his 10th game Saturday. His points and 8.9 rebounds per game are close to his production in 2023-24 when he led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals and finished third in most valuable player voting with 33.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. He is doing it despite shooting a 32.7% from three-point range, his worst mark since his second season.
Reinforcements are on the way
Lakers forward Lebron James is expected to return to the lineup soon.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
LeBron James is expected to return to the practice court with the Lakers on Monday after a productive test stint with the South Bay Lakers. He could make his season debut as soon as Tuesday against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena in the Lakers’ only game this week.
James is the only standard contract player still awaiting to make his debut after the Lakers got forwards Maxi Kleber and Adou Thiero back on the court during the trip. Kleber, who was sidelined with an abdominal strain, has played in three games. He made his first shot of the season in the win over Milwaukee while playing 25 minutes with three points and three assists.
The rookie Thiero also made his debut against the Bucks, scoring four points and punctuating his first NBA appearance with an emphatic two-handed dunk in the final minute. It showed the type of athleticism and activity the Lakers were looking for when they drafted him in the second round. He also grabbed one offensive rebound during the first half that led to Kleber’s three-pointer.
Guard Gabe Vincent (ankle) is still out and is approaching three weeks since he turned his ankle against the Sacramento Kings. The original timetable for his return was two to four weeks.
Shooting slumps
Lakers guard Gabe Vincent throws a lob pass to center Deandre Ayton for an alley-oop dunk against the Kings on Oct. 26.
(Sara Nevis / Associated Press)
Vincent’s eventual return could help the Lakers with one of their most glaring offensive deficiencies: three-point shooting.
The Lakers rank 25th in three-point shooting at just 33.8%. Their 32.4 three-point attempts per game rank 26th in the league. It’s a far cry from the 40.4 threes they attempted in the games after Doncic joined the team last year.
Part of the shooting slump could be Reaves’ early struggles from three-point range. Outside of his six for 10 night that led to a career-high 51 points against Sacramento, Reaves, who missed three games with a groin injury, was shooting 26.4% from three this season.
He then caught fire in the second half against the Bucks, making five threes. While finishing with 25 points and eight assists, he made three consecutive three-pointers to open the fourth quarter that Doncic called some of the most important shots of the game.
“It was good to get something to go down,” Reaves told reporters. “… Hopefully we continue to shoot the ball well.”
Pick up the pace
The Bucks’ Bobby Portis and the Lakers’ Luka Doncic battle for a loose ball on Saturday in Milwaukee.
(Morry Gash / Associated Press)
The Lakers are second-to-last in transition possessions per game and transition possession percentage. Redick was puzzled as to why the team played so slowly when asked about its pace before the Charlotte game. He said the pace was “literally the first thing we emphasize in every film session.”
But on the second night of a back-to-back, Redick acknowledged the team, considering its personnel, was simply not going to be a fast team. However, he still identified markers of success. Before Saturday’s game, Redick told the players the team was 9-1 when it scored 12 or more transition points and 8-0 with 24 or more assists.
“I think there’s a formula here for throwing the ball ahead and sharing the basketball,” Redick said. “And they were good again with that tonight.”
The Lakers had 12 fast break points and 23 assists against the Bucks.
NEW ORLEANS — LeBron James is making progress in his return from injury, and that’s a good sign for a Lakers team that has performed unevenly over a five-game trip.
Before the Lakers’ 118-104 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Lakers coach JJ Redick said James, who has been dealing with sciatica, took part in an individual workout on Friday following consecutive days of five-on-five practice with the South Bay Lakers.
The Lakers finish their trip against Milwaukee on Saturday night. James will then practice with the Lakers on Monday. If all goes well, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer could start his league-record 23rd season Tuesday against Utah at Crypto.com Arena.
When he does return, how will James, who turns 41 next month, adjust to the chemistry the Lakers have established with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves at the center of the offense?
