The Lakers didn’t get the result they wanted against the Portland Trail Blazers, but Luka Doncic still carved out a piece of franchise history in the loss.
In a 136-129 defeat that dropped Los Angeles from a chance at a perfect four-game start to the regular season, Doncic was the engine once again. He poured in 40 points and, in the process, moved past LeBron James on a Lakers all-time list James once owned.
Doncic’s 40-point performance was his 20th such game in a Lakers uniform, which now puts him sixth in franchise history, according to StatMuse. James sits just behind him with 18. The all-time Lakers leaders in 40-point games remain Kobe Bryant with 122, Elgin Baylor with 88, Jerry Wesr with 66, Shaquille O’Neal with 26 and George Mikan with 23.
- Laker Performances (@LALPerformance) October 28, 2026
Against Portland, Doncic was doing more than piling up points. He took 22 shots, hit 54.5% of them and went 40% from beyond the arc. He also handed out nine assists, helping Austin Reaves finish with 26 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili with 17.
Still, the balance wasn’t there for Los Angeles. Only five Lakers reached double figures, while Portland had six players score at least 10 points and four of them topped 20. That gap showed up on the scoreboard, even with Doncic carrying the offense for long stretches.
It also leaves the Lakers with a familiar question: how do they get the attack humming without leaning so hard on one player? For now, Doncic has already pushed past James in the record book, and he’s not far from climbing even higher.
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