For once, Luka Doncic had to serve the punishment. For not hitting any half-court shots during his pregame warmup, Doncic had to drop to the court and give his coaching staff pushups.
The exercise seemingly powered him up for the two-handed dunk to come.
Doncic dazzled in the Lakers 121-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at Spectrum Center, scoring 38 points with seven assists, six rebounds and one emphatic third-quarter dunk to help the Lakers flush the memories of a blowout loss in Atlanta.
Austin Reaves returned from a three-game absence with 24 points and seven assists while Rui Hachimura scored 21 points with perfect three-for-three shooting from three-point range.
Reaves, who was out with a right groin strain, announced his presence by throwing a lob up to Deandre Ayton for the Lakers first basket. After Charlotte (3-7) blitzed the Lakers with eight made three-pointers in the first quarter to take a 40-36 lead, Reaves answered by scoring seven of the Lakers first 10 points in the second. He gave the team a jolt of energy by racing for a transition layup to beat the halftime buzzer, giving the Lakers (8-3) a two-point lead.
“He’s an All-Star-level player, coach JJ Redick said before the game. He’s, along with Luka, an incredibly dynamic offensive player. I think our depth increases, the lineup optionality increases, so not having him in the lineup really, really hurts us.
The Lakers went 2-1 in games without Reaves, but the 20-point loss to Atlanta on Saturday was so striking that Redick was left questioning the identity of his team. The Lakers looked lifeless. Redick waved the white flag by the middle of the third quarter after the starting unit let the deficit balloon to 25.
With Doncic and Reaves back, the Lakers wouldnt repeat their third-quarter woes.
The Lakers started the second half with an 11-4 run that forced the Hornets to call a timeout. Reaves then assisted a three-pointer from Hachimura that pushed the lead into double digits. Doncic hit a stepback three to put the Lakers up by 12. Doncics assist to Hachimura extended the lead to 17.
A driving, two-handed dunk was the exclamation point, stunning the Charlotte crowd as he hung on the rum and screamed. With two dunks this season, he already doubled his total from last year.
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Doncic assisted a Reaves three with 8:01 remaining in the fourth quarter and Reaves put up his arms and threw his head back in relief. He had missed his first seven three-point attempts and finished two-for-10 from three-point range.
Reaves return gets the Lakers one player closer to their full roster. LeBron James is scheduled to practice with the South Bay Lakers this week as he progresses through his return from right sciatica.
Rookie Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery) is also nearing his return as Redick estimated the forward could make his NBA debut during this road trip, which continues Wednesday at Oklahoma City and ends with a back-to-back in New Orleans on Friday and Milwaukee on Saturday.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.