“I’ve certainly thought about it,” Redick said about how James’ return will affect the team. “The reality is, next week will be a great week for all of us to assess where we’re at and figure out what we want to work on. It’s rare that you have one game over the course of a week, so probably will think about it more then. But typically when you’re playing every other day, you’re using your time until 3 a.m. to review the game that you just played and then using the time the next day until 3 a.m. to get ready for the next game.”
Last season, James averaged 24.4 points per game, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists last season, while shooting 51.3% from the field and 37.6% from three-point range.
Lakers players don’t think James’ return will cause any issues.
Jarred Vanderbilt said James “can bring an element that we need, essentially, knowing that he can provide that.”
“I know it’s probably tough,” Vanderbilt said. “But even just the integration, trying to integrate himself as a player, as a team mid-season is kind of tough. But we’re excited for his return, whenever he comes back, and I know he can provide exactly what we need for this team.”
Reaves led the way against the Pelicans, finishing with 31 points and seven assists as the Lakers (9-4) improved to 2-0 in NBA Cup play.
Doncic scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half and finished with 12 assists and six rebounds.
Deandre Ayton was a force for the Lakers inside with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans (2-10) with 35 points and six rebounds.
Etc.
Lakers rookie Adou Thiero, who has been out all season recovering from left knee surgery, was activated, but did not play against Pelicans, but did not play. Redick said he hopes to potentially give Thiero some playing time against the Bucks.
They started in February after Dallas Mavericks general manager and president of basketball operations Nico Harrison initiated a trade that sent superstar Luka Doncic to the Lakers and continued to occur at home games throughout the end of last season and into the 2025-26 campaign.
On Tuesday morning, those vocal fans got their wish, as Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont announced that Harrison had been let go weeks into his fifth season with the team. Dallas went 182-157 under the former Nike executive, including a 3-8 start to this season.
Assistant general managers Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi were named co-interim general managers to oversee basketball operations.
“This decision reflects our continued commitment to building a championship-caliber organization, one that delivers for our players, our partners, and most importantly, our fans,” Dumont said.
Harrison spent nearly two decades with Nike before being hired by the Mavericks in June 2021. The team made it to the Western Conference finals the following season and to the NBA Finals in 2024, with Doncic as its undisputed star.
The move shocked most people involved with the NBA, and Dallas fans felt blindsided. That’s when “Fire Nico” started. The words appeared on signs and T-shirts in addition to being yelled at home games, including the Mavericks’ 116-114 loss Monday to the Milwaukee Bucks.
During that game, Dumont was seen sitting courtside having a lengthy conversation with a fan in a Lakers jersey featuring Doncic’s name and number. That person, 18-year-old Mavericks fan Nicholas Dickason, told The Athletic that he had initiated the conversation to apologize to the team governor for yelling curse words at him and giving him the finger at a game earlier this season.
According to Dickason, Dumont accepted his apology and added an admission of his own.
“Basically Patrick was like, he feels horrible for the trade. And wants to make it up to us,” Dickason said. “That’s basically what he said. He accepted my apology for it as well.”
In April, after the Mavericks finished the 2024-25 season with a 39-43 record and missed the playoffs, Harrison admitted he underestimated the level of outrage the trade would cause.
“I did know that Luka was important to the fan base,” Harrison said. “I didn’t quite know it to what level.”
He added: “When you have 20,000 people in the stadium chanting ‘Fire Nico,’ you really feel it. … But my job is to make decisions I feel are in the best interest of this organization, and I gotta stand by the decisions, and some of them are going to be unpopular. This was clearly one that’s unpopular.”
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For once, Luka Doncic had to serve the punishment. For not hitting any half-court shots during his pregame warmup, Doncic had to drop to the court and give his coaching staff push-ups.
The exercise seemingly powered him up for the two-handed dunk to come.
Doncic dazzled in the Lakers’ 121-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at Spectrum Center, scoring 38 points with seven assists, six rebounds and one emphatic third-quarter dunk to help the Lakers flush the memories of a blowout loss in Atlanta.
