Doncic fires 41 points, draws 16th technical in Lakers' win over Nets
At A Glance
- LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic had 41 points and eight rebounds while also picking up his suspension-triggering 16th technical foul during the Los Angeles Lakers ' 116-99 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, March 27.
Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic celebrates after making a 3-pointer against the Houston Rockets during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic had 41 points and eight rebounds while also picking up his suspension-triggering 16th technical foul during the Los Angeles Lakers ' 116-99 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, March 27.
Austin Reaves scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter while the Lakers finally pulled away from the young Nets to secure their 11th victory in 12 games. LeBron James added 14 points and eight assists for the Lakers in their return from a 5-1 road trip that has put them in third in the Western Conference standings.
Josh Minott had 18 points and six rebounds in Brooklyn's 10th consecutive loss. Nic Claxton and Ziaire Williams scored 16 points apiece while leading the Nets' lively effort, but both starters were kept on the bench for the entire fourth quarter along with Noah Clowney.
The young Nets still hung with the road-weary Lakers until the final minutes, erasing an early double-digit deficit and leading in the fourth quarter of their 20th loss in 22 games overall.
Doncic hit five 3-pointers during his 15th 40-point game of the season, but the Slovenian superstar found trouble when he and Williams were whistled for double technical fouls in the third quarter.
Williams was celebrating an offensive foul called against Doncic by gleefully screaming in Doncic's personal space. When Doncic reached out to shove Williams' arm, Williams responded with a backhand swipe across Doncic's face.
Unless Doncic's technical is rescinded, he will be suspended for a game. He already had a technical rescinded last week after he was whistled for a verbal altercation with Orlando's Goga Bitadze.
Bronny James played alongside his famous father for the second straight game, with LeBron getting the first father-son assist in NBA history on Bronny's 3-pointer in the second quarter. Bronny has been limited largely to mop-up action in his first two NBA seasons, but he has earned rotation minutes this week in the injury absence of Marcus Smart.
Bronny and Williams played together in high school at Sierra Canyon School in suburban Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Kristaps Porzingis had 28 points and eight assists, Gui Santos made a pair of free throws with 11.4 seconds remaining, and the Golden State Warriors held off the Washington Wizards, 131-126.
Brandin Podziemski added 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to help the Warriors win a third straight game for the first time in nearly two months. Santos scored 27 points, Gary Payton II had 15 and Pat Spencer scored 13.
Rookie Will Riley had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Wizards, who were trying to win back-to-back games after ending a franchise record-tying 16-game losing streak by beating the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
Bilal Coulibaly added 21 points while Bub Carrington had 16 points and five assists.
Playing their 24th consecutive game without star Stephen Curry, the Warriors led the majority of the game until the Wizards made a late surge in the fourth quarter.
Washington led 111-106 with 6 1/2 minutes remaining, but the Wizards defense faltered after that.
Santos, who scored a career-high 31 points in the Warriors win over Brooklyn on Wednesday, made several big plays down the stretch.
After the Wizards got within 129-126 on Riley’s third 3-pointer of the night with 13.6 seconds left, Santos made two foul shots. Podziemski then stole the ensuing inbounds pass to secure the win.
The Warriors got a lift from Porzingis early. The 7-foot-2 center made a pair of 3-pointers and grabbed two rebounds as part of a big run midway through the first quarter to help Golden State to a 38-25 lead.