Luka Doncic is a true hooper through and through. It doesn't matter if he's playing three games in four nights or a back-to-back set — he's always going to be bringing his best. On Monday night, Doncic came out of the gates firing during the Los Angeles Lakers' clash against the Phoenix Suns despite playing the night before in a beatdown of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Doncic put up 20 points in the first quarter alone as the Lakers went off to a blistering start, at least on the offensive end. And in so doing, he recorded his fifth 20-point quarter for the Lakers despite playing in just his 44th game for the team ever since he arrived in a blockbuster trade.
In so doing, Doncic became just the second Lakers player since the 1996-97 to record at least five of such quarters, joining Kobe Bryant in that exclusive club, as per ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel. Bryant has 36 20-point quarters in his career, however, so Doncic has a long way to go before he surpasses the Black Mamba for scoring prowess in a quarter.
Alas, Doncic's explosion wasn't a sign of things to come on the night for the Lakers. The Purple and Gold lost the plot in the second quarter and couldn't recover. Dillon Brooks imposed his will, and so did Collin Gillespie, while the Suns defense forced one turnover after another as the Lakers melted down — even with Devin Booker having to exit early with a groin injury.
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Lakers can chalk this loss up to schedule woes
Lakers' Luka Doncic defends Suns' Dillon Brooks
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The Lakers are on the second night of a back-to-back, which meant that facing an active Suns team with plenty of young and fresh legs was always going to be a nightmare. Truly enough, the Suns have forced more Lakers turnovers than the Purple and Gold have assists, scoring 32 points off turnovers at the time of writing.
Down 14 at the half, Doncic and the Lakers couldn't recover, and they're on their way to suffering their fifth loss of the season in 20 games. Doncic himself had a bit of a nightmare; he may have finished with 38 points on the night, but he coughed up the ball nine times — a disaster against a fresher Suns team.