Austin Reaves returned from a three-game absence with 24 points and seven assists while Rui Hachimura scored 21 points with perfect three-for-three shooting from three-point range.
Reaves, who was out with a right groin strain, announced his presence by throwing a lob to Deandre Ayton for the Lakers’ first basket. After Charlotte (3-7) blitzed the Lakers with eight three-pointers in the first quarter to take a 40-36 lead, Reaves answered by scoring seven of the Lakers’ first 10 points in the second. He gave the team a jolt of energy by racing for a transition layup to beat the halftime buzzer, giving the Lakers (8-3) a two-point lead.
“He’s an All-Star-level player,” coach JJ Redick said before the game. “He’s, along with Luka, an incredibly dynamic offensive player. I think our depth increases, the lineup optionality increases, so not having him in the lineup really, really hurts us.”
The Lakers went 2-1 in games without Reaves, but the 20-point loss to Atlanta on Saturday was so striking that Redick was left questioning the identity of his team. The Lakers looked lifeless. Redick waved the white flag by the middle of the third quarter after the starting unit let the deficit balloon to 25.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves shoots over Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges during the first half Monday.
(Chris Carlson / Associated Press)
With Doncic and Reaves back, the Lakers wouldn’t repeat their third-quarter woes.
The Lakers started the second half with an 11-4 run that forced the Hornets to call a timeout. Reaves then assisted a three-pointer from Hachimura that pushed the lead into double digits. Doncic hit a step-back three to put the Lakers up by 12. Doncic’s assist to Hachimura extended the lead to 17.
A driving, two-handed dunk was the exclamation point, stunning the Charlotte crowd as he hung on the rim and screamed. With two dunks this season, he already doubled his total from last year.
Doncic assisted a Reaves three with 8:01 remaining in the fourth quarter and Reaves put up his arms and threw his head back in relief. He had missed his first seven three-point attempts and finished two for 10 from three-point range.
Reaves’ return gets the Lakers one player closer to their full roster. LeBron James is scheduled to practice with the South Bay Lakers this week as he progresses through his return from right sciatica.
Rookie Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery) is also nearing his return as Redick estimated the forward could make his NBA debut during this road trip, which continues Wednesday at Oklahoma City and ends with a back-to-back set in New Orleans on Friday and Milwaukee on Saturday.
ATLANTA — With the Lakers down by 20 in the third quarter at Atlanta, the only sound coming from their bench was Nick Smith Jr.’s hollow claps of encouragement. The rest of the Lakers sat with slumped shoulders on the bench or loitered with blank faces in a semicircle waiting for their coaches to join.
There wasn’t much that could be said.
The Lakers’ five-game winning streak ended in a blowout as the Hawks dominated 122-102 on Saturday at State Farm Arena.
Playing a third consecutive game without Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic tried to keep the Lakers (7-3) in it with 22 points, 11 assists and five rebounds, but all his points came in the first half and he came out after only 27 minutes as the Hawks built a 25-point lead by the middle of the third quarter. Forward Jake LaRavia had 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Jarred Vanderbilt had 18 rebounds, one shy of his career high.
“This isn’t the identity of this team,” LaRavia said. “This game was an outlier of the first 10 games that we played. [We have to] just not let it break us and be ready to play the next game.”
The Lakers, who won their first four road games, started their five-game trip on a sour note and now need to bounce back when play Charlotte on Monday.
The Hawks (5-5) were playing the second game of a home back-to-back after losing to the Toronto Raptors on Friday. They had four of five starters sidelined, including Trae Young (knee), Kristaps Porzingis (rest) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (back).
The Lakers should know the dangers of a desperate, shorthanded team. Only five days ago they ended Portland’s three-game winning streak without Reaves, Doncic or LeBron James. Coach JJ Redick said he would reiterate the lesson before Saturday’s game to avoid a letdown.
