Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic has been on a tear to start the season, scoring at least 40 points in each of his first three games, joining Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to do so.
Doncic missed three games due to a left finger sprain and lower left leg contusion that he suffered against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 24. Thankfully, it was not serious, and the superstar was back in the lineup on Friday night against the Grizzlies.
To no surprise, Doncic picked up right where he left on with another 40-point performance against the Grizzlies in a 117-112 win for the Lakers.
In three games, the 26-year-old has averaged 45.3 points, and Marcus Smart that he is enjoying watching what he teammate is about to do on the floor.
“Fanstasticness (laughs),” Smart said when asked to describe Doncic’s latest performance. “But it’s been great to watch. First game, he does what he does and then he gets injured. Then he comes back from injury and does it again. That just shows who he is, the will he has to put on a show every night and he’s real good at it. It’s been fun for me to watch.”
No player has ever averaged 40 points through a full season, but Smart believes someone will eventually break that threshold due to the number of scorers in today’s game.
“Yeah, if you get the opportunity,” the former Defensive Player of the Year said. “All you need is opportunity. What people don’t understand is there’s a lot of great scorers, there’s a lot of people that can do a lot of things out here but they don’t have the opportunity as other people, they get put in a box or get put in a responsibility to do these things that the team only wants them to do and no matter what they do, they can’t break out of it. So unfortunately you gotta play the game within the game. But yeah, there’s definitely players in this league, a lot more on any given night, that can do what Luka is doing. But to see him do it the way he’s doing it consistently, that’s incredible.”
With Doncic currently averaging 45.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists on 58.4% from the field and 35.1% from 3-point range, Smart believes his teammates can maintain that production this year.
“For sure. For sure,” he said when asked if Doncic can average 40. “I don’t see why not. He has a lot of help on the wings for him and guys that are coming in and guys that are roaming. We do a good job trying to make his job easier so he can do those things and help this team win.”
While it is great to see their new star put up otherworldly numbers, L.A. needs to monitor his workload and make sure he does not flame out come playoff time. But, his body transformation may allow Doncic to sustain this production for a full 82-game season, which will certainly be fun to watch.
Austin Reaves happy to get Luka Doncic back in Lakers lineup
Despite the Lakers getting hampered with injuries to begin this season, they have been able to manage and are now getting guys back.
Austin Reaves picked up a lot of the slack in Lukq Doncic’s absence, he he was obviously happy to get his co-star back in the lineup on Friday night.
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