Doncic bounces back to lead Lakers to a victory over Pelicans

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic had 35 points, Austin Reaves added 30 and LeBron James had 27 in the Los Angeles Lakers' 124-108 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.

Doncic struggled in a 123-116 loss to Golden State a night earlier, finishing with 19 points on and being exploited several times on the defensive end, but he responded to help the Lakers maintain their grip on third place in the Western Conference ahead of Denver and the Warriors. The Lakers have won three of four.

Jose Alvarado led the Pelicans with 27 points, and Karlo Matkovic had 15. New Orleans dropped its fourth straight on the road.

Alvarado capitalized on a sluggish start by the Lakers, scoring 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first quarter to help spot the Pelicans a five-point lead.

But Los Angeles got going in the second quarter to take a 62-53 advantage at the half. Doncic had 11 points in the period and James added 10 as the Lakers made all nine of their shots from inside the 3-point line.

Takeaways

Pelicans: Alvarado tied his season high in scoring, matching his 27 against Cleveland on Nov. 6.

Lakers: Dalton Knecht had 12 points, finding some confidence after combining for 14 in his previous six appearances and not seeing the floor in the loss to Golden State.

Key moment

Doncic missed his first seven shots before Jordan Goodwin found him running the baseline for a layup with 7:51 left in the second quarter to ignite both the Slovenian star and the Lakers’ offense.

Key stat

Reaves is the first Laker to make 15 3-pointers in a two-game span. He made six shots from behind the arc after hitting nine against the Warriors.

Up next

The Pelicans host Milwaukee on Sunday, and the Lakers visit Oklahoma City on Sunday for the first of two games against the Thunder.

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