Luka Doncic made his highly anticipated debut for the Los Angeles Lakers, scoring 14 points in 23 minutes and showcasing his playmaking abilities in a 132-113 victory over the Utah Jazz.
LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic was the last starter introduced by the Los Angeles Lakers , an honor normally reserved for LeBron James. When Doncic jogged into the spotlight on a darkened court through a cordon of his new teammates, his new fans stood and roared while wearing thousands of gold T-shirts with his name and number.“I was a little nervous before,” Doncic said. “I the last time I was nervous before the game. But once I stepped on the court again, it was fun.
Doncic was grateful to be playing basketball after nearly seven weeks of injury absence, and he was happy to begin to move past the upheaval in his life ever since the Dallas Mavericks shocked the sports world 10 days ago by trading their 25-year-old centerpiece and NBA scoring champion. Doncic said James texted him in the morning and offered to do anything to help — and Doncic took him up on it by taking the final intro spot. They’ll swap for the Lakers’ next home game next week, Doncic said with a grin.The Slovenian scorer’s first bucket was a 3-pointer in the opening minutes on his second shot.
Doncic’s first touch was an alley-oop assist to Hayes, and he hit his 3-pointer moments later. He was serenaded with “Luka! Luka!” chants at the first dead ball, and several times thereafter. Coach JJ Redick, who played alongside Doncic for 13 games in 2021 with the Mavericks, was pleased by Doncic’s poise and patience in a landmark game.
“I don’t see any world where those two playing together isn’t a good thing,” Utah coach Will Hardy said. “Their processing speed mentally is incredible, and so I’m sure they’ll figure it out.”
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