Luka Doncic scores 53 in another spectacular offensive game, carrying Lakers past Blazers 124-118
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 53 points and hit a key jumper in the lane with 28 seconds to play, carrying the Los Angeles Lakers to a 124-118 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
Doncic produced his 11th career 50-point game and his fourth with Los Angeles while preserving a fourth straight win for the Lakers, whose late 12-point lead had dwindled to four before Doncic and Austin Reaves combined to score 10 points in the final seconds.
Reaves scored 25 points and Walker Kessler had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who avenged a 136-129 home loss to Portland on Oct. 27 with this NBA Cup victory.
Doncic scored 20 points in the third quarter alone to hit 40 for the sixth time in an incredible seven-game surge that includes six 40-point games — including four straight — and a 37-point performance.
The Slovenian superstar added five assists and five rebounds, giving him seven consecutive games with at least 35 points, five assists, five rebounds and five 3-pointers.
Deni Avdija had 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds and Damian Lillard scored 22 points for the Blazers, who lost for only the second time this season in the finale of their four-game road trip.
The Lakers trailed by 16 in the second quarter before surging to a 16-point lead of their own early in the fourth with a 32-11 run. Portland roared back and repeatedly got within four points, but no closer.
Doncic joined Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant and George Mikan as the only Lakers to score 40 points in four straight regular-season games. Doncic also passed Mikan for the fifth-most 40-point games in Lakers history — after just 101 regular-season games with Los Angeles.
The Lakers opened this game on their garish yellow tournament court by missing their first 15 3-point attempts into the second quarter. Doncic missed his first five 3-point attempts — but he banked in a 61-footer from the opposite free throw circle at the halftime buzzer.
Portland's big lead was erased in the third quarter when the Lakers scored 17 consecutive points. Doncic outscored the Blazers 20-15 in the third.
Up next
Trail Blazers: Host San Antonio on Saturday.
Lakers: At Detroit on Sunday.
___