LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic and LeBron James were brought together for nights like these. The two Los Angeles Lakers superstars topped 30 points each in a game for the first time this season.
Doncic had 34 points, hitting 17 of 20 free throws, and six rebounds and eight assists. James had 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting to go with nine rebounds and six assists.
The Lakers rallied for a 128-121 victory over the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.
It was the third time overall that Doncic and James both scored 30 or more points in the same game, their 42nd together. It happened twice in March, a month after Doncic joined the Lakers in a blockbuster trade from Dallas.
“Just playing in rhythm. Trying to find ways that we can be productive,” said James, the NBA’s oldest active player who turned 41 on Tuesday. “Luka did a great job getting to the free-throw line. Myself, just trying to sprinkle in a little bit here, a little bit there. Just trying to be consistent and super efficient with my play. We worked well off each other.”
Doncic’s 17 made free throws were one off his career high, while his 20 attempts were a season high. As a team, the Grizzlies were 15 of 23 from the line.
“Just trying to get downhill a lot more than usual for me,” Doncic said. “But for him, he’s just playing his game, attacking whatever he sees, being efficient and helping us win the games.”
The Lakers improved to 11-0 in clutch-time wins this season. The game was tied twice in the fourth, when the teams traded one-point leads until the final 5 1/2 minutes. James had 10 points in the period and Doncic had six. They combined for five assists and three rebounds.
“He was phenomenal,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said about James. “There was just a few stretches there where they made runs and the response from him, it felt like nearly every time we needed a bucket, he just kind of willed it.”
Doncic hit James with a 70-foot outlet pass at one point.
“One of the best quarterbacks and I’m a pretty good receiver when it comes to that,” James said. “It’s my job to not allow the defence to break that up or steal the ball. He put it on time and on target for me.”
Doncic and James got plenty of help from their teammates. Jake LaRavia had 21 points and nine rebounds and Marcus Smart had 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Jaxson Hayes added 12 points off the bench.
“Them doing that, it actually takes the pressure and the load off LeBron and Luka,” Redick said.
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