Doncic delivers another magical night in Chicago, sets Lakers milestone

Luka Doncic marveled again Monday with 46 points, his second-highest scoring output in this season of NBA, in the Los Angeles Lakers' 129-118 win on the home court of the in form Chicago Bulls.

Here are the main highlights from a seven-game day in the North American basketball league.

The Lakers kicked off a five-game road trip against East Coast opponents with a convincing win over Chicago, a team that had won its last four consecutive games.

LeBron James was at the helm for the Angels in the first half, when he scored 20 of his 24 point tally, but the second half belonged entirely to Doncic.

The Slovenian star laid down the law at the United Center in a dizzying third quarter in which he scored 20 points.

Doncic finished with 46 points on a sensational 15-of-25 shooting performance, along with 11 assists and eight made 3-pointers, his season high.

The point guard's scoring in Chicago is only surpassed this season by the 49 points he scored against the Timberwolves in October.

Previously, Kobe Bryant was the only Laker to finish a game with at least 45 points, 10 assists and five 3-pointers.

The night was doubly special for Doncic as he became the fastest player to accumulate 2,000 points in the gold and purple colors worn by NBA legends such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

The Slovenian, who landed midway through last season in a controversial trade from the Dallas Mavericks, needed only 65 games with the Lakers to reach 2,000 points.

The record was previously held by a 1950s league icon, George Mikan, who crossed that mark in 72 games.

Although they saw their Bulls streak broken, the Chicago crowd was treated to several showcase displays in the final quarter such as a counter-attacking dunk by Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, who passed the ball between his legs.

Sixers on the verge of ridicule

Monday's action got off to an earlier-than-usual start because of the severe winter storm that has affected much of the U.S. and caused the postponement of two games Sunday in Memphis and Milwaukee.

The league moved up the start of two Monday games because of weather conditions, one of which was a 130-93 thrashing by the Charlotte Hornets of the Philadelphia 76ers.

With Joel Embiid out, the Sixers were in danger of surpassing their heaviest loss in history, recorded in 1993 by 56 points off the bench.

In Charlotte they found themselves down by 50 points (109-59) at the start of the final quarter.

Forward Brandon Miller, with 30 points and 6 three-pointers, led the Hornets with up to eight players reaching double digits in scoring.

On the other side, the Sixers competed without veterans Embiid and Paul George and weighed down by one of the worst games of Tyrese Maxey, who was limited to 6 points.

Two reserves, Jared McCain (16 points) and Quentin Grimes (14), came to the Sixers' rescue in the final quarter to avoid a historic defeat.