March 6, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) shoots the ball against Indiana Pacers forward Jareth Walker (5) and center Jay Huff (32) in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Luka Doncic had 44 points, nine rebounds and three steals through three quarters to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a convincing 128-117 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
Doncic hit seven 3-pointers for his 10th 40-point performance of the season, breaking his tie with Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards for the most this season. He also became the fourth Laker to have 10 games of 40 or more points in a season, joining the trio of Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant (four times), Elgin Baylor (three times) and Jerry West (three times).
On a night where the Lakers were without LeBron James (left elbow, left foot), Doncic needed to score. James suffered an elbow injury after taking a hard fall during Thursday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Austin Reaves scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter before fouling out for Los Angeles, which won for the fourth time in its last five games. Luke Kennard had 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench, Rui Hachimura had 13 points and Marcus Smart added 11 points.
Pascal Siakam had 26 points for the Pacers, who have lost eight straight. Indiana has dropped an average of 19.6 points over its last five games.
Andrew Nembhard added 17 points and eight assists for the Pacers and Jay Huff had 16 points. TJ McConnell added 10 points off the bench for Indiana.
The Lakers, who were also without DeAndre Ayton (left knee), had a 52.9% field goal success rate and 17 out of 37 3-pointers.
Indiana connected on 46.9% of its attempts but was just 8 of 35 from behind the arc.
Doncic went 5-of-5 from 3-point range and scored 22 points in the opening quarter as the Lakers took a 35-27 lead.
Doncic scored seven points in the second quarter to increase his production to 29, giving Los Angeles a 64-51 lead at halftime.
He scored 15 of the Lakers’ 35-point third quarter before being ejected. As Los Angeles took a 99-80 lead heading into the final quarter, he capped the game off with a 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left.
The Pacers were within 103-89 after Jarace Walker’s 3-pointer. But Reeves scored nine points during an 11-2 surge as the Lakers pushed their lead to 114-91 with 7:34 left. The margin peaked at 24 before Indiana narrowed the score.
–Field level media
