Luka Doncic scores season-high 51 points in Lakers’ win over Bulls

It wasn’t always pretty.

And the defense left a lot to be desired.

But in take-care-of-business victory, the Lakers’ 142-130 win over the Bulls on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena will be memorable for one reason: Luka Doncic’s first 50-point game with the Lakers. 

Doncic led the Lakers with 51 points on 17-of-31 shooting on Thursday night, scoring his 50th and 51st points at the free throw line with “M-V-P” being chanted throughout the Lakers’ home arena late in the fourth quarter. 

“It feels very special,” Doncic said.

Thursday was the eighth 50-point game of Doncic’s career, and the first time he scored at least 50 points since scoring a career-high 73 points on Jan. 26, 2024, while playing for the Mavericks.

“I just feel like it’s every game..with him scoring like that,” Deandre Ayton said.

Austin Reaves added 30 points, seven assists and five rebounds during a night the Lakers’ offense was firing on all cylinders. 

The Lakers shot 55.6% from the field, including 47.2% on 3s (17 of 36). 

Ayton recorded a 23 point-10 rebound double-double to continue his strong run of play.

LeBron James had 18 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and a pair of steals after returning from a three-game absence. 

Rui Hachimura also scored 15 points, with all of the Lakers starters scoring at least 15 points. 

“I like the way we played,” coach JJ Redick said.

What it means

The Lakers moved back up to third in the Western Conference standings with Thursday’s victory. 

They’re on a four-game winning streak, their longest run of consecutive wins since late November when they won a season-high seven games to close out the month. 

They have a 41-25 record. 

Turning point

When Ayton grabbed an offensive rebound at the 1:09 mark in the second quarter that led to the Rui Hachimura free-throw line jumper to tie the game at 62 apiece.

That started a 7-0 run the Lakers closed the first half with, flowing into a 5-0 run to start the third quarter to put the Lakers up 72-62. 

The Lakers led by as many as 22 points in the third. 

The Bulls cut their deficit to single digits multiple times, but the Lakers led for the remainder of the game.

MVP: Luka Doncic

Doncic gets the nod after having his highest scoring game as a Laker.

He also had 10 rebounds and nine assists for a near 50-point triple-double.

“He’s our best player and when he plays like that, we’re tough to guard because of his ability to make shots,” Reaves said of Doncic. “Not just that, but [passing] the ball as well and he picks apart defenses. He needs to continue to do that for us, we expect him to do that. Obviously not score 51 every night. But the type of player he is, he can get hot after seeing one shot go in. And they’ve been going in for him. So we need continue to encourage him to shoot them.”

Stat of the game: 9

That was the number of 3s Doncic made against the Bulls, which tied a career-high that he set on March 31, 2024, while he played for the Mavericks.

After a slow shooting start to the season, Doncic has been scorching from beyond the arc.

He’s shot 39.7% on 3s on 10.5 attempts since Dec. 25, and 43.7% from beyond the arc on 11.3 attempts since the All-Star break.

“He’s been high-volume, high-efficiency for about 2 ½ months now,” Redick said. “It’s so important. It just sets up the rest of his game when he’s making 3s.”

Up next

The Lakers will close out their five-game homestand, which they’re undefeated on so far, against the Nuggets on Saturday. 

They hope to have Marcus Smart back in the lineup for that matchup after he was sidelined on Thursday because of a hip contusion.