Luka Doncic makes his Lakers debut with win against Jazz

LOS ANGELES: Luka Doncic scored 11 points in the first half of his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night, joining their starting lineup alongside LeBron James and immediately getting into the flow.
Doncic got multiple standing ovations from a Los Angeles crowd wearing thousands of gold T-shirts with his name and No. 77 while the Lakers streaked out to a 25-point halftime lead on the Utah Jazz.
The Slovenian superstar’s first bucket was a 3-pointer in the opening minutes on his second shot for the Lakers.

Doncic added three rebounds and three assists – none prettier than a three-quarter-court strike to James for a layup late in the first half.
The game was Doncic’s first in nearly seven weeks since he strained his left calf on Christmas with the Mavericks, who shocked the sports world by trading their 25-year-old centerpiece and NBA scoring champion. The grateful Lakers gave up Anthony Davis and Max Christie.
After a full week to settle in and to return to full strength, Doncic joined James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes as starters for the streaking Lakers, who had won five straight and 11 of 13 even before adding a five-time All-NBA selection to their lineup.
Coach JJ Redick, who played alongside Doncic for 13 games in 2021 with the Dallas Mavericks, was eager to see what Doncic would do in his much-hyped debut with his new team.
“Excitement level is high,” Redick said.

“I don’t think anything in our approach or game plan for Utah changes. It is always a challenge in-season to integrate, and we have to be able to give each other patience for that.”
Doncic didn’t disappoint: His first touch was an alley-oop assist to Hayes, and he hit his 3-pointer moments later.