Then the Lakers fell behind by 13 in the first quarter. Their deficit ballooned to 26 after three quarters. Redick began sitting his starters by the middle of the third.
“Just not a lot to like tonight,” Redick said matter-of-factly.
Facing a cross-country trip, the Lakers arrived in Atlanta on Thursday and scheduled a practice Friday with a team-bonding activity that night. They held a shootaround in the arena Saturday morning.
Yet even with the extra time to prepare, Redick could tell within the first two minutes that the team didn’t have the necessary energy to win. What did the coach see during that fateful stretch?
“Nothing,” Redick said.
Atlanta Hawks guard Vit Krejci shoots between Lakers center Deandre Ayton and forward Rui Hachimura in the first half Saturday.
(Mike Stewart / Associated Press)
It was the final word of his news conference, which lasted 100 seconds.
Doncic helped lead a quick third-quarter surge, assisting on three consecutive baskets in a 7-0 run that cut the lead to nine, but the Hawks responded by scoring seven unanswered points and forcing two turnovers. Center Deandre Ayton subbed out for the last time with 8:49 to go in the third.
“They played phenomenal,” said Ayton, who had 11 points on five-for-five shooting and five rebounds. “But us not even damn near competing in a sense, it looks bad on paper and it looks bad on film. This is one of them games where yeah, food’s going to taste bad tonight.”
Doncic and Marcus Smart, another veteran leader, were not made available to reporters after the game.
Atlanta’s Mouhamed Gueye torched the Lakers for 21 points on eight-for-12 shooting and made four three-pointers. The Lakers, who had credited their connection and chemistry for carrying them through long stints without their stars, suddenly fell silent when faced with a large deficit in front of a rowdy crowd.
With most of Atlanta’s fans streaming toward the exits in the final two minutes, the Hawks’ most dedicated fan group, the “404 Crew,” echoed through the mostly empty arena with a final chant: “Where is LeBron?”
The superstar has yet to play a single minute this season because of a bout with sciatica.
ATLANTA — JJ Redick was already preaching one type of Japanese philosophy, harping to his team about the concept of “kaizen” to improve each day. Off the court, the head coach found inspiration in another Japanese phrase.
Lakers players and coaches have used PechaKucha presentations to facilitate team bonding this season. The slideshows, which come from the Japanese word for chitchat, could be a secret to the team’s hot start as the Lakers (7-2) have won five consecutive games entering a five-game road that starts Saturday in Atlanta at 5 p.m. PST against the Hawks.
The Lakers have pieced together one of the NBA’s most efficient offenses despite injuries keeping LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic in and out of the lineup, relying on a strong team bond that’s developed quickly through an even faster form of communication.
PechaKucha presentations are traditionally 20 slides, each with a photo. The speaker has 20 seconds to explain each slide for a total presentation time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
The Lakers’ version consists of five slides: where you’re from; favorite basketball memory; person, event or thing that has impacted your life; your non-basketball happy place; and dealer’s choice.
“A lot of times most of the interactions you’ll have with your teammates is on the basketball court,” forward Jake LaRavia said. “So it’s good to just kind of either learn some stuff about them outside of basketball, like hobbies and stuff like that, where they come from. And that just helps you kind of understand who the person is a little bit better.”
Assistant coach Scott Brooks started his presentation with a photo of a walnut, symbolizing the walnut farm he worked on during the weekends to help his family make ends meet. LaRavia showed a photo of his driveway as the origin of his basketball journey. Doncic spoke about how his daughter Gabriela changed his life.
One coach and one player present, and then they each nominate the next coach or player to go. With about half of the players and coaches left, Redick said he’s already noticing the holdouts actively planning their presentations before their nominations.
“We’re just constantly encouraging and empowering our guys to get connected,” Redick said. “I believe if you’re connected off the floor, you’re connected on the floor. You need buy-in to that. I’m not trying to take credit for my staff here. It’s the guys on the team, they’re bought into that.”
Doncic, for one, isn’t sold. He deadpanned that he doesn’t think the exercise helps.
Just the fact that Doncic made the joke meant it’s working.
Settled after last season’s jarring trade, the 26-year-old’s personality has started to emerge among his teammates. He is a sarcastic jokester who expresses love for his teammates by threading passes to them through pinhole-sized gaps in the defense and then trash talking them right soon after.
Lakers coach JJ Redick, with injured forward LeBron James next to him, questions a call along with guard Marcus Smart during the game against the Spurs on Wednesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Doncic’s smiling antics, whether he’s trying to sit on Austin Reaves’ lap on the sideline or swishing halfcourt shots in a contest with Reaves, Maxi Kleber and staff members, show just how connected the superstar feels to the team.
“Honestly, the feeling is I’m enjoying, very much, playing with these guys,” Doncic said. “AR [Reaves] can’t play. We’re still missing LeBron. So this team has a big potential. But everybody who steps on court, gives maximum, man, everybody. So it’s very enjoyable to play.”
Reaves is present on the road trip but will miss a third consecutive game Saturday. The Lakers ruled him out after practice Friday as his right groin injury progressed to a strain after previously being categorized simply as soreness.
James did not make the trip to Atlanta. He progressed to on-court basketball activities this week after missing four weeks because of a sciatica on his right side. He was playing one-on-one with coaches, Redick said. A stint with the South Bay Lakers is on the table, but no decision has been made.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer hasn’t played a single minute for the Lakers yet. Reaves, averaging 31.1 points and 9.3 assists, has missed the last two wins, and Doncic has played in only half of the games. But the Lakers are still fifth in the NBA in offensive rating.
“It shows how professional we are,” guard Marcus Smart said of the team’s chemistry despite constantly changing personnel. “I think a lot of people, especially who aren’t in the brotherhood, they forget that you build a relationship with guys, and then one guy or a couple guys, you get traded and you got to rebuild another one. You don’t understand how tough that is, how much of a toll that takes.”
Just as Smart spoke, Doncic appeared behind the group of reporters, clapping loudly. Then Doncic made sure to put on the record that he would beat Smart at a team-building competition that night. Both smiled as they walked away.
Marcus Smart couldn’t believe the stat line. Five steals and two blocks for who?
“Lukaaaaa,” Smart said, elongating Luka Doncic’s name while smiling toward his star teammate who was sitting with his feet in an ice bucket with ice bags wrapped around his knees.
Doncic matched his career high for steals in a regular-season game Wednesday. The guard averaging 40 points per game claimed his defense was the only thing he did well on a night when he finished one rebound short of a triple-double. While collecting 35 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, he was an inefficient nine-for-27 from the field and four-for-11 from three. He missed four free throws, turned the ball over four times and, after picking up his fifth foul with 7:58 remaining in the fourth, nearly fouled out.
The last fact took Rui Hachimura by surprise.
“I’ve never seen him like that,” Hachimura said. “But you know, he’s trying to be more aggressive [on defense] and that’s what we need from him, too.”
Redick said Doncic had a few games when he started slow defensively in terms of physicality and engagement, but has been overall “really good” this season. Even when he was switched on to Spurs star Victor Wembanyama or point guard Stephon Castle, Doncic still competed well.
“There wasn’t matador defense,” Redick said. “He still guarded. And that was huge. The reason we won the game is because we guarded in the fourth quarter. Our fourth-quarter defense was the No. 1 reason we won the game.”
The Lakers limited the Spurs to 36.8% shooting from the field during the fourth quarter while forcing six turnovers. Wembanyama was held to 19 points on labored five-for-14 shooting with eight rebounds. He was nine-for-11 on free throws and fouled out with 1:40 remaining when he bowled over Hachimura.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will miss the Lakers’ game in Portland on Monday as the team ruled both out with injuries.
