LeBron James hails Luka Doncic after win against Denver Nuggets, says he was locked in

Los Angeles Lakers veteran LeBron James heaped praise on Luka Doncic after they secured a comprehensive 123-100 win against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. Doncic scored 32 points as the Lakers registered their first win against the Nuggets in three years.

The Slovenian scored 16 points in the first quarter to give a head start to his team and from there on, he and the Lakers didn’t look back.

“It’s very tough to play here against that team,” said Doncic, who added 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals in his fourth game with the Lakers since being traded earlier this month. “Just to win like that, it’s an amazing win for us and gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”

James said Doncic was focused on getting the job done for the Lakers. And he didn’t veer off the track.

“He was super dialed in,” LeBron James said of Doncic. “He was very locked in on what he wanted to do out here on the floor tonight. Once he started hitting those step-back 3s and got to yelling and barking, either at the fans or at us, or himself.”

Doncic has averaged 14.7 points on 35.6% shooting (20.8% from 3) through his first three games with the Lakers.

On the other hand, James contributed 25 points on 11-for-19 shooting with nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Furthermore, Austin Reaves and Rui Huchimara scored 21 and 23 points respectively.

The team’s head coach JJ Redick wants Doncic to play more such roles in the offense.

“I think Luka needs to be the guy that controls the offense,” Redick said. “And Bron and AR, because we’re going to stagger everybody, they’re going to have their times to be on the ball. But all three of those guys are very intelligent basketball players, and we can create mismatches. We can get teams in the blender.”

Doncic will be next up against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.