ATLANTA -- One streak ended for Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, but a more important one continued.
Doncic returned to the lineup after a one-game absence because of lower back tightness to lead Los Angeles to a 124-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks, extending the Lakers' winning streak to six games.
While he led his team with 32 points and 10 assists -- and was tied for second for Los Angeles with eight rebounds -- his run of scoring 40-plus points ended at four games.
"Luka again, you know, [was] just orchestrating," said Lakers coach JJ Redick. "I thought he was really just a willing passer. He ended up with 10 assists ... but could have had 15, 16 assists."
While his teammates didn't convert every pass Doncic dished out, the Lakers more than made up for the absences of Austin Reaves (illness) and Quentin Grimes (sprained finger on his right hand), who had combined for 55 points and eight assists Sunday in a win over the Detroit Pistons.
Sandro Mamukelashvili scored a season-high 23 points off the bench with eight rebounds and Collin Sexton, tasked with handling the ball more with Reaves unavailable, finished with 18 points and six assists. Lakers center Walker Kessler recorded his third straight double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Ziaire Williams added 12 points, going 5-for-10 from the field.
Earlier in the day, Doncic was named the Western Conference player of the week for averaging 45 points with a 4-0 record.
With Doncic back in the building where he scored a career-high 73 points in a win over the Hawks on Jan. 26, 2024, Redick was asked about how much scoring motivates the 27-year-old guard.
"To me, he is first a competitor. You see it in everything he does throughout his daily life and his existence, he just loves competing, and so I think when he gets on a basketball court, that's -- the first priority is to try to win," Redick said before the game. "And he does a great job of figuring out on a night-to-night basis what levers to pull. ... It's not just hunt, hunt, hunt, hunt [to score]. He reads the game."
If there was anything that motivated Doncic in postgame locker room at State Farm Arena, it was bragging to his teammates about the five steals and two blocks he racked up against the Hawks. Not his scoring.
Los Angeles (10-2) came into the night ranked No. 21 in the league in defensive efficiency. The Lakers held the Hawks, who came into the game riding a four-game winning streak to 114 points -- a tick below their 118.6 team average -- and forced 19 turnovers (when Atlanta averages just 14.5 miscues a game).
"I think we can be way better than 21st," Doncic said. "I think we have the potential for that."