Luka Doncic delivered another casual masterpiece with 53 points in a 124-118 Lakers victory over the Trail Blazers on Friday night. He outscored Portland by himself 20-15 in the third quarter. He dropped a three-quarter-court buzzer-beater to end the first half.
He added five rebounds and five assists for fun. And the Lakers are now atop the Western Conference standings at 8-2. If the season were to end today, Dončić would be the runaway MVP, maybe joining 2015-16 Stephen Curry as the second unanimous winner in NBA history.
His box scores will always be somewhat skewed given his usage, but that context notwithstanding, these numbers are downright stupid. Luka Doncic this season:28 PTS | 8 REB | 7 AST23 PTS | 6 REB | 7 AST52 PTS | 8 REB | 10 AST41 PTS | 5 REB | 9 AST37 PTS | 7 REB | 5 AST45 PTS | 15 REB | 6 AST42 PTS | 7 REB | 13 AST40 PTS | 9 REB | 7 AST53 PTS | 5 REB | 5 ASTMVP? pic.twitter.com/2qjWxSo3E0 Let's dive a little deeper into the numbers behind Dončić's historic start. Dončić has become the third player in Lakers history to score at least 35 points in seven straight games, joining Kobe Bryant and Elgin Baylor.
Dončić is just the fourth Lakers player to put up four straight 40-point games, joining Bryant, Baylor and George Mikan. You'll notice names like LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson missing from these lists. Some franchise marks are oversold.
Not when it comes to the Lakers. Dončić has made at least five 3-pointers in seven straight games. If he continues that streak for another five games, he will break James Harden's NBA record of 12 straight.
Dončić is currently averaging six made 3-pointers per game. He has played in nine of the Lakers' 10 games. Meaning, if he stays on this pace of six 3s per game while playing in 90% of L.A.'s games, he would end up making 426 3s, which would break Curry's single-season record of 402.
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