The Lakers’ offense is carrying the early part of their season, and Luka Doncic is the engine making it all go.
Through eight games, Los Angeles has been rolling on that end of the floor, with Doncic setting the tone and everybody else feeding off it. The 27-year-old is averaging 38.3 points, which leads the league, along with 8.0 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 1.9 steals through seven games. Those numbers are tracking toward the best season of his career.
That production was on full display Monday against the Heat, when the Lakers poured in a season-high 138 points. It wasn’t just a one-man show, either.
The ball kept moving, shots kept falling and the group looked connected from start to finish. After the game, Doncic praised the way the Lakers shared the load and played together on offense.
The team’s statistical profile backs up the eye test. Los Angeles ranks first in offensive rating, second in points per game, ninth in points in the paint, first in effective field goal percentage, first in two-point percentage and second in three-point percentage.
Austin Reaves has been part of that surge as well. After a rough stretch over the past few games, he looked much closer to his usual self on Monday, scoring 27 points. For the season, Reaves is averaging 23.6 points on 53.9% shooting.
The Lakers are starting to build something recognizable on offense, with Doncic’s gravity, his willingness to share the ball and the confidence of the players around him all showing up in the same possession. That showed up in the assist numbers, too: Doncic had a season-high 13 assists, and Los Angeles finished with 39 total assists, another season best.
The Lakers will try to pick up their seventh win of the season Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings.
In Other News...
Luka Just Showed How Dangerous These Lakers Can Be
The Lakers latest win over Miami offered another reminder of how explosive this group can look when the offense is clicking. Luka Doncic set the tone with a relentless all-around performance, Austin Reaves added a big scoring punch, and Walker Kessler gave Los Angeles a strong interior presence as the team rolled to a comfortable 138-117 victory.
What stood out beyond the final score was the way the Lakers controlled the game in multiple areas, from ball movement to perimeter shooting to work inside. It was the kind of complete showing that can make them a tough matchup on any night, and it also hinted at just how much more dangerous this team can become if this version shows up consistently. [Read more 🡒]
Luka Doncics Scoring Tear Comes With A Message Lakers Fans Will Love
Luka Doncics early run with the Lakers has been as loud as it has been efficient, and the numbers have only reinforced what the eye test has already suggested. Over his last five games, he has averaged 39.6 points while helping push Los Angeles to a 5-2 start, and he currently sits atop the NBA scoring race at 37.7 points per game with career-best shooting marks to go with it.
What makes the surge even more intriguing is how much more there may still be to come. After the Lakers recent win over the Raptors, JJ Redick praised Doncics offensive impact, and the broader message around the team is hard to miss: this is a star carrying the attack while still working his way into a fuller rhythm. For Lakers fans, that combination of production and room for growth is about as encouraging as it gets this early in the season. [Read more 🡒]
Luka Doncic Is Forcing A New Lakers Identity To Take Shape
The Lakers defensive questions have lingered long enough that even one of the franchises most familiar voices is looking at the problem differently. Derek Fisher pointed to Luka Doncic as the player who can reshape the way this team wins, arguing that the most reliable answer may come from the other end of the floor, where Doncics scoring can force opponents to spend the night reacting instead of dictating.
Doncic has made that case harder to ignore with the way he has started games and piled up points this season, averaging 38.3 a night and topping 40 in four of his last five. For a Lakers team still searching for a consistent identity, that kind of pressure can change the tone early and wear down an opponent before a defensive battle even really develops. [Read more 🡒]
