MIAMI — The fact the Lakers made their Thursday night matchup against the Heat competitive, in light of the circumstances they faced entering the night, was a testament to the collective team buy-in that coach JJ Redick got from his group.
And the fact the Lakers came back from a 15-point deficit to beat the Heat 134-126 at Kaseya Center is a reflection of Luka Doncic’s greatness.
On the second night of a back-to-back after Wednesday’s win over the Rockets in Houston, and arriving at their South Florida hotel after 4 a.m. local time with less than 24 hours in between games, Doncic stepped up.
He not only led the Lakers to one of their most impressive wins of the season but he also had one of his best games of the season — which says a lot considering the recent team success and individual brilliance Doncic has displayed.
Doncic scored a season-high and Lakers career-high 60 points in the victory over the Heat, putting on a shotmaking masterclass that left the fans in Miami chanting “M-V-P” for the 27-year-old Slovenian guard while he was at the free-throw line late in the fourth quarter.
Doncic shot 18 of 30 from the field, including hitting a fadeaway 3-pointer with just over a minute left that put the Lakers up 129-121 and put him at 58 points.
He shot 15 of 19 on free throws, splitting a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left to put him at 60 points.
LeBron James finished with a 19-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, the 124th of his career, as he tied Robert Parish for the most regular-season games played in league history (1,611).
What it means
The Lakers are now on their season-best eight-game winning streak, improving to 45-25.
Turning point
The moment Doncic, James and Austin Reaves were upgraded to available.
Their status was in doubt when the Lakers listed them as questionable on the Thursday afternoon injury report.
But as long as the Lakers have their stars available, they can compete with any team regardless of the circumstances.
MVP: Luka Doncic
Doncic wasn’t just the best player on the floor Thursday night.
He continued to make a case for being worthy of league MVP considerations.
Thursday was not only Doncic’s league-best 13th 40-point game of the season but also his fourth time scoring at least 40 points during the Lakers’ winning streak that started with the March 6 home win over the Pacers.
Stat of the game: 9
That was the number of 3-pointers Doncic made against the Heat, moving him ahead of D’Angelo Russell for the most 3s made in a season in franchise history.
Russell made 226 3s in 76 games in 2023-24.
After Thursday, Doncic is at 232 3s through 58 games.
And with Doncic averaging a league-high four 3s per game, and 12 games left in the regular season, it’s fair to say Doncic will create a significant gap between himself and Russell.
Up next
The Lakers will stay in Florida for a couple more days to play the Magic on Saturday at Kia Center.
