Luka Doncic sealed 34 points and LeBron James poured in 31 to hold off the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena against Santi Aldama’s Memphis Grizzlies, who surrendered 128-121 despite 15 points from Spain’s Santi Aldama.
Jake LaRavia, formerly of the Grizzlies, joined the Angelino scoring fest with 21 points and JJ Redick’s team started their 2026 in the best way.
Doncic and LeBron lead Los Angeles Lakers to victory
Squad was hoooopin’ in crunch time pic.twitter.com/4NMMz71g2u
– Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 3, 2026
The Lakers, who had a difficult month of December, have a 21-11 record and are in fifth place in the West.
The Grizzlies are ninth in the same conference (15-19) and lost their third consecutive game.
Doncic finished the game with 34 points, six rebounds and eight assists, LeBron shined with 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field, nine rebounds and six assists.
LaRavia also grabbed nine rebounds and hit a three-pointer in a 12-2 Laker run in the final five minutes to put the game away.
Jaren Jackson was Memphis’ leading scorer with 25 points, while Ja Morant had 16 points and 11 assists.
Aldama, 24, made the most of his 29 minutes coming off the bench and added 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists. He hit five of his 12 shots from the field, hitting three of nine from beyond the arc.
With a great start from LaRavia, formerly of the Grizzlies, the Lakers built a 15-point lead in the second half, but the Grizzlies, with nine early points from Aldama, managed to stay in the contest.
Aldama hurt the Lakers coming off the bench and forced as many as two four-point plays, as well as providing important rim protection.
Doncic led the Lakers by the hand in the fourth period and surpassed 25 points against Memphis for the 11th consecutive time.
The Lakers and Grizzlies will meet again this Sunday on this same NBA stage.
Next up, JJ Redick’s team will take on the New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks.
With information from EFE
