Luka Doncic produced 14 points, five returns and four assists in his Los Angeles Lakers debut and Lebron James added 24 points, seven returns and eight assists when the newly formed star duo led the way to a 132-113 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz on Monday.
Austin Reaves logged 22 points and nine returns and Rui Hachimura added 21 points when Lakers extended their winning line to six matches while they came out at the top for the 10th time during the last 11 games. Jordan Goodwin got 17 points in his second match with Los Angeles.
Doncic, acquired from Dallas Mavericks in a blockbuster agreement on February 2, played for the first time since Christmas Day, after recovering from a left veal. He was at the court for 24 minutes and shot 5 out of 14 from the floor, including 1 of 7 from the 3-point area.
Lauri Markkanen and John Collins each got 17 points and Jordan Clarkson added 16 when the jazz saw that their path lost the line reaching nine matches. Johnny Juzang scored 14 points when Utah lost his third match in a row and fell for the 12th time in his last 14 competitions.
Collins, who had 11 returns, joined Isaiah Collier, who collected 13 points and 10 assists, each published a double double for Utah.
Doncic had a turnover and a missed shot just over two minutes into the match before making his first basket in a Lakers uniform on a 3-pointer with 8:05 left in the opening quarter.
Lakers led 37-25 after a period and was well in control at half time and entered the dressing room up 72-47. Reaves had 15 points before the break, James dedicated 13 and Doncic had 11. Lakers shot 60 percent during the two quarters, while jazz was 40 percent.
Los Angeles opened the fourth quarter with a lead of 100-75 and cruised to its third victory in three attempts against Utah. The team meets each other for the last time this season on Wednesday in Salt Lake City.
Lakers’ only reason for concern came early in the fourth quarter when James went to the dressing room short due to abdominal discomfort. He returned to the bench with just over eight minutes left but stayed the rest of the game.
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