LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic had 31 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds in his seventh triple-double of the season, and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame LeBron James' latest injury absence to sweep their season series with the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 120-106 victory Tuesday night.
Austin Reaves scored 29 of his 31 points in a scorching second half for the Lakers (40-25), who pulled even with Minnesota for fourth place in the Western Conference standings after their third straight win over the team that knocked them out of the first round of last season’s playoffs.
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Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) drives the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton (5) shoots against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) drives the ball against Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) and guard Marcus Smart (36) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Doncic secured the 89th triple-double of his career — seventh-most in NBA history — early in the fourth quarter. Deandre Ayton had 14 points and 12 rebounds in a strong effort with both of his backup big men sidelined.
James sat out for the third straight game with injuries for the Lakers, who have still won three straight and six of seven. He also missed the Lakers' first two wins over Minnesota this season back in October.
The Lakers improved to 13-8 without the top scorer in NBA history in their lineup, including 10-2 when Doncic and Reaves both play without James.
Julius Randle scored 14 points and Anthony Edwards finished with 14 points on a 2-for-15 shooting night for Minnesota, which has lost two straight after a five-game winning streak. Four Timberwolves bench players scored in double figures in the opener of a four-game trip.
Both teams were mostly awful on offense in the first half. The Lakers missed 17 of their first 21 shots during their 16-point first quarter.
But after a 1-for-8 first half, Reaves scored 16 points in the third quarter while the Lakers pushed their lead to 19. Reaves completed two four-point plays in the second half, and he finished with a season-high seven 3-pointers.
Timberwolves: At Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.
Lakers: Host Chicago on Thursday.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) drives the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton (5) shoots against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) drives the ball against Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) and guard Marcus Smart (36) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran fired upon commercial ships on Wednesday and targeted Dubai International Airport, escalating a campaign of bottling up the oil-rich Persian Gulf as global energy concerns mounted and American and Israeli airstrikes pounded the Islamic Republic.
Iran's response to the surprise Israeli and U.S. bombardment that started 12 days ago has upended trade routes, choked supplies of fuel and fertilizer coming out of the Gulf and threatened air traffic through one of the world's most-traveled regions. Both sides have dug in, hoping to outlast the other.
Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, was wounded at the start of the war — on the day when his father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, an Israeli intelligence assessment has found.
An Israeli intelligence official and a reservist with knowledge of the assessment spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media. They gave no details on the nature of the injuries.
The 56-year-old, whose wife was also killed in the Israeli strike, has not been seen since becoming supreme leader on Monday. Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, wrote on social media that he had heard Mojtaba was wounded but that friends said “he is healthy and there is no problem.”
In Tehran late Wednesday, witnesses said they heard loud airstrikes, explosions and heavy fire by anti-aircraft batteries. They could also hear the buzzing of drones overhead. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The fallout across the Middle East widened as Israel struck what it said were targets connected to Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. The U.N. refugee agency said at least 759,000 people have been internally displaced in Lebanon, while more than 92,000 others have crossed into neighboring Syria.
Two Iranian drones hit near the Dubai airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and the world’s busiest for international travel. Four people were wounded but flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said.
A projectile hit a Thai cargo ship off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, setting it ablaze. Authorities are searching for three missing crew members from the Mayuree Naree after 20 were rescued by the Omani navy, according to Thailand’s Marine Department.
At least 12 incidents have been confirmed involving vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all traded oil passes, since the war began, according to two global trackers. The International Maritime Organization says at least seven mariners have been killed.
Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic through the narrow strait. It has also targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations, aiming at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end their strikes.
The United States has pledged to keep the strait open and has led intense airstrikes targeting Iran's navy and the port city of Bandar Abbas. The U.S. military said Tuesday it destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the strait.
Some tankers, believed linked to Iran, are continuing to get through the strait, making so-called “dark” transits -- meaning they aren’t turning on trackers that show where they are. Vessels carrying sanctioned Iranian crude often turn off their trackers.
The commodity-tracking firm Kpler said Iran has restarted crude exports through its Jask oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman. A tanker loaded roughly 2 million barrels at Jask on March 7, it said.
Oil prices remained well below Monday’s peaks but the price of Brent crude, the international standard, was still up some 20% Wednesday from when the war began. Consumers around the world are already feeling the pain at the pump.
The International Energy Agency agreed Wednesday to release the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in a bid to counter the war’s impact on energy markets.
The Paris-based organization said it will make 400 million barrels of oil available from its member countries’ emergency reserves, more than twice the amount they released four years ago in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Many countries, particularly in Asia, have taken steps to limit the fallout from suddenly uncertain oil supplies.
Israeli strikes set a building ablaze in central Beirut, engulfing the top two floors. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said four people were wounded.
Other Israeli strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon killed 14 people, and a Red Cross worker died of wounds sustained earlier this week, when his team was hit by an Israeli strike while they were rescuing people from an earlier attack.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said Wednesday that 634 people have been killed in the country since the latest fighting began.
Iranian authorities say more than 1,300 people have been killed there, and Israel has reported 12 people dead. The U.S. has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.
Iran’s joint military command said it would start targeting banks and financial institutions in the Middle East. That would put at risk particularly Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to many international financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain.
The threat came after a Tehran location of Bank Sepah, a state-owned financial institution sanctioned by the U.S. over funding Iranian armed forces, came under attack Wednesday, killing staffers there, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
In a separate development, Iran’s sports minister said the country's team cannot take part in the upcoming soccer World Cup in North America in June because of the “wicked acts” of the United States. It's scheduled for three group-play games in Inglewood, California, and Seattle.
Ahmad Donyamali told Iranian state TV that “it’s not possible for us to take part in the World Cup” after the U.S. waged “two wars” against Iran in less than a year, referring to U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last June. He said Iranian players would not be safe in the United States.
This story has been corrected to fix an earlier misspelling of Mojtaba Khamenei’s first name.
Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Samy Magdy and Fatma Khaled in Cairo, Sally Abou AIJoud in Beirut, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Cara Anna in Lowville, New York, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin and Samuel Petrequin in Paris contributed to this story.
A man holds a picture of late Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh beside his coffin as mourners attend the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A mourner holds a poster depicting Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, as supreme leader, during the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Smoke rises from a building following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburb, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Mourners attend the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and some civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
FILE - A plume of smoke rises after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohsen Ganji, File)
Rescue workers gather at the site where Israeli airstrikes hit apartments in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
People take shelter in an underground metro station as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strike, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A man passes in front of a destroyed building that housed a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a non-bank financial institution run by Hezbollah, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Motorbikes drive past a billboard depicting Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, handing the country’s flag to his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, as the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stands at left, in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
