Luka Doncic scores 49 to lead the Lakers to a rout of Timberwolves

Luka Doncic is a savant.

He proved yet again to be distinguished in his field of expertise and the Lakers are reaping the rewards of Doncic’s brilliance.

Doncic was dynamic in scoring 49 points, coming up two assists short of a triple-double with 11 rebounds and eight assists in leading the Lakers past the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-110 Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Doncic became the first player in Lakers history to open the season with back-to-back 40-plus point games and fourth in NBA history to accomplish that feat, joining Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Anthony Davis.

Doncic has the most points in Lakers history in the first two games with 91 points, surpassing the 81 points Hall of Famer Jerry West scored in back-to-back games to open the 1969-70 season.

Doncic capped his show by drilling a three-pointer that gave the Lakers a 19-point lead, his showmanship including pursing of his lips while doing a shimmy to the adoring crowd. Then he bounced off the court when the reeling Timberwolves called a timeout with eight minutes and six seconds left in the game.

He had a chance to score 50 points, but Doncic missed the first of two free throws with 3:05 left. He departed the game with 3:01 left to a standing ovation.

Doncic continued his exceptional play to open the season from the start Friday, scoring from all over the court, doing whatever he wanted against Minnesota defenders, working himself into exhaustion that eventually had him begging to come out after dropping 23 points on the Timberwolves in the first quarter.

Doncic tied Kobe Bryant and Kyle Kuzma for the most points in a first quarter in Lakers history since the 1996-97 season.

It was the 12th time in Doncic’s career in which he had scored 20-plus points in an opening quarter.

Doncic finished the first half with 32 points, becoming the fourth Laker since the 1996-97 season to record multiple games with 30-plus points in a half. He joined Bryant, LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal.

When Doncic started getting help from his teammates in the second quarter while he was on the bench resting, the Lakers turned an 11-point first-half deficit into a 68-63 lead after the first 24 minutes.

The two days of practice and the shootaround in some ways was an extension of training camp for the Lakers and it gave them extra time to prepare for a Minnesota Timberwolves team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season.

The Lakers lost their season opener to the Warriors here on Tuesday night and had two days to work some things out.

Lakers coach JJ Redick said those practices and the shootaround on game days “was just a really detailed reinforcement of some things that we did throughout the training camp.”

“So we in some ways, you got to get back to the fundamentals of defense,” Redick said. “But we spent a lot of time both Wednesday and Thursday on that, and today’s shootaround was more of a mental day. We spent about 40 minutes on the court, but it wasn’t rev them up and go. It was mental for both sides of the ball.”

The Lakers also spent time at practice trying to get center Deandre Ayton unlocked.

Ayton was especially needed against the tall and physical Timberwolves front line.

He stood tall, something Redick said Ayton was “consistent” in his willingness to be coached.

“He’s been really good for the last two weeks,” Redick said. “He had two great days of practice. I thought yesterday was his best day in our scrimmage of pick-and-roll coverage.”