LA Lakers’ Luka Doncic takes high-scoring NBA act to Orlando Magic
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Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson trying to stop Los Angeles Lakers point guard Luka Doncic in their NBA basketball game at the Kaseya Center in Florida on March 19, 2026.
PHOTO: EPA
NEW YORK – Riding Luka Doncic’s dominant stretch, the Los Angeles Lakers look to extend their winning streak in the National Basketball Association (NBA) to nine games when they visit the struggling Orlando Magic on March 21 night (March 22 morning, Singapore time).
Los Angeles (45-25) have won 11 of their last 12 games and can make it nine consecutive victories for the first time since winning nine in a row from Dec 28, 2019 to Jan 13, 2020.
Doncic, the league’s leading scorer (33.4 points per game), has compiled 100 points across the Lakers’ last two games. He became the seventh player in franchise history to score 60 points in a game during the Lakers’ 134-126 victory on March 19 at Miami.
Doncic has paced the league in scoring for most of his first full season in Los Angeles, but the superstar’s production equates to wins with 12 games remaining in the regular season.
“I’ve just been trusting in my game,” he said. “I know there will be some games that I don’t have it.
“You’re not always going to have great games. You’ve just got to trust in yourself. I’ve got all the support from my teammates, which helps me a lot. That explains a lot about the team that we are.”
Sparked by their three-week stretch, the Lakers have climbed to the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference. They lead the Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets by 2.5 games.
Austin Reaves is averaging a career-high 23.5 points for the Lakers while LeBron James – fresh off a 19-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple double against the Heat – adds an average of 21.3 points per contest.
Orlando (38-31) have dropped three straight games to fall perilously close to play-in territory.
Coach Jamahl Mosley was ejected in the first half of their 130-111 road loss to the Charlotte Hornets on March 19, signifying Orlando’s frustration amid the cold spell.
“I’ve got to be better for our group in that situation,” he said.
“I thought we went to the basket a couple times and didn’t get a couple calls. That’s what I was fighting for.”
A year after boasting the best scoring defence in the NBA (105.5 points per game allowed), Orlando have regressed.
The Magic are surrendering 114.4 points per game and have given up at least 122 points in four of their last six outings.
On March 20, the Detroit Pistons beat the Golden State Warriors 115-101 to become the first Eastern Conference team to clinch an NBA play-off berth.
Jalen Duren scored 23 points and Daniss Jenkins added 22 for the Pistons, who grabbed their 51st victory of the season despite the absence of star guard Cade Cunningham, who is out for at least two weeks with a collapsed lung.
The Boston Celtics maintained their hold on second place in the East with a 117-112 come-from-behind victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. REUTERS, AFP
