Luka Dončić dropped 51 points against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night. He grabbed 10 rebounds. He dished nine assists. The Los Angeles Lakers cruised to a 142-130 win. And yet, one assist shy of a 50-point triple-double, Dončić walked off the floor knowing exactly who to blame.
Luka Dončić Drops 51, Blames Rui Hachimura for Missing 50-Point Triple-Double
With just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Dončić found Rui Hachimura standing alone in the corner. The look was clean. The shot was wide open. Hachimura’s three-pointer clanked off the rim. That miss cost Dončić a chance at one of the rarest statistical feats in NBA history, according to NBA insider Brett Siegel.
Only eight players have ever recorded a 50-point triple-double. James Harden leads all players with five. Russell Westbrook has three. Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Richie Guerin, Nikola Jokić, and Luka Dončić round out the exclusive list of players who have accomplished the feat.
Dončić came up one assist short of joining them again. In the postgame interview, he made sure everyone knew why.
“It was Rui’s fault,” Dončić said. “He missed on purpose. Tell him.”
“It was Rui’s fault! He missed on purpose!”
– Luka missed out on a triple-double after Rui missed an open three in the final minute 😭😭😭pic.twitter.com/ZjK7ua5WQx
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) March 13, 2026
The delivery was deadpan. The Lakers’ locker room was laughing. And Hachimura, who finished with 15 points on the night, probably knew the teasing was just getting started. The moment captured something essential about how the Lakers have gelled over the past few weeks.
Dončić has embraced locker-room banter. He and Austin Reaves have a running joke that they aren’t actually friends. Teammates reportedly teased him relentlessly earlier this season when he missed a late free throw that would have given him 50 against Minnesota. This is a group that’s loose, confident, and playing their best basketball at the right time.
The 51-point outburst marked Dončić’s first 50-point game as a Laker. It was his eighth career game scoring 50 or more and his 13th 40-point effort in just 82 appearances with the franchise, placing him ninth in Lakers history. He shot 17-for-31 from the field and drilled 9-of-14 from three-point range, with Chicago forward Matas Buzelis’ pregame trash talk apparently serving as extra motivation.
“Somebody started talking to me, so that woke me up,” Dončić said of Buzelis. “I’m not going to say what he said, but if I said that, I would definitely get a tech.”
Buzelis learned his lesson. Asked postgame about the exchange, the 21-year-old had a simple takeaway.
“Probably not to talk to him,” Buzelis said.
Lakers Climb to Third in the West Without Chasing Stats
Dončić’s decision not to stay in and hunt for that final assist stood in stark contrast to the stat-chasing controversy surrounding Bam Adebayo earlier this week. The Miami Heat center scored 83 points against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday, passing Kobe Bryant for the second-highest scoring game in NBA history. But the manner in which he got there drew criticism from former players and analysts alike.
When Dončić intentionally fouled a Bulls player and subbed himself out with 1:41 remaining, Lakers play-by-play announcer Bill Macdonald offered a pointed observation.
“So he’s not chasing numbers,” Macdonald said.
Dončić didn’t need to chase anything. The win moved the Lakers to 41-25 and into sole possession of third place in the Western Conference. They’ve won seven of their last eight games.
LeBron James returned from a three-game absence and contributed 18 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Reaves added 30 points and crossed 5,000 career points in the process. Deandre Ayton posted his 20th double-double of the season with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lakers’ starting five combined for 137 points, the most by a starting lineup in a regulation game since the 1970-71 season, according to ESPN Research. That’s the kind of offensive firepower that makes one missed Hachimura three-pointer easy to forgive.
The Japanese forward might want to start practicing his corner threes. Denver visits Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, and if another 50-point triple-double opportunity presents itself, Dončić will know exactly where to look for that final assist.
