Fansided

Luka Doncic update: Lakers superstar brings lobs in his debut with Los Angeles

It's Luka time in LA.

By Alicia de Artola

Feb 10, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) is defended by Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) in the first quarter at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Feb 10, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) is defended by Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) in the first quarter at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
facebooktwitterreddit

It's been a long week full of anticipation for Los Angeles Lakers fans waiting for Luka Doncic to make his debut. The wait ends Monday.

Doncic and his new team take on the Utah Jazz in Los Angeles to begin the week. In addition to Doncic's debut, fans will enjoy the return of LeBron James from a short injury absence.

The Lakers occupy the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, sitting at 31-19. The hope is that Doncic makes them even more competitive than they were with Anthony Davis.

Luka Doncic Lakers debut tracker

6:00 p.m. PT: Lakers fans will want to see as much of Doncic as they can, but no one wants a repeat of what happened to Anthony Davis in Dallas. The guard will be on a minutes restriction as he returns from injury, according to head coach JJ Redick.

Speaking of Davis, he put up 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in 31 minutes of his Rockets debut. Can Doncic possibly top that? Does he need to? Or will finishing the game healthy be victory enough by comparison?

6:40 p.m. PT: Doncic took the floor for the first time as a Laker for warm ups.

Warm ups are nice and all, but the countdown to tip off is inching nearer. That's when the real fireworks will begin.

7:45 p.m. PT: Doncic's first start with the Lakers was a lobbed assist to Jaxson Hayes.

7:50 p.m. PT: Luka is on the board! His first Lakers points come via a triple early in the first quarter.

8:15 p.m. PT: Doncic finished the first quarter with five points on 2-of-3 shooting with three rebounds and an assist in seven minutes. The Lakers built a double-digit lead with 37 points points in the opening frame.

8:25 p.m. PT: LeBron's message to Luka before the game started was all about being himself.

8:45 p.m. PT: After one half of play, the Luka-LeBron experiment is working like a charm. The Lakers were up big at the half, 72-47. James had 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting along with five rebounds and three assists. Including a copy-cat one-legged jumper, Doncic put up 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.

The Jazz obviously aren't the stiffest competition the new Lakers' duo will face this season, but all systems are still go.

feed

Home/Los Angeles Lakers