Riding an eight-game winning streak, the Los Angeles Lakers and their new duo of Luka Doncic and LeBron James renewed their rivalry with the defending champion Boston Celtics on Saturday night.
The Lakers were able to get off to an early lead thanks to Luka and LeBron, but Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown helped the Celtics take over in the third quarter, going up by 20+ points.
In the first quarter, with just under four minutes to play, Brown pickpocketed Doncic and passed the ball to running big man Al Horford for an easy two-hand dunk. As Horford was holding on to the rim to avoid a fall, he swung back right into Doncic, kneeing him hard in the face.
Doncic went down immediately, holding his mouth area as Horford jogged to the bench. Horford was not called for a foul.
A video of Doncic getting decked is going viral on social media with nearly 500,000 views after an hour.
Luka took a knee to the face after this dunk by Al Horford pic.twitter.com/CBW2cZutOe
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 9, 2025
NBA fans left their thought on the Doncic and Horford incident on social media as well.
"Floppin like Lebron now that hes in LA," one fan said.
"He knee'd Luka in the face and didn't look at him or apologize Good luck with pissed Luka," added another.
"OUCH! Luka definitely didn't sign up for that knee to the face after Horford's dunk. Hope he's okay!" commented a third.
"I love Luka, but the bro was staring at the floor - lack of awareness," wrote a fourth.
"Nothing Horford can do there to avoid it," posted a fifth.
"Yikes, that was a nasty one! Luka's tough as nails tho," added a sixth.
The Lakers found themselves down by 20 points at the end of the third quarter, overwhelmed by Boston's pressure defense. Prior to the fourth quarter, Doncic was limited to two assists and recorded five turnovers.
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This story was originally published March 8, 2025 at 9:31 PM.