Luka Doncic sat out the Los Angeles Lakers' 131-126 loss at Denver on Friday night, cheering on his scrappy, short-handed teammates who nearly pulled off a shocker without four starters. Doncic joined LeBron James on the Lakers' lengthy list of unavailable players after scoring 45 points a night earlier in a loss at Milwaukee.

The Los Angeles Lakers fell short Thursday night in a 126–106 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum, but superstar Luka Doncic made some franchise history along the way. Doncic, who tallied 45 points on 14-of-27 shooting (7-of-13 from three-point range) with 11 rebounds,

Since the arrival of Luka Doncic, LeBron James has had to adjust to a new role with the Los Angeles Lakers, a shift that earned a candid reflection from Charles Barkley. The addition of Luka Doncic provided the Los Angeles Lakers with enhanced ball-handling capabilities,