Clippers Vs Lakers: Doncic scores 38 as Lakers hold off Clippers 125-122

Emerson Raymont

Published: February 22, 2026 7:41 AM ET

Clippers Vs Lakers: Doncic scores 38 as Lakers hold off Clippers 125-122

In a Friday night clippers vs lakers game in Los Angeles, Luka Doncic scored 38 points and handed out 11 assists as the Lakers held off the Clippers 125-122, splitting the four-game season series.

Clippers Vs Lakers: fourth-quarter finish

Derrick Jones Jr. scored on consecutive possessions to trim the Lakers' lead to 123-120 with 46 seconds left. Nicolas Batum stole LeBron James' pass in the final seconds but missed a tying 3-point attempt with 4 seconds remaining, and the Lakers closed out the 125-122 win. Doncic scored 12 points in the fourth quarter. Bennedict Mathurin fouled out with 1: 49 to play, and Kawhi Leonard, who had 31 points, missed the final 5: 10 with an apparent ankle injury.

First half: big shooting bursts and a midgame edge

The offense opened hot: Brook Lopez began with a personal 5-0 run for the Clippers, while Austin Reaves scored the first five points for the Lakers. The Lakers surged—at one point shooting 80% from the field and making 16 of 17 shots in a stretch—and led by 12 at the end of the first quarter. At the 6: 18 mark of the first, Los Angeles held a three-point lead. Doncic scored 17 points in the first, hitting four 3-pointers in that quarter.

Benedict Mathurin (spelled that way in other coverage) started the second period with a jump shot for the Clippers. Reaves converted a jumper off the glass and Rui Hachimura knocked down a 3. Kawhi Leonard scored eight points in the second quarter's early stage and finished the half with 21 after adding another eight, answering after registering just one bucket in the first quarter. At 7: 35 of the second, the Lakers were up by 13; at halftime the Lakers led by seven, while the Clippers were winning the second-chance points battle 14-2.

Third quarter stretch and momentum swings

The third began with a Kawhi turnover that led to a Reaves 3-pointer and a 10-2 Lakers run that pushed the lead to 15. The Clippers responded with four straight points; Reaves moved to 22 points after his third 3. A 17-1 Clippers run, fueled by a six-point burst that included four points from Derrick Jones Jr., swung the game and put the Clippers ahead by two. The Lakers answered with a Luka 3 and a Luke Kennard layup and went into the fourth up by four. The Clippers outscored the Lakers by three in the third quarter overall.

Lineup notes, injuries and individual performances

Doncic returned from a four-game absence and a five-minute All-Star Game appearance that followed a mildly strained hamstring. He finished with 38 points and four first-quarter 3-pointers; the Slovenian also had 11 assists. Austin Reaves added 29 points. LeBron James had 13 points and 11 assists in the Lakers' return from the All-Star break but managed just two points in the second half. The group of Doncic, James and Reaves featured together for only the 11th time in the Lakers' 55 games this season, a rare spell of full health coming out of the break.

For the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard scored 31 before leaving with the apparent ankle issue. The team is 27-29 and fell just short of getting back to. 500 after an earlier 6-21 start to the season. John Collins was helped off the court with 18 seconds left in the first half after bloodied his face on a hard landing while trying to catch a long pass at the rim. Jarred Vanderbilt opened the fourth with a dunk for the Lakers. Brook Lopez led the Clippers early with nine in the first. Deandre Ayton threw down a dunk off a Luka assist in the second, and John Collins later hit a triple.

Bennedict Mathurin had 26 points and seven rebounds in his second straight outstanding game for his new team before fouling out with 1: 49 to play; he had dropped a career-high-tying 38 against Denver on Thursday.