Luka Doncic Reveals What Went Right for Lakers in Win vs. Heat

The Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a back-to-back on Monday night with a 138-117 win over the Miami Heat at Crypto.com Arena, and once again guard Luka Doncic was the reason the second half never got close.

Doncic scored 42 points on 14-of-24 shooting, made six 3-pointers and handed out 13 assists while turning the ball over just twice.

Guard Austin Reaves added 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, while center Walker Kessler put up 15 points and 15 rebounds against a Miami front line led by forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds.

Miami tried all night to take the ball out of Doncic's hands, and it did not work.

According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, the Heat blitzed Doncic on seven possessions when he came off a screen, and the Lakers scored on six of them, which lines up with what Doncic said after the game about the team sharing the ball really well, per The Sporting Tribune.

The Lakers finished with 39 assists, the most since JJ Redick took over as head coach in 2024-25, as McMenamin noted.

Forward Sandro Mamukelashvili chipped in 13 points off the bench, and forward Ziaire Williams scored nine in his return after missing three games with left foot soreness.

Miami did put up 42 points in the second quarter, but the Lakers tightened up after halftime and held the Heat to 45 points over the final two quarters.

This win came one night after a 131-125 victory over the Toronto Raptors, and both of those came after a loss to the Golden State Warriors that had some people asking questions about this team.

Doncic said the Lakers kept believing in themselves, according to The Sporting Tribune's Fredo Cervantes.

"Of course, yeah. We believe in ourselves. We go into every game thinking we can win the game. We're going to fight till the end," Doncic said.

That belief starts with him.

Doncic has averaged 43.4 points over his last five games, and the Lakers have needed every bit of that scoring, along with help from the other standouts of the first few weeks of the season.

At 6-2, the Lakers showed something on Monday that goes beyond Doncic's scoring.

When a defense sends two players at him and the ball finds the open man, this team is very hard to stop, since Reaves, Kessler and the shooters around them keep making teams pay.

Defense is still the part that needs work.

Doncic has heard plenty about his effort on that end, and he responded to that criticism after the Toronto game, but a good team cannot give up 42 points in a quarter very often.

Reaves has also owned up to the bad nights in this stretch, and I like that sort of accountability from a group that is still building its identity.

Next up is a trip to Sacramento to face the Kings on Wednesday.

As long as Doncic keeps playing at this level and the defense holds up its end, I see this team as a real threat in the West.