Luka Doncic's humble admission after 36-point barrage in Rockets win

Lakers star Luka Doncic spoke about his own play amid a 36-point outburst in the team's win against the Rockets.

Mar. 17, 2026 at 4:54am

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The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets 100-92, with Lakers star Luka Doncic leading the way with a game-high 36 points. However, Doncic admitted that he felt he could have played even better despite his impressive performance.

Why it matters

Doncic's continued dominance and the Lakers' recent string of wins against playoff teams have significant implications for the team's playoff seeding and positioning in the Western Conference.

The details

Doncic came out on fire in the first quarter, scoring 16 points while shooting 7-of-10 from the field. He has been on a tear recently, averaging 37.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocked shots in the previous week, for which he was named the West's Player of the Week. Doncic also surpassed the late Kobe Bryant's mark for the fifth-most 30-point triple-doubles in Lakers history and became the 10th player in team history to have a 50-point double-double.

  • The Lakers started their six-game road trip with the win against the Rockets on March 17, 2026.
  • The Lakers will remain in Houston for a second game against the Rockets on March 19, 2026, before traveling to face the Miami Heat on March 20, 2026.

The players

Luka Doncic

The star player for the Los Angeles Lakers who led the team to victory against the Rockets with a game-high 36 points, despite feeling he could have played even better.

Kobe Bryant

The late Lakers legend whose record for the fifth-most 30-point triple-doubles in Lakers history was surpassed by Doncic.

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What they’re saying

“It was not bad. I think I could've done a lot better. But all that matters is we got the win. We got to keep this rolling.”

— Luka Doncic (clutchpoints.com)

“It was great, I think we shared the ball great, especially in the last quarter. They scored 92 points, which for this Houston team, to hold them to 92 is pretty awesome. So we did a great job defensively.”

— Luka Doncic (clutchpoints.com)

What’s next

The Lakers will remain in Houston for a second game against the Rockets on Wednesday before traveling to face off against the Miami Heat on Thursday.

The takeaway

Doncic's continued dominance and the Lakers' recent string of wins against playoff teams have significant implications for the team's playoff seeding and positioning in the Western Conference, despite Doncic's humble assessment of his own performance.