Lakers stars Luka Doncic (right hip soreness) and LeBron James (left foot arthritis) were initially listed as questionable for Thursday’s game vs. the Heat on the second night of a back-to-back set, but both players ended up suiting up and submitting historic performances.
As Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes, Doncic poured in a season-high 60 points en route to a 134-126 win, earning MVP chants from the crowd despite playing on the road in Miami’s Kaseya Center. The 27-year-old increased his NBA-best scoring average to 33.4 points per game and led the Lakers to their eighth straight win, making a case that he needs to start being mentioned among the frontrunners for this season’s Most Valuable Player award.
“He’s playing as well as anyone in basketball,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said. “He’s really elevated his play at a really important time for our team. He’s elevated the play of his teammates. I think there’s a trust level that we all have — coaches, teammates — with him closing games for us. He’s been fantastic, and I think he’s one of the best and should be in the MVP conversation. Hopefully people will start talking about that because he’s having as good a season as anyone.”
James, meanwhile, compiled 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists to register a triple-double for the 124th time in his career. But he made history by simply stepping on the court. It was the 1,611th regular season game of his NBA career, tying Robert Parish‘s all-time record.
“If anyone is deserving of breaking the iron man record, I would say LeBron James is,” Parish told McMenamin in a Thursday phone call. “Because he takes such good care of himself. … His approach to fitness and what he puts into his body reflects, or mirrors, how I felt about my fitness and what I ate, how I took care of myself. And so, it’s a testament to not only my longevity, but LeBron’s longevity. … He’s playing at an All-Star level still, which is equally impressive.”
We have more on the Lakers:
- Lakers big man Maxi Kleber didn’t play vs. Miami, sitting out for a sixth straight game due to a back strain, but he appears to be nearing a return. The team announced on Thursday that Kleber had been assigned to the South Bay Lakers to practice with the G League team, tweets Khobi Price of the California Post.
- Among the Lakers’ 2025 offseason additions, Jake LaRavia was somewhat overshadowed by former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton and former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, but LaRavia has played the second-most total minutes of any Laker this season and is the only player on the roster to appear in all 70 regular season games so far. Redick spoke on Wednesday about the forward’s importance to the team, as Benjamin Royer of the Orange County Register relays (Twitter link).
- While the Lakers looked like paper tigers during the first half of the season as they compiled a strong record despite a negative point differential, they’ve come on strong in recent weeks and are establishing themselves as a more serious threat entering the postseason, according to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link), who notes that Los Angeles has gained the tiebreaker edge over Denver, Houston, and Minnesota based on head-to-head results.
- Melissa Rohlin of the California Post argues that Redick deserves more credit than he’s getting for his growth as a head coach and the work he has done with the Lakers this season.
I’m on the fence with LaRavia. He hustles and plays good defense but I shudder when the ball is in his hands.
Aside from their big 3, the entire Lakers roster been garbage this season.
True
He literally has the Yips right now shooting ; feels like half his last 50 shots have been airballs – He was shooting 4 % from 3 this month couple games ago ( yikes !)
Gotta credit the hustle tho despite not being able to throw a stone in the ocean he’s still playing quality ball w O rebs steals , deflections , taking charges ect
Luka MVP hours for real
Aside from Reaves and Bron, every Laker is underperforming or playing poorly this year. Massive carry by the big 3 but mostly by the big 1: #77
45-22 disparity in free throw attempts last night. Typical Laker garbage.
That’s usually the first stat I check to see if it was, more or less, a legitimate Lakers win. Luka, HIMSELF, shooting almost as many as the Miami Heat? NOPE, afraid it’s not a clean victory. Would be really cool if someone could look this up: has it ever happened before, in this season, that a ROAD TEAM shot twice as many free throws as the home team when that same ROAD TEAM was on the second end of a back-to-back? Think about it: second road game in as many nights. You supposedly don’t get to the second hotel until 5am local time. Heavier legs, you’d think? Probably more mid range and 3s you’re understandably gonna take than hard drives to the basket, with close defender(s) on you. Right?? And somehow, ONE GUY, who scored 40 in a fairly intense road game the night before, is granted a mere THREE fewer FTs than the ENTIRE home team who had the previous night OFF??!! What a buncha BS NBA regular seasons are becoming – especially those involving the Lakers. If you’re gonna whine about SGA being a “foul merchant” then it’d be asinine not to do the same for Luka. The guy’s still a long ways from me ever disliking him even remotely close to Brawny Senior – but he’s establishing a bit of a ‘Public Enemy No. 2’ identity with his evolving style of play where he’s looking for way too many bailouts from the refs over the course of an average game. The NBA rules committee can’t keep giving so many damn advantages to the offensive side of the ball. Luka loves initiating contact with his defenders. If a defender can’t even stand his ground without getting called for a foul, then why don’t we just turn the regular season, at least, into an endless display of 3-point and slam dunk contests?? Seriously! Luka 19, Miami 22. What a buncha crap.
I’m not necessarily a fan of his or Boston but due is due, Jaylen Brown is as deserving of the MVP as anyone else. Bro carried the seemingly-lottery-destinied Boston to no.2 seed with 29 ppg and all around game with good defense.