One night after recording a 29-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, Doncic is out to manage a lower leg contusion. Reaves, who scored 26 points and 11 assists in the Lakers’ 130-120 win over the Miami Heat, is out with right groin soreness.
This will be the fourth game Doncic has missed this season as he was also sidelined with a minor finger injury and a left leg contusion.
Playing in their second back-to-back of the season, the Lakers will again be short-handed. They had seven standard contract players when they hosted the Trail Blazers on the second night of a back-to-back last week. Portland won 122-108 as Reaves attempted to carry the team with 41 points.
The Lakers could also be without Deandre Ayton, who is questionable with back spasms. He missed Sunday’s game after experiencing pain last Friday in Memphis.
Forward Maxi Kleber was upgraded to questionable with an abdominal strain that has kept him sidelined all season.
Of course Luka Doncic made the one that didn’t count.
On a frigid shooting night when the star guard made just one three-pointer on 11 attempts, Doncic swished a 40-footer on a dead ball that elicited a roar from the Crypto.com Arena.
He instead made his impact in other ways.
Doncic overcame his bad shooting to still collect his first triple-double of the season, notching 29 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds in the Lakers’ 130-120 victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday. Fellow guard Austin Reaves was also struggling with his shot, making just four of 14 three-point attempts, but rallied for 26 points and 11 assists to just three turnovers.
Although their stars slogged through concurrent off nights, the Lakers (5-2) still shot 50.5% from the field. They tallied 33 assists to 11 turnovers. They won their third consecutive game.
“We did a lot of really good things and it could have been even better if me and Luka would’ve made a shot,” Reaves deadpanned. “But supporting cast and everybody around that played really well.”
Forward Jake LaRavia, who turns 24 on Tuesday, scored in double digits for the third consecutive game off the bench, finishing with 25 points — two shy of his season high — and eight rebounds. He’s averaged 21.7 points per game in the last three games.
Doncic, who missed three games with minor finger and leg injuries, scored 40 points in each of his first three games this season. Only Wilt Chamberlain had ever started a season with three consecutive 40-point games. But Doncic was happy to sacrifice the scoring streak Sunday.
“We get a win,” Doncic said, “[it] doesn’t matter how many I scored.”
Doncic and Reaves struggled in the first quarter, shooting a combined two for seven from the field. Yet the Lakers still led by seven as the star duo combined for eight assists.
Center Jaxson Hayes was one of the main beneficiaries in that span, scoring 11 points on five-of-five shooting. He had a ferocious one-handed dunk off a Doncic assist that got Hayes so amped up that he head-butted the basket stanchion in celebration. He sank his first three-pointer since March 27, 2023, stepping confidently into a shot that put the Lakers up 23-13 and forced the Heat to call an early timeout.
Hayes finished with 15 points and five rebounds in his first start of the year as Deandre Ayton was held out because of back spasms. Ayton’s back flared up during the Lakers’ win in Memphis on Friday, causing him to sit out the entire second half. He was available to return in the fourth quarter, coach JJ Redick said after the game, but with the Lakers feeding off Hayes and Jarred Vanderbilt at center, the team didn’t want to risk further injury.
The Heat (3-3) finished the third quarter on a 20-7 run to pull within four points heading into the fourth quarter. Former UCLA star Jaime Jaquez Jr., playing in front of his hometown crowd, cut the lead to two with an emphatic one-handed put-back dunk 58 seconds in the fourth quarter. A hush fell over the Lakers crowd.
But Reaves helped quell the comeback effort.
He stumbled while trying to dribble behind his legs, but recovered to shoot a fadeaway mid-range jumper with 1.6 seconds left in the shot clock that put the Lakers up by six with 5:13 remaining in the fourth quarter. Less than 20 seconds later, Reaves threw a lob from just inside mid-court to a soaring LaRavia, who brought the crowd to its feet with a two-handed dunk.
