Luka Doncic has a triple-double as depleted Lakers defeat Minnesota

Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times on Mar 11, 2026

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It was going to fall on the shoulders of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves to provide the Lakers with enough offense and it was going to fall on the shoulders of Marcus Smart to be the defensive presence with so many of their teammates sitting out with injuries.

They were being forced to carry the load because LeBron James (right hip contusion and left foot arthritis) and backup centers Jaxson Hayes (back soreness) and Maxi Kleber (back) were all out with injuries.

And Doncic, Reaves and Smart all did their part, putting up the points and playing solid defense in helping the Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-106 Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena.

Doncic had a triple-double with 31 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

Reaves had 31 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

Smart played his usual smothering defense, doing a very good job in limiting Timberwolves All-Star guard Anthony Edwards to just 14 points on two-for-15 shooting from the field and one-for-10 from three-point range.

The Lakers also got strong play from Deandre Ayton, who had a double-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds, five offensive, and two assists.

The Lakers, who led by as much as 23 points, swept the three-game season series against the Timberwolves and jumped over Minnesota to fourth place in the competitive Western Conference.

The Lakers started the game 0 for 8 and finished the first quarter seven for 25. They missed all 11 of their three-pointers in the first 12 minutes. Doncic missed his first five shots before finishing the period two for 10.

The Lakers didn’t score their first basket until Smart scored on a driving layup with seven minutes and 25 seconds left, the first of just 16 points they scored in the quarter.

But the Lakers were down by just five points in the first because the Timberwolves were only eight for 23 from the field and one for 12 from three-point range. Edwards was just one for eight from the field in the first and missed all five of his three-pointers.

James missed his third straight game with his injury. He missed the first two, against the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks, with a left elbow contusion and left foot arthritis.

James was injured in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ game last Thursday night. He had scored over Denver Nikola Jokic, but was clipped by the Nuggets’ center and fell hard onto the court, holding his left elbow.

James iced his elbow after the game in Denver.

“He did his on-court shooting before our film and walk-through and probably just needs a couple more days,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “So, it’s still day to day. Sometimes da -to day means two days, sometimes it can mean five or six days. But he’s day to day.”

Redick was asked if James taking some games off for body maintenance during his NBA-record 23rd season was a good thing for the long haul and for a long playoff run.

“Yeah, we obviously want him in the lineup,” Redick said. “When we were kind of approaching this stretch and you see the six days [of games] in eight nights — we had two back-to-backs last week — you never know how his body is going to respond to a game and how his foot is going to respond. So, it’s not to say I expected him to miss a game. It’s just it wouldn’t have surprised me if he needed a day or two to get his body right. The fact that he had the falls in Denver… He’s trying to ramp up. He wants to be out there and so do we and hopefully he’s back soon.”

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