Luka Doncic returned to competing this Friday after missing the last three games due to a sprained finger and picked up where he left off. He had a double-double of 44 points and 12 rebounds and led the victory of the Los Angeles Lakers, with a fifteen-point comeback, in the field of Santi Aldama’s Memphis Grizzlies (112-101).
He did it on the first day of NBA Cup games, in which the Chicago Bulls continued to surprise and added, at home against the New York Knicks, their fifth win of five this season.
Doncic reappeared on the first day of the NBA Cup
Doncic had started the season with 43 points, twelve rebounds, and nine assists in a loss against the Golden State Warriors, and 49 points, eleven rebounds, and eight assists in a home win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, before his injury.
The Slovenian subsequently missed the games against the Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves, in that case at home, after suffering a sprained finger and a bruised thigh.
A drop was expected until next week, but number 77 managed to advance his recovery and returned in dominant form. In Memphis, Doncic already had 19 points at halftime and finished with 44, the result of 14 of 27 shooting from the field and six triples, to which he added twelve rebounds and six assists.
Without LeBron James, who is suffering from sciatica problems and has yet to make his debut, Austin Reaves contributed 21 points for the Angelenos, after scoring the decisive basket at the buzzer in the previous victory in Minnesota.
The Spanish Santi Aldama had seven points, ten rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes on the court. Four of his ten rebounds were offensive. Ja Morant, Memphis’ leader, did not exceed eight points with a modest three of fourteen in field goals.
