Luka Doncic finished with his first triple-double of the season, leading the Lakers to a 130-120 victory over the Miami Heat at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.
The star guard couldn’t keep up his torrid start of three consecutive 40-point performances while making just one of 11 three-pointers, but Doncic still led six Lakers in double-figure scoring with 29 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds.
Austin Reaves shook off a cold-shooting night, going four for 14 from three-point range, to finish with 26 points and 11 assists to just three turnovers. When he hit his fourth three-pointer to give the Lakers (5-2) an 11-point lead with less than two minutes remaining, Reaves held up both palms in relief.
Forward Jake LaRavia, who turns 24 Tuesday, scored in double digits for the third consecutive game off the bench, finishing with 25 points and seven rebounds.
Doncic and Reaves struggled in the first quarter, shooting a combined two for seven from the field. Yet the Lakers still lead by seven as the star duo combined for eight assists. Hayes was one of the main beneficiaries, scoring 11 points on a perfect five-of-five shooting. He had a ferocious one-handed dunk off a Doncic assist that got Hayes so amped up that he head-butted the basket stanchion in celebration. He sank his first three-pointer since March 27, 2023, stepping confidently into a shot that put the Lakers up 23-13 and forced the Heat to call an early timeout.
Hayes made his first start of the season because center Deandre Ayton was held out with back spasms. Ayton’s back flared up during the Lakers’ win in Memphis on Friday, causing him to sit out the entire second half. He was available to return in the fourth quarter, Redick said after the game, but with the Lakers feeding off Hayes and Jarred Vanderbilt at center, the team didn’t want to risk further injury, Redick said.
The Heat (3-3) finished the third quarter on a 20-7 run to pull within four points heading into the fourth quarter. Former UCLA star Jaime Jaquez Jr., playing in front of his hometown crowd, cut the lead to two with an emphatic one-handed put-back dunk 58 seconds in the fourth quarter. A hush fell over the Lakers crowd.
But Reaves helped quell the comeback effort. He stumbled while getting tied up with a defender and lost the ball, but collected it and threw up a mid-range heave with 5:13 remaining. On the Lakers’ next possession, he lofted an assist to a soaring LaRavia, who brought the crowd to its feet with a one-handed dunk.
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