Luka Doncic dropped 51 points on the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night, falling just one assist short of a triple-double. Doncic shot 17-for-31 from the field and 9-for-14 from three-point range, adding 10 rebounds, nine assists, three steals, and a block in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 142-130 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
It was his first 50-point game since joining the Lakers in the February 2025 blockbuster trade from Dallas, topping the 49 he hung on the Minnesota Timberwolves on opening weekend back in October. Alongside this was also his new career high in purple and gold.
The team announced both milestones in two separate X posts.
New Lakers career-high unlocked 🔓 pic.twitter.com/iJvlA4BeCz
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 13, 2026
The 51 points gave Doncic his 13th 40-point performance in 82 games as a Laker, slotting him ninth in franchise history. It’s also his 11th 40-point outing this season alone, which ranks among the most prolific single-season stretches in Lakers history. He added to his growing collection of 50-point double-doubles, among the most by any point guard in NBA history.
Doncic was efficient from the opening tip, knocking down back-to-back triples in the first quarter. The game turned in the second, when Bulls forward Matas Buzelis, fresh off a career-high 41 points against the Warriors two nights earlier, started jawing at Doncic during a defensive switch.
Doncic responded with 10 straight points, found Deandre Ayton for an alley-oop, and carried a five-point Lakers lead into halftime. After the game, he was direct about what happened. He told reporters that Buzelis woke him up with some heated words in the second quarter and that the exchange caught him off guard.
First 50-piece with the Purple & Gold ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/fVMHNV5NPh
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 13, 2026
Doncic is averaging 32.5 points, 8.5 assists and 7.9 rebounds on the season, leading the league in scoring. Since the All-Star break, he’s shooting 43.7 percent from three. Thursday’s nine triples highlight a stretch of six consecutive games where he’s attempted double-digit threes.
Los Angeles has now won seven of its last eight games, and the four-game winning streak is its longest since a seven-game run from Nov. 14-30. The victory moved the Lakers to 41-25 and past the Houston Rockets into third place in the Western Conference.
The timing of this surge matters. Denver visits Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, and the margins between third and sixth in the West are razor-thin. The Timberwolves, Rockets, Lakers and Nuggets have been trading spots for weeks, and at this point, the sixth-seeded Wolves are just one game behind the Lakers. So, home-court advantage in the first round could come down to these final 16 games.
The Lakers need this dominant version of Doncic during that stretch. Until now, he has lived up to that. And Lakers coach JJ Redick didn’t mince words after the game to hail his superstar. “He’s playing as well as anybody in the NBA right now,” Redick told reporters. “It’s probably not being talked about enough, but I’m gonna talk about it.”
Related: Lakers Announce Luka Doncic History During Bulls Game
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
