Luka Doncic is full of Kobe Bryant in a red-hot start against the Suns
Luka Dončić is a real hooper through and through. It doesn’t matter if he’s playing three games in four nights or straight sets — he’s always going to give it his all. On Monday night, Doncic came out of the gate with a bang Los Angeles Lakers‘ clash against the Phoenix Suns despite playing in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans last night.
Doncic scored 20 points in the first quarter alone, while the Lakers got off to a great start, at least on the offensive end. And in doing so, he recorded his fifth 20-point quarter for the Lakers despite playing in just the team’s 44th game since arriving in the blockbuster trade.
At the same time, to Dončić became only the second Lakers player from 1996-97. he recorded at least five such quarters, he joined Kobe Bryant in that exclusive club, according to ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel. However, Bryant has 36 20-point quarters in his career, so Doncic has a long way to go before surpassing the Black Mamba for quarterback scoring.
Alas, Doncic’s explosion was not a sign that the Lakers would come this night. The purple and gold lost the plot in the second quarter and couldn’t recover. Dillon Brooks imposed his will, as did Colin Gillespie, as the Suns’ defense forced one turnover after another as the Lakers melted away – even with Devin Booker has to go out early with a groin injury.
The Lakers can attribute this loss to scheduling woes
The Lakers are on the second night of back-to-back games, which meant facing an active Suns team with plenty of youth and fresh legs was always going to be a nightmare. Indeed, the Suns have forced more Lakers turnovers than the Purple and Gold have assists, scoring 32 fewer turnovers at the time of writing.
Down 14 at halftime, Doncic and the Lakers couldn’t recover, and are on their way to suffering their fifth loss of the season in 20 games. Dončić himself had a bit of a nightmare; he may have finished with 38 points that night, but he coughed up the ball nine times – a disaster against a fresher Suns team.
2025-12-02 05:22:00
