Luka Doncic scored 32 of his 49 points in the first half and added 11 rebounds with eight assists as the Los Angeles Lakers turned a productive shooting night into a 128-110 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
Austin Reaves scored 25 points with 11 assists, Rui Hachimura had 23 points and Deandre Ayton added 15 as the Lakers won after they were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by the Timberwolves last season as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
Doncic was 14 of 23 (60.9%) from the floor and 5 of 12 from 3-point range, while setting his Lakers high for points in a game. Los Angeles shot 59.2% overall to 46.6% for Minnesota.
With a chance to reach 50 points for the eighth time in his career, Doncic missed one of two free throws with 3:05 remaining and then left the game for the last time.
Anthony Edwards scored 31 points and Julius Randle added 26 points with nine rebounds for the Timberwolves, who saw the game start to slip away when the Lakers shot 64.7% from the floor in a 32-point second quarter.
Donte DiVincenzo scored 13 points and Jaden McDaniels added 10 for Minnesota, which went 1-1 on a season-opening road trip and will face the Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers in the home opener Sunday.
In a first quarter void of defense, the Timberwolves jumped out to a 40-36 lead behind 14 points from Edwards. Doncic scored 23 points in the quarter while asserting himself in the absence of LeBron James (back). Los Angeles also was without big men Maxi Kleber (oblique) and Jaxson Hayes (knee).
The Lakers closed the first half on a 14-4 run to take a 68-63 lead into halftime. They shot 60.0% in the first half, while the Timberwolves shot 50.0%.
Los Angeles used a 9-4 run in the third quarter to take their first double-digit lead at 97-86 after a driving layup from Reaves and held a 108-94 advantage heading into the final quarter.
–Field Level Media
