Luka Doncic’s blistering opening stretch has him sitting at the top of the first MVP conversation of the season, and the numbers are hard to ignore.
NBA.com writer Shaun Powell placed the Los Angeles Lakers star No. 1 on Friday in his opening Kia MVP Ladder, putting Doncic ahead of Victor Wembanyama and reigning two-time winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Through eight games, Doncic is averaging an NBA-best 38.5 points to go with 8.1 rebounds and eight assists. He’s shooting 49.5% from the field and 43.1% from 3-point range, pairing massive volume with some of the sharpest perimeter efficiency of his career.
The latest chapter came Wednesday in a 116-103 win over the Sacramento Kings, when Doncic put up 40 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while knocking down six 3-pointers. That outing gave him six straight games with at least 35 points, five rebounds, five assists and five made threes - a run no NBA player had ever put together before.
The streak started with a 52-point explosion against Utah on Oct. 25. From there, Doncic rolled through games of 41, 37, 45, 42 and 40 points, joining Kobe Bryant and Elgin Baylor as the only Lakers to score at least 35 points in six consecutive games.
The scoring is doing the heavy lifting in his MVP case, but the defensive side is starting to matter too.
Doncic has long faced criticism for his work on that end, yet the early returns with the Lakers have been more encouraging. Entering Wednesday’s game against Sacramento, opponents were shooting just 21.9% on two-point attempts when Doncic was the primary defender. That was the lowest mark in the league among players who had defended at least 30 such shots.
His game against Toronto showed how that can show up in the box score and beyond. In a 131-125 Lakers win, Doncic scored 45 points and added five steals, three charges and 15 defensive rebounds.
Those kinds of contributions give his early MVP push a little more depth than just eye-popping scoring totals.
They’ve also helped the Lakers win. Los Angeles heads into Friday’s game against Portland on a three-game winning streak, with Doncic averaging 42.3 points during that stretch.
His playmaking has spread the offense around, too. Before Wednesday’s game, the Lakers led the NBA in offensive rating and field-goal percentage, and eight players were averaging at least eight points.
One of the biggest beneficiaries has been new center Walker Kessler, who has repeatedly found room around the rim thanks to Doncic’s passing.
Wembanyama isn’t exactly making this race easy. In Wednesday’s win over Dallas, the Spurs star posted career highs of 52 points and 24 rebounds, along with eight blocks. He became the first player since Bob McAdoo in 1974 to reach 50 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in a game.
Doncic gets his next shot Friday against Portland, the same team that already beat the Lakers this season despite his 41 points. It’s another chance to keep the scoring avalanche rolling and to erase one of Los Angeles’ early losses.
If he keeps producing like this while the Lakers keep stacking wins, his case for a first MVP will only get stronger.
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Portland comes in shorthanded as well, missing Ja Morant, Shaedon Sharpe, John Tonje and Vit Krejci, so the injury report is shaping the night as much as the matchup itself. For the Lakers, the bigger swing may come from the frontcourt picture, where one key big man is available after dealing with a recent hand issue, while another remains in question as the team waits to see how the final pregame decisions shake out. [Read more 🡒]