Doncic leads Lakers past Hawks, Pistons win

Doncic, whose sensational early season form has propelled the Lakers to the top of the NBA Western Conference, once again led from the front to secure an impressive win on the road.

The Slovenian star finished with 32 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds, five steals and two blocks in a dominant all-around performance.

Doncic, who is averaging 40 points per game so far this season, received offensive support from Sandro Mamukelashvili, who delivered an eye-catching 23 points from the bench that included five three-pointers.

Walker Kessler added 21 points with Collin Sexton scoring 18 and Ziaire Williams 12.

Lakers coach J.J. Redick paid tribute to the contributions of Doncic, Sexton and Mamukelashvili on a night when the team were missing Austin Reaves (illness) and Quentin Grimes (injury).

"I thought Collin did a really nice job of giving us some juice and Sandro had his best game as a Laker," Redick said. "That was awesome.

"Luka, again, just orchestrating. He was out there without a secondary ball handler so he had to be on the ball a lot and that was taxing. I thought he handled it well," Redick added.

The Lakers improved to 10-2 at the top of the Western Conference following the win as Atlanta fell to 7-5.

In other games on Monday, the Detroit Pistons improved to 7-3 with a 122-111 defeat of the Washington Wizards after 24 points from John Collins.

The Memphis Grizzlies are also on 7-3 after their 118-102 victory over the Toronto Raptors. The Cleveland Cavaliers meanwhile stumbled to a 124-112 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.