By ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Luka Doncic had a triple-double by halftime and finished with 37 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 142-111 rout of the Washington Wizards on Friday night, Jan. 30.
Doncic had 26 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the first two quarters. His 10th rebound came in the waning seconds of the second.
The last time a player had a triple-double in the first half, according to Sportradar, was when Jalen Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks did it Dec. 5. Johnson had 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in the half.
LeBron James scored 20 points for the Lakers, looking spry at age 41 when he threw down an alley-oop in the first half with only his left hand. And he was not finished dunking.
Fans were chanting for James’ son, Bronny, to come in the game before the midpoint of the third quarter. That finally happened with 5:29 left in the fourth, and even the younger James broke free for a one-handed dunk on a breakaway.
Deandre Ayton had 28 points and 13 rebounds. He was 12 of 14 from the field, and the Lakers shot 61% overall.
Malaki Branham scored 17 points for the Wizards, who were trying for their first three-game winning streak of the season but were on the second night of a back-to-back.
Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin was in the crowd, and injured Wizards star Trae Young wore Ovechkin’s jersey on the bench.
Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic had 31 points and 12 rebounds in his first game in a month, Tim Hardaway Jr. added 22 points and the Denver Nuggets knocked off the Los Angeles Clippers, 122-109.
Jokic, the three-time NBA MVP, missed 16 games after injuring his left knee in the first half of a Dec. 29 loss at Miami. The Nuggets went 10-6 during that stretch, which also included extended absences from starters Cameron Johnson and Christian Braun.
Jokic’s 29th double-double of the season came despite being on a minutes restriction imposed by coach David Adelman. The 30-year-old Serbian was limited to 25 minutes, his second-fewest in a game this season.
James Harden had 25 points and nine assists for Los Angeles. The Clippers had won 16 of their previous 19, the best win percentage in that NBA during that period.
Earlier, Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and OG Anunoby added 24 points as the New York Knicks extended their winning streak to five games with a 127-97 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Josh Hart had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 14 points and 20 rebounds for New York. Hart moved into a tie with Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson for the NBA lead in double-doubles with 31.
New York (30-18) won by double digits for the fourth time in its past five games and improved to 19-6 at home this season.
Shaedon Sharpe scored 26 points, and Jerami Grant had 15 points off the bench for Portland (23-26), which dropped its fourth straight game.
