DENVER – Now, that's what the Los Angeles Lakers had in mind when they pulled off their shocking trade for Luka Doncic earlier this month.
After going 1-2 and averaging 14.7 points in his first three games with LA following his departure from Dallas, the 25-year-old superstar had by far his best game in a Lakers uniform Saturday night in Denver.
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Doncic scored 32 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out seven assists and stole four passes while leading the Lakers to a 123-100 wipeout of the Nuggets, who had won nine consecutive games.
“Finally feel like myself a little bit,” Doncic said. “Playing this game, this is what I love. Just finally being myself a little bit, that’s why I was smiling all game."
So was LeBron James, who chipped in 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks — and several times was on the receiving end of Doncic's long passes for fastbreak buckets as the Lakers led wire-to-wire against their recent nemisis.
“I am a natural-born wide receiver and he's a natural-born quarterback,” cracked James.
Doncic said his chemistry with the Lakers, James included, is still budding.
“This is my fourth game,” Doncic said. “Chemistry takes time. You saw today that it’s getting better. Every day, it’s getting better. ... Hard, different, but I’m happy to be playing basketball. Every day is going to get better for me. I’m happy to be here. I’m happy for the new journey.”
The duo's performance in Denver should give the Lakers and their followers a sense that they can make the kind of deep playoff run that eluded them the last two years when the Nuggets bounced them in the first round, winning eight of nine when James was teamed with Anthony Davis.
The Lakers had just nine turnovers to Denver's 22 and 15 steals to the Nuggets' six. And while they took just one more shot, they made nine more baskets.
Although they surrendered Nikola Jokic's 26th triple-double of the season, the Lakers held the reigning MVP to just 2-of-7 shooting and forced him into an uncharacteristic half dozen turnovers.
“It was their night,” Jamal Murray sighed. “Offensively and defensively.”
The Lakers never trailed in winning in Denver for the first time since April 10, 2022.
Doncic, who had 19 points by halftime, had been slowly adjusting to his new team since the big trade and working himself back into shape after missing several weeks with a calf injury. But in Denver, James said he saw a dialed-in Doncic, the very version that led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last year.
“Once he started hitting those stepback 3s, he could be yelling or barking, either at fans, or us or himself," James said.
Before tipoff, Lakers coach J.J. Reddick said he wanted to see the passionate side of Doncic, “to have a blackout moment where he's yelling.” He got that moment when Doncic hit a 3-pointer in the final minute of the first half and let out a big scream.
“It was great,” Reddick said.
Doncic's passion was on display again moments later when he drew a technical for arguing that the Nuggets got away with hitting him in the head on his missed floater just before the halftime buzzer.
The third quarter began with Jamal Murray at the line and his free throw ignited an 8-0 run by the Nuggets that cut their deficit to 63-62.
The Lakers' 10-0 reply was bookended by James' rim-rattling dunk and Doncic's long 3-pointer and LA cruised to its 14th win in 18 games.
The Nuggets now hit the road for a four-game trip, and coach Michael Malone said now “no one's going to be afraid that the Denver Nuggets are coming to town.”
Murray, for one, wasn't worried that this one loss portended an end to the Nuggets' recent dominance of the Lakers.
“Give them credit, they played really good,” Murray said. “We've had their number for a number of years. It's one game. We're not going to overreact."
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA