Doncic sets the tone early
Luka Doncic needed one quarter to settle this one. He scored 16 in the first and 24 by halftime, and the Lakers shot 67.4 percent in the first half to lead 79-72 at the break. Miami hung around for a while, since the second quarter finished 42-42, but the Lakers opened the third on an 11-0 run and the game turned into a matter of margin.
Walker Kessler was the engine of that stretch. His layup made it 90-72, and his dunk pushed the lead to 99-78 with 5:23 left in the quarter. Ziaire Williams hit a three with 54.6 seconds to go to make it 111-93 entering the fourth. Kessler and Austin Reaves opened the final period with baskets to stretch the gap to 22, and Doncic’s three made it 128-106 with 5:37 remaining. The biggest lead reached 24.
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The numbers behind the rout
Doncic finished with 42 points and 13 assists on 14-of-24 shooting, including six threes. It was his fourth 40-point game this season. He has now done it 22 times in 99 games as a Laker, the sixth most in franchise history. Reaves added 27 points with four threes, Kessler had 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Sandro Mamukelashvili gave the bench 13.
As a team the Lakers shot 57.3 percent and went 19 of 43 from deep. They are 6-2 to open the season.
Miami got 30 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists from Giannis Antetokounmpo, though he also committed seven turnovers. Klay Thompson scored 19, Bam Adebayo had 16 and 9 rebounds, and Davion Mitchell finished with 15 points and 7 assists. The Heat shot 50.7 percent but saw a two-game winning streak end.
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