Indiana Pacers @ Los Angeles Lakers
Friday, March 6, 2026 at 10:30 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA | Game ID: 22500914
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAL 35 29 35 29 128IND 27 24 29 37 117
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Luka Doncic scores 44 points in 3 quarters to lead Lakers past Pacers 128-117 without LeBron
LOS ANGELES -- — Luka Doncic scored 44 points in the first three quarters Friday night, overcoming LeBron James ' absence and leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 128-117 victory over the Indiana Pacers .
Doncic hit seven 3-pointers on a 14-for-25 shooting night and grabbed nine rebounds before sitting out the fourth for the Lakers, who rebounded from a road loss to Denver on Thursday and won for the fourth time in five games overall.
James sat out to rest his accumulation of minor injuries in his 23rd NBA season, but Doncic picked up any offensive slack from the start. The Slovenian superstar scored 22 points in the first quarter, topping 20 in the opening period for the fifth time this season — the most such first quarters in the NBA in one season at least 30 years.
Doncic capped his barrage by banking in his seventh 3-pointer late in his 15-point third quarter.
Doncic became only the fourth player in Lakers history to score 40 points in at least 10 games in a season, joining Kobe Bryant, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West . He also has the most 40-point games in the NBA this season, passing Anthony Edwards .
The Lakers only led by 19 entering the fourth, but they increased their lead without Doncic on the floor, ending his night before he could threaten for his eighth career 50-point game.
Austin Reaves scored 19 points before fouling out for only the second time in his career with 4:58 to play. Luke Kennard had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Marcus Smart scored 11 points on his 32nd birthday.
Pascal Siakam scored 26 points and Andrew Nembhard had 17 for the Pacers, who have lost eight straight since the All-Star break, including five consecutive blowout defeats. Indiana went 2 for 19 on 3-point attempts in the first half.
The Lakers also played without starting center Deandre Ayton , who has a knee injury.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LALAR A. Reaves
CM C. Mañon
DK D. Knecht
DT D. Timme
DO Doncic
JH J. Hayes
JL J. LaRavia
JV J. Vanderbilt
KB K. Bufkin
LD L. Dončić
LK L. Kennard
MS M. Smart
RH R. Hachimura
INDAN A. Nembhard
AN A. Nesmith
BS B. Sheppard
JH J. Huff
JW J. Walker
KB K. Brown
MP M. Potter
OT O. Toppin
PS P. Siakam
QJ Q. Jackson
TM T. McConnell
LAL/IND the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur