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Luka Doncic scored 38 points against Yanic Konan Niederhauser and the Clippers in his return to the Lakers’ lineup Friday at Crypto.com Arena. (Gina Ferazzi\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
For just the 11th time in 55 games this season, the Lakers<\/a> had Luka Doncic<\/a>, LeBron James<\/a> and Austin Reaves<\/a> sharing the court together.<\/p>\n They are the core of the Lakers, the engines that make this team go, but health issues have prevented them from playing together for far too much. In their first game since the All-Star break, Doncic, Reaves and James carried the Lakers to a 125-122<\/a> win over the Clippers<\/a> on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n Doncic had 38 points, 11 assists and six rebounds after missing the previous four games because of a hamstring injury. Reaves had 29 points and six assists and made a big defensive play late in the game. And James had 13 points and 11 assists, his fifth straight game with 10 or more assists.<\/p>\n Lakers guard Austin Reaves celebrates after drawing a charging foul against Clippers guard Bennedict Mathurin in the fourth quarter. (Gina Ferazzi\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Leading 118-115 with 1:49 left, Reaves drew a charge on Bennedict Mathurin, the sixth foul on the Clippers’ star sixth man sending him to the bench with 26 points.<\/p>\n Doncic made two free throws with 21.2 seconds left to give the Lakers a five-point lead that barely stood.<\/p>\n Read more:Luka Doncic and LeBron James agree on the most important factor for the Lakers going forward<\/a><\/p>\n With a 125-122 lead and the ball in the closing seconds, James threw a dangerous cross-court pass intended for Doncic that Nicolas Batum stole. But Batum missed a potential tying three-pointer, and James got the rebound to secure the win.<\/p>\n The Lakers (34-21) put two defenders on Kawhi Leonard from the start<\/a>, keeping a crowd of defenders around the Clippers\u2019 best offensive weapon, especially when playing zone defense.<\/p>\n Leonard was giving it to the Lakers but left late in the fourth quarter because of left ankle soreness, departing with 31 points on 11-for-19 shooting.<\/p>\n Lakers coach JJ Redick<\/a> said before the game that Leonard is back to being a force on both ends of the court. That\u2019s why so much of the Lakers\u2019 game plan centered around trying to slow Leonard, who entered eighth in the NBA in scoring (27.8) and tied for first in steals (2.0).<\/p>\n Read more:Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James shine at All-Star Game in L.A., but young legs prevail<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHe’s more consistently taking the tougher assignments right now, and he’s back to being just an elite two-way player on both ends of the floor,\u201d Redick said. \u201cAnd you know, he’s playing as well as anybody in the NBA right now for the last two months, whatever the starting point would be, but it really is on both sides of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n Leonard is a primary reason why the Clippers (27-29) still are pushing toward .500 despite having traded two of their top three scorers in guard James Harden<\/a> and center Ivica Zubac.<\/p>\n The Clippers started the season 6-21, looking nothing like a playoff team. But then they beat the Lakers on Dec. 20 and got rolling to a 21-7 stretch entering Friday night\u2019s game, a two-month period in which they pulled to within one game of .500.<\/p>\n Coach Tyronn Lue said none of the Clippers gave up on the season, adding they always were \u201cplaying to win\u201d no matter whether they had \u201cyoung, old, toddlers\u201d on the court.<\/p>\n \u201cI just feel confident,\u201d Lue said. \u201cI just feel confident in our players, confident in our coaching staff, and I just feel confident in the environment and the culture that we\u2019ve set. Why wouldn\u2019t we want to play to win? That\u2019s our mindset. That\u2019s my mindset every single night. As tough as it may be or you start 6-21 whatever it may be, you\u2019re playing to win. So, we make it to the playoffs and anything can happen. So our goal is to make it to the playoffs. I don\u2019t know why somebody would scoff at that.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Lakers](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/34bc8e03ce1aeb64caebfcf121ac2df0.jpeg\"\/)
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