Doncic leads Lakers to a 100-92 victory over the Rockets for their sixth straight victory

HOUSTON (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 36 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 100-92 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday night in the opener of a two-game series between teams fighting for Western Conference playoff position.

Los Angeles moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Houston for third in the West standings. There were 13 lead changes in a game that had a playoff atmosphere, but the Lakers ultimately won their sixth straight.

LeBron James found Marcus Smart for a corner 3-pointer that put Los Angeles up 94-90 with 2 minutes remaining. James finished with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Doncic hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the fading minutes of the third quarter to give the Lakers an 83-80 lead after trailing 57-51 at halftime. Doncic was 4 for 12 on 3s in the game and needs 11 more to match D’Angelo Russell’s franchise record of 226 in a season.

Doncic had his sixth straight game with 30 or more points but fell just short of his 12th 40-point game this season. He went 14 for 27 from the field.

Jabari Smith Jr. led Houston with 22 points. Amen Thompson had 19 and Kevin Durant added 18 for the Rockets, who committed 24 turnovers compared with just 12 for Los Angeles.

Houston was without Alperen Sengun, who was dealing with lower back pain. Sengun is averaging 20.2 points, second only to Durant for the Rockets.

The Rockets took the first meeting between the two teams this season, 119-96, in Los Angeles on Dec. 25.

The teams meet again in Houston on Wednesday.

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Houston Rockets' Kevin Durant, center shoots as Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) and Deandre Ayton (5) defend during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 16, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Los Angeles Lakers' Austin Reaves, left, celebrates with Marcus Smart (36) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets Monday, March 16, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Houston Rockets' Tari Eason (17) knocks the ball away from Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 16, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Houston Rockets' Jabari Smith Jr. (10) passes the ball as Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 16, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic (77) shoots as Houston Rockets' Amen Thompson (1) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 16, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

WASHINGTON (AP) — An advocacy group hoping to expand support for child and elder care plans to spend $50 million to back Democrats in congressional races, tying the costs of caregiving to the nation's affordability debate.

The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, created a decade ago, aims to make caregiver issues more salient in elections. The announcement comes as the cost of child care continues to rise and as waiting lists for federal child care subsidies, which support working families in poverty, continue to grow.

Sondra Goldschein, executive director of the campaign and its political action committee, said child care and elder care are important to the affordability conversation, especially as child care costs exceed what families pay for housing. Then there is the pressure on the “sandwich generation,” composed of middle-aged people who are caring simultaneously for their own children and parents.

“When child care can cost more than your rent or a mortgage, or you have to sacrifice a paycheck in order to be able to take care of a loved one," that can motivate how people vote, said Goldschein. “Each election cycle, we see candidates recognizing that more and more.”

She hopes the message will resonate as families face a slew of rising costs, including climbing gas prices driven by a war in the Middle East that is unpopular with many voters.

The campaign plans to pour support for Democrats into Senate races in North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Maine and Ohio and into House races in Iowa and Pennsylvania. It is also slated to dispatch volunteers to talk with voters about caregiving.

The National Republican Congressional Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republicans have begun to back child care as an issue crucial to growing the workforce, but their proposals tend to be less dramatic than those offered by Democrats. Last year, through President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, Republicans made an estimated 4 million more families eligible for a child care tax credit. The law also increased child care aid for military families and tax credits for employers who provide child care to their workers.

Before 2020, many candidates rarely spoke about child care. But the pandemic laid bare the child care industry's precarity and necessity. Preschools and child care centers were pressed to stay open so parents in frontline jobs — such as those in health care — could return to work.

Then-President Joe Biden successfully persuaded Congress in 2021 to pass $39 billion in aid for child care, allowing states to offer support to more families and subsidizing wages for child care workers. Later that year, Biden sought to create nationwide universal prekindergarten and to vastly expand child care subsidies for families so that none would pay more than 7% of their household income for care. But the proposal narrowly failed in Congress. Since then, the pandemic aid has dried up, and families are feeling the pinch of rising costs.

Now, several candidates have centered their campaigns around child care affordability. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who won election after pledging to make the city more affordable for middle-class residents, ran on universal child care. Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia won elections after pledging to expand child care subsidies.

Candidates this election cycle are running on universal child care pledges. They include Democrats Janeese Lewis George, who is running for mayor in Washington, D.C., and Francesca Hong, a gubernatorial candidate in Iowa. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is up for reelection this year, has pledged to support Mamdani’s ambitions and eventually to expand universal child care statewide.

Neither the White House nor the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees federal child care programs, responded to requests for comment. In his 2024 campaign, during an address to the Economic Club of New York, Trump said increasing foreign tariffs would “take care” of the expense of child care. That plan, thus far, has not materialized.

In Trump's current term, the administration has largely focused on cracking down on fraud, after a viral video alleged Somali-run child care centers in Minneapolis were billing the government for children they weren't caring for.

While there have been prosecutions stemming from child care subsidy fraud, the Minneapolis video’s central claims were disproven by state inspectors. Nonetheless, the Trump administration attempted to freeze child care funding for Minnesota and five other Democratic-led states until a court ordered the funding to be released.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

FILE - Children draw in one of the classrooms at the Children's Promise Centers child care center in Albuquerque, N.M., April 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)