tripledouble

The Lakers have reached the part of the NBA season in which they get a week off because of the All-Star break that starts Friday. It’ll give the Lakers time to rest and, perhaps most importantly, to get healthy.

Luka Doncic is at the center of what they do, but he missed his fourth straight game with left leg soreness, leaving the Lakers shorthanded yet again, a position they have found themselves in for most of the season.

So before LeBron James led the Lakers with a triple-double of 28 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in a 124-104 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, Lakers coach JJ Redick was asked about Doncic’s status for the All-Star game Sunday at Intuit Dome in Inglewood.

“It’s above my pay grade,” Redick said.

Doncic was the leading vote-getter for the All-Star Game.

So, Redick was asked again if Doncic would play in the game if he gets cleared.

“It’s above my pay grade,” Redick responded again.

Doncic, who leads the NBA in scoring (32.8) and is third in assists (8.6), went through his pregame routine before the Lakers played the Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena.

Austin Reaves drives to the basket between Dallas’ Max Christie and Daniel Gafford in the first half.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Redick said Doncic is doing “really good.”

“He’s progressed really good,” Redick said. “I think part of him wanted to push to get back prior to the break. But we’ve gotta be cautious with soft-tissue injuries. Obviously, we were very cautious with Austin [Reaves]. I mean, you just saw what happened with [Oklahoma City’s] Jalen Williams [reoccuring right hamstring injury] coming back. We all feel very comfortable with the decision to hold him out and should be good to go post All-Star.”

After missing Tuesday night’s game against the Spurs, the Lakers got James (left foot arthritis), Reaves (left calf injury management) and Marcus Smart (right ankle soreness) back.

But center Deandre Ayton missed his second straight game with right knee soreness. Redick said Ayton got an MRI that revealed his injury.

“He’ll get proper care over break and then he’ll be back as well,” Redick said.

The Lakers didn’t miss Ayton, building a 22-point lead and having five players score in double figures.

Rui Hachimura had 21 points on nine-for-13 shooting and Reaves had 18 points and six assists.

The Lakers are 33-21 and in fifth place in the super-tough Western Conference.

They have 28 games left in the regular season after an injury-marred first part of the season that tested the Lakers on many levels.

“I think the nature of this is there’s always going to be opportunities to respond to poor games, to failure,” Redick said. “There’s opportunities to respond to good stretches and not get complacent. I think the group has responded to all of the challenges the season has presented in a really good way.”

WASHINGTON — The “competitive edge” Lakers coach JJ Redick requested from his players showed itself right away in the form of dominance from Luka Doncic, more outstanding play from LeBron James and an impressive outing from center Deandre Ayton.

By the time Doncic, James and Ayton completed their night, they had combined for 85 points and 27 rebounds in helping the Lakers build a 38-point lead en route to a 142-111 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday. The Lakers improved to 4-2 on their season-high eight-game trip.

And it centered around the brilliance of Doncic, his triple-double of 37 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds the catalyst for the Lakers winning for the fifth time in their last seven games. He was efficient too, shooting 13 for 21 from the field and six for 13 from three-point range.

Ayton was a tower of strength with 28 points on 12-for-14 shooting, 13 rebounds, three blocked shots and three assists.

James had the crowd engaged all game with his play that led to 20 points and six assists.

The left ankle soreness that had Doncic listed as questionable was not an issue for the All-Star guard, his first half showing that he was playing at another level with a triple-double of 26 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes against the overmatched Wizards.

LeBron James passes the ball around Wizards guard Bub Carrington during the first half.

(Nick Wass / Associated Press)

Doncic dazzled with no-look and lob passes along with three-pointers that seemed to impress even him, considering he looked over to the Lakers’ bench after several spectacular threes.

The 41-year-old James put on a show, throwing down lobs for dunks, drawing cheers and applause from the fans inside Capital One Arena.

There was the lob from Ayton that James threw down left-handed, making teammates leap off their seats and fans gasp and cheer. For added emphasis, James stared at his left hand as he made his way down the court, a knowing look on his face.

There was the lob from Marcus Smart that James threw down for a reverse dunk, again bringing fans and teammates out of their seats.

There was the moment James drove by Washington’s Alex Sarr and threw down another dunk, causing teammates to jump out of their seats again and fans to cheer even louder.

The Lakers (29-18) lost their previous game in Cleveland on Wednesday night by 30 points, an embarrassing effort that they wanted to rebound from against the Wizards.

In building a 77-48 lead at the half, the Lakers demonstrated that they were listening to Redick’s orders. It was the third time this season the Lakers scored 77 or more in a half.

“Yeah, I think playing with a competitive edge and playing together on both ends of the floor,” Redick said. “We’ve talked a lot recently just about doing your job. If you’re supposed to be the low man, be the low man. These guys all have shown they can do it and I think the theme of our season has been the ups and downs and sort of the consistency that we’re searching for on a night-to-night basis.”

Etc.

Though Austin Reaves (left calf strain) was upgraded to questionable for the game, the Lakers guard did not play. He has missed 18 straight games since suffering the injury on Christmas against the Houston Rockets.

Reaves has been working out as he progresses toward a return. The Lakers play again Sunday at the New York Knicks.

“He continues to progress. He hasn’t had any setbacks,” Redick said. “Yesterday was five weeks from the injury. He’s right on schedule, if not a little bit ahead of schedule. So it’s just him being fully confident in his body. And he continues to get great work on the court.”