Luka Doncic scored 42 points and had 12 assists in the Lakers’ 127-113 win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday.
Coach JJ Redick praised Doncic for his performance in March. “I think Luka has had as good of a month as anybody that I can remember in the modern NBA, at least since I’ve been part of it,” Redick said.
It was Doncic’s third straight 40-point game, bringing his March total to 600 points. He joins Michael Jordan in 1987 as the only players to reach the mark in March and one of only 10 players to score 600 points in any month.
The Lakers finished the month with a 15-2 record.
“If you don’t win, it doesn’t really mean anything,” Doncic said when asked about his scoring spree. “So the run we’ve been on, it means a lot.”
Doncic eclipsed 15,000 career points during the game. He also outperformed Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell, who finished with 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting and six assists.
Doncic said, “I never did that [in the past],” regarding being his own advocate for the award. “I’m not the one voting. … But I think I’ve been playing pretty good. We’ve been winning. So that’s it. That’s all I got to say.”
James Passes Abdul-Jabbar in Career Wins
The win over the Cavaliers marked LeBron James’ 1,229th career win (regular season and playoffs), making him the player with the most wins in NBA history. He passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Redick Reaches Coaching Milestone
It was also the 100th win of Redick’s coaching career. He became the first Lakers coach since Phil Jackson to guide the team to 50 wins in back-to-back seasons.
“Don’t deserve to be mentioned along with Phil or Pat [Riley] or any of those guys,” Redick said. “I’ve got a lot left to accomplish, for sure. … I’ve had the same [coaching] staff for the most part both years. I think just we are resilient and we’re resolved.”
Lakers Clinch Playoff Berth, Prepare for Thunder
The Lakers clinched a playoff berth with six games remaining on Tuesday. Two of those six games are against the Oklahoma City Thunder, starting Thursday on the road.
Cleveland beat Los Angeles by 30 earlier in the season, and the Lakers exacted some revenge on Tuesday. They will have a chance to make up for two losses to the Thunder this season – including one loss by 29 points.
Thunder’s Impressive March
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder went 14-1 in March. The reigning MVP averaged 30.7 points on 56.8% shooting and 6.6 assists for the month.
“Very exciting [matchup],” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said. “Obviously they’re the defending champs. Playing at a high level, obviously one of the best teams in the league, if not the best team. And we have an opportunity to go into OKC and battle them.”
The Lakers are almost at the finish line to the regular season.