Luka Doncic scored 45 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Toronto Raptors 131-125 in Los Angeles on Sunday, surviving a late rally after leading by as many as 26 points.
Austin Reaves added 19 points for the Lakers, while Walker Kessler scored 16 points with 15 rebounds and three blocked shots and Collin Sexton added 14, as Los Angeles bounced back from blowing a 25-point lead in a road loss to the Golden State Warriors on Friday.
Why the night mattered goes beyond one win. Doncic matched his season high with eight three-pointers, going 8-for-12 from long range, and the Lakers shot 53.8 percent from the floor and 48.6 percent from three-point range, even while committing 24 turnovers. The win improved Los Angeles to 3-1 at home.
Toronto refused to go away. Scottie Barnes scored 29 points and RJ Barrett added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who were playing the opener of a four-game road trip. Jamison Battle scored 20 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, and Immanuel Quickley added 12, as the visitors cut deep into the Lakers’ lead.
Al Jazeera’s report noted that the Lakers took the lead early in the first quarter and never surrendered it, even as the Raptors rallied from the 26-point deficit to create a few late nerves in Los Angeles. As Battle heated up in the fourth quarter, Lakers coach JJ Redick was forced to send his starters back into the game in the final minute to close out the victory.
Warriors win fourth straight without Curry
Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg poured in a career-high 37 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers 124-112 in San Francisco on Sunday, despite resting Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
Lendeborg, who was picked 11th overall in the 2026 NBA draft, also provided six assists and grabbed four rebounds, and drained six three-pointers, as the Warriors recorded their fourth consecutive win. His 37 points were the most by a Warriors rookie in a game since Curry scored 42 in 2010.
Curry, now a 38-year-old veteran, had averaged 33 points over the past three games, including 44 against the Timberwolves on Wednesday, but missed Sunday’s game to manage his troublesome right knee. With Green also out, the 24-year-old American-Dominican forward became the linchpin of a Warriors attack that has bounced back emphatically from losing its opening three games, after missing out on last season’s playoffs.
“I’m gonna just continue to try to keep playing with a smile on my face. Maybe throw little dance moves like Steph in once in a while, but I’m gonna just keep trying to find my joy,” Lendeborg said.
Coach Steve Kerr praised Lendeborg for adapting so quickly to the NBA. “He’s playing this way, and he really doesn’t know the NBA game yet … The game is still really fast for him. But he’s so skilled and so talented that he’s making all kinds of plays out there,” Kerr said. “I think he’s going to get a lot better … But it’s remarkable the impact he’s making on these games in the first couple weeks of the season.”
De’Anthony Melton scored 21 points for Golden State, and Brandon Williams and Brandin Podziemski added 17 points each, on the same court where the Valkyries captured the WNBA championship 24 hours earlier. Curry and Green are expected to return when Golden State hosts the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
Rui Hachimura hit four three-pointers and scored a team-high 24 points for the Clippers, who dropped their fifth consecutive game. Darius Garland recorded a team-high seven assists to go with 15 points, while reserves Kobe Sanders and Nick Martinelli added 16 and 10 points respectively.
Celtics extend winning run
Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 32 points to help the visiting Boston Celtics beat the Orlando Magic 108-97 and extend their winning streak to five games.
Tatum was 8 of 19 from the field and made 15 of 17 free-throw attempts, while the Magic made 15 free throws in total on 19 attempts. Paul George had 17 points, six rebounds and eight assists for the Celtics.
Orlando got 23 points and 10 rebounds from Tristan da Silva and 23 points and eight rebounds from Anthony Black, while Desmond Bane added 19 points. Some wayward Celtics shooting allowed a 15-point lead to evaporate in the third quarter, but Boston’s defence stayed resolute, forcing 18 turnovers for 21 points to pull clear again down the stretch.
Nets finally win
Michael Porter Jr. scored 23 points to help the Brooklyn Nets notch their first win of the season, beating the Indiana Pacers 98-90 in Indianapolis.
Julius Randle added 20 points and Nolan Traore scored 16 for the Nets, who had opened the season 0-5. Day’Ron Sharpe collected 15 points and 13 rebounds and Moritz Wagner chipped in 14 points off the bench. Porter also grabbed nine rebounds as Brooklyn moved to 1-5.
Andrew Nembhard led the Pacers with 23 points, followed by Pascal Siakam’s 17 and Quenton Jackson’s 12, while Aaron Nesmith and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 11 points apiece for Indiana, which dropped its fourth straight game. Their win leaves the Sacramento Kings as the only winless team in the NBA, now sitting at the bottom with a 0-6 record.
Also on Sunday, the NBA suspended Atlanta Hawks guard Kingston Flemings for one game without pay for intentionally elbowing New Orleans Pelicans guard Bryce McGowens in the head. The incident, for which Flemings was ejected, occurred late in the Hawks’ 121-99 loss to the Pelicans on Saturday.
What happens next is a quick turnaround for the night’s winners. Golden State hosts Phoenix on Monday with Curry and Green expected back, Toronto continues its four-game road trip, and the Lakers will look to build on a home record that now stands at 3-1 after a night when their star delivered 45 points and their rookie rivals in San Francisco showed, once again, that the league’s next generation is already arriving.
