LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic had 31 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds for his seventh triple-double of the season and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame LeBron James’ recent injury absence to sweep their season series with the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-106 on Tuesday night.
Austin Reeves scored 29 of his 31 points in the second half for the Lakers (40-25), who tied Minnesota for fourth in the Western Conference standings with their third consecutive win over a team that was last season’s first-round playoff team.
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Doncic recorded his 89th career triple-double early in the fourth quarter, seventh in NBA history. In the absence of two backup big men, Deandre Ayton performed well, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
James missed the Lakers’ third consecutive game due to injury, and the Lakers still won three consecutive games and six wins in seven games. He also missed the Lakers’ first two games of the season against Minnesota in October.
Without the leading scorer in NBA history, the Lakers improved their record to 13-8, including 10-2 with both Doncic and Reeves missing James.
Julius Randle scored 14 points and Anthony Edwards added 14 points for Minnesota, which has lost two straight after winning five straight. Four of the Timberwolves’ bench players scored in double figures in the first of four games.
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The offense of both teams was very poor in the first half. The Lakers scored 16 points in the first quarter and missed 17 of their first 21 shots.
But after shooting 1 of 8 in the first half, Reeves scored 16 points in the third quarter and the Lakers extended their lead to 19 points. Reeves completed two four-pointers in the second half and hit a season-high seven three-pointers.
Next
Timberwolves: Play the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.
Lakers: Host Chicago on Thursday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
