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Luka Doncic scores 43 as Lakers start fast, beat Pacers to finish 5-1 trip

March 26, 2026

INDIANAPOLIS — It could have been worse.

A sentence that could also represent the Indiana Pacers’ season, was also comfortably true Wednesday night. The Lakers closed their six-game trip at Gainbridge Fieldhouse doing what most of the NBA has to the injury-ridden, and, at-times, seemingly tanking Indiana Pacers (16-56): winning in no-surprises fashion 137-130.

Luka Doncic finished with 43 points on 15-for-30 shooting as four Lakers scored in double figures, closing a 5-1 road trip with their 13th win in the past 15 games. Austin Reaves had 25 points and eight of the team’s 30 assists, while LeBron James just missed another triple-double with 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

“Wach game on this trip presented a different problem that we had to solve in a different matchup nightmare that we had to solve,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick. “And our guys did a great job of executing throughout the trip.”

Center Jaxson Hayes, who played 36 minutes with starter Deandre Ayton sidelined by back soreness, had seven dunks on his way to season-highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds – his first double-double of the season. It was the third 20-point, 10-rebound game of the backup big man’s career and his first since joining the Lakers (47-26).

“These guys, they know how dynamic (Hayes) is as a roller, and they’re looking for him,” Redick said. “And I thought he did a great job of getting to the spots with pace and then at times, playing through some contact as well.”

Hayes said his performance in Indianapolis was extra special due to the proximity to Cincinnati, to where his family lives. After spending time with his parents, who are newly-empty nesters after his brothers and sister departed for college, in Ohio after the Lakers’ loss in Detroit, Hayes put up one of his career-best games with his Mom and Dad in attendance.

“I got a home cooked breakfast for my mom,” Hayes said, adding that the home visit rejuvenated him at the end of a long road trip.

“I woke up, I got to go check out some properties I’m about to buy in the summer. Just kind of hang out with my dad all day which is always fun. And then drove up here with my mom and dad and got dinner with them. Best way to end the trip for sure.”

The Pacers, who trailed by as much as 29 points, won the third and fourth quarters and pulled within six points in the final minute thanks to a late surge that included a 3-pointer from Jace Walker with 27.9 seconds remaining. The Lakers allowed 45 points in the fourth, but still held on to stymie the coach Rick Carlisle’s squad which reinserted its starting lineup down double-digits trailing by 22 points with 9:39 to go in the game.

Forty-five first-quarter points, however, matched the Lakers’ second-largest opening period point total of the season, just below their season-best 46 in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Nov. 30. Leading by 20-plus points for much of the night, reserve guard Bronny James played minutes alongside his father for just the second time this season.

In the fourth quarter with 10:54 remaining in the game, Luke Kennard – who made two 3-pointers among his eight points – found the younger James for a thunderous one-handed dunk and a 109-87 lead. Bronny James later produced a 16-foot jumper to shut down a 6-0 Pacers run out of a fourth-quarter Lakers timeout, a play that Redick credited as helping to create smooth sailing toward the win column.

“Felt like this was a game we really needed him,” Redick said of Bronny James, who finished with four points and two steals.

Bronny James credited his aggresive approach in the G-League with the South Bay Lakers as giving him the confidence to approach NBA minutes alongside his Dad, Reaves and Doncic. Redick has called the 21-year-old guard one of the team’s better players in the stay-ready games, practice scrimmages for low-usage players on the team.

“I came in and got some stops early,” Bronny James said. “That’s what coach Redick wants me to do. And able to execute that and just go out there and be myself and play my game is what I want myself to do for me.”

The result gets the Pacers (16-57) a game closer to being able to turn the page toward the draft lottery and their potential top-five selection in June’s draft. Indiana has been without star guard Tyrese Haliburton all season after he tore his Achilles early in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.

In a moment that summed up where these two teams are headed, James cruised to the rim on a fast-break scoring opportunity as Pacers starters Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam missed the 41-year-old star with their respective contests. Siakam, the 6-foot-8 former All-Star fell to the court below the basket. Nesmith, the Pacers’ shooting guard, collapsed to the ground on top of his teammate.

As Nesmith helped Siakam up from the floor, James posed and signaled with his left and right pointing fingers to showcase the collateral damage below him.

The Lakers, currently third in the Western Conference standings, continue to surge toward the end of the regular season, with games against Eastern Conference bottom feeders Brooklyn and Washington next on the docket. The Pacers, simply, are not.

“I think everybody was a little bit tired,” Doncic said. “It’s been a long trip, but we got the win in the end; that’s what matters.”

Siakam led the Pacers with 20 points and eight rebounds, while center Jay Huff added 18 points. Indiana guard Andrew Nembhard had a career-high 19 assists to go along with 14 points.

The Pacers turned the ball over 18 times compared to the Lakers, who were without Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura and Ayton, and finished with 14.

NOTES

The Lakers had 15 steals and outscored the Pacers 70-54 in the paint. … Doncic has 11 straight games with at least 30 points, which ties his career high. His 14th 40-point game of the season leads the NBA. … Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was snapping pictures on the sideline as a credentialed photographer.

Orange County Register

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Luka Doncic scores 43 as Lakers start fast, beat Pacers to finish 5-1 trip

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