DENVER — It started with a few choice words after a step-back 3-pointer in the first quarter.
Then, he picked up a technical foul entering halftime after complaining that he was fouled on a drive. Early in the third quarter, after drilling another off-the-dribble 3-pointer, he barked at a pair of fans sitting courtside. On a drive against Jamal Murray for a floater, Luka Dončić shook his head in disbelief toward the Denver Nuggets bench.
The dagger was splitting two defenders, Michael Porter Jr. and Murray, for a one-handed runner to push the Los Angeles Lakers’ lead to 20 points and force the Nuggets to call timeout to empty their bench.
Like a Colorado avalanche, Dončić erupted on Saturday in Denver. The sneering, snarling and trash-talking made it clear: He was feeling like himself again and had officially arrived as a Laker.
Dončić finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and one block in 31 minutes in the Lakers’ 123-100 win over the Nuggets on Saturday at Ball Arena, just the second time they have beaten Denver in their past 15 matchups between the regular season and playoffs.
For his first time with Los Angeles, Dončić was in complete control of the offense, resembling his Dallas self as a mismatch-hunting pick-and-roll maestro. The result was the Lakers’ first win in Denver since April 10, 2022 — nearly three years ago — after losing eight straight in the building. They also snapped Denver’s nine-game win streak and moved within one game of them in the loss column for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
“I (can’t) remember when was the last time I won here,” Dončić said with a smile. “It’s very tough to play here against that team. Just to win like that, it’s an amazing win for us and gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”
“Finally being myself a little bit.”
Luka was FULL of smiles during his 32-point night! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/v5D03Km0hj
— NBA (@NBA) February 23, 2025
Before the game, Lakers coach JJ Redick shared that he told Dončić on Saturday morning that he wanted “at least one blackout episode” in which Dončić would scream “at no one in particular.”
“That means he’s back,” Redick said pregame. “That’s the Luka I know, the killer.”
That killer showed up early and often. It only took him one quarter to match his highest-scoring performance (16 points) from his first three games with the Lakers, after coming in averaging just 14.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 26.7 minutes since the shocking trade that brought him to L.A. earlier this month. His minutes restriction was lifted earlier this week.
Redick made it a point to put the ball in Dončić’s hands more than in previous games, following the decision to sit him on Thursday. He studied the tape of the two previous Denver-Dallas matchups that Dončić played in earlier the season to figure out the best way to attack the Nuggets. The Lakers ran a slew of pick-and-roll actions with Dončić, targeting Nikola Jokić and Murray.
“He was super dialed in,” LeBron James said of Dončić. “He was very locked in on what he wanted to do out here on the floor tonight. Once he started hitting those stepback 3s and got to yelling and barking, either at the fans or at us or himself. … He was just dialed in on what he wanted to do and how he wanted to execute his game plan individually.”
Dončić led the Lakers in points and shot attempts and was tied for the lead in assists. Dončić’s 36-percent usage percentage was his game high as a Laker, according to NBA.com. Though it was inevitably trending in this direction, Redick made it clear on Saturday that the offense will primarily flow through Dončić — not James or Reaves — moving forward.
“I think Luka needs to be the guy that controls the offense,” Redick said. “And Bron and AR, because we’re gonna stagger everybody, they’re gonna have their times to be on the ball. But all three of those guys are very intelligent basketball players and we can create mismatches. We can get teams in the blender.”
Dončić connected with James a few times, including once with a hit-ahead in transition for a James dunk and another time in the halfcourt for an alley-oop. Afterward, James echoed Redick’s sentiment that Dončić feeding James is the natural evolution of the offense.
“I’m a natural-born wide receiver and he’s a natural-born quarterback, so it fits perfectly,” James said.
Dončić had plenty of support as the Lakers offense hummed and was consistently one pass ahead of Denver’s defense. The Nuggets struggled to match up with both Dončić and James, to say nothing of Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. James had 25 points on 11-for-19 shooting, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks, Reaves scored 23 points and dished seven assists, and Hachimura added 21 points.
Not to be overshadowed by Dončić’s breakout, the Lakers defense was arguably just as impressive, if not more. They limited Jokić to 13 points (his second-lowest total of the season), seven field-goal attempts (tied for his lowest output of the season), and six turnovers (tied for his second-most miscues this season). From a box-score perspective, it was arguably Jokić’s worst performance of the season — and certainly his worst against the Lakers since Denver’s dominance over them began in 2023.
Instead of trying to defend Jokić with Jaxson Hayes, their lanky starting center, or a more physical backup center, the Lakers deployed Rui Hachimura against Jokić. Hachimura, who has had stints of success against Jokić in the past, and has credibly defended the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns and Julius Randle this season and in prior seasons, executed the game plan to near-perfection.
He picked up Jokić at halfcourt and bumped him along his path to try to establish positioning around the elbows and the post. He jostled and wrestled for positioning, fronting Jokić and zoning up the backside with a second defender to prevent the over-the-top lob pass. The Lakers did a great job rotating, swarming and scrambling, similar to their recent wins over the New York Knicks, LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors over the past three weeks or so.
“Thought our guys’ conviction to execute a game plan and stick with that game plan was excellent,” Redick said. “I told the group this: there are certain moments throughout the season that you just get up for. And I pretty much haven’t slept since we walked off the court in Portland (after Thursday’s win). And I just spent a lot of time on this game. Our staff spent a lot of time in this game. I envisioned our guys playing hard. They played harder than I could have envisioned. They battled tonight.”
Jarred Vanderbilt was as impactful as possible in his six minutes. The Lakers used him as their small-ball backup center and he pestered Jokic up and down the floor, drawing an offensive foul at one point. In total, he drew three fouls against the Nuggets — including a flagrant foul 1 from Julian Strawther — and had two steals in his first 80 seconds. He finished with five fouls, limiting his ability to play more, but he set a tone with his relentless defense and energy.
Beyond Hachimura and Vanderbilt, Dončić rotated on time and played passing lanes aggressively, James defended Murray and switched onto Jokić, and Dorian Finney-Smith did all the little things and defended Murray, Porter and Jokić at various points.
Even when players like Russell Westbrook and Aaron Gordon made shots, who the Lakers largely ignored and allowed to shoot as many open jumpers as they wanted, the Lakers remained disciplined to their game plan, which hasn’t always been a core strength of the pre-Dončić group.
“In order for us to be successful, in order for us to win ultimately long-term, we have to trust our game plan,” James said. “We have to trust and be so dialed in on attention to detail. We have the personnel now that we can really lock in on a game plan … and be super strategic about how we want to execute offensively and defensively, and that was great to see tonight.”
Dončić dramatically changes the complexion of the Lakers-Nuggets matchups moving forward. The Nuggets just don’t have an answer for him. Christian Braun and Westbrook are too small. Gordon is better equipped to defend James. And even if one of those defenders can bother him some, the Lakers will just run that player through a maze of screens, eventually getting the mismatch they want.
The Lakers’ ball movement, spacing and shot quality were emblematic of their offensive potential. The three-man combination of Dončić, James and Reaves is lethal with its collective shot-making, passing and basketball IQ. The fully formed version of the Lakers offense is going to be ridiculous. At least one, if not two, of those three will be on the floor at all times.
The Lakers are 14-4 over their past 18 games, a stretch that includes multiple iterations of the group, from the one with Anthony Davis and Max Christie to the one with just Christie to the post-trade version before Dončić’s debut to the current version with Dončić. Regardless of who has been in the lineup, the Lakers have defended at a high level and been difficult to defend. They have the best defense, the eighth-best offense and the third-best net rating over that 18-game span.
If the Lakers are going to go on a deep playoff run, it’s likely going to look like it did on Saturday, with Dončić leading the way, draining step-back jumpers, zipping passes all over the court, and cursing and yelling the entire way.
“Our goal is to win a championship,” Dončić said. “That’s our only goal. And I think we have the team for that.”
(Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
