Lakers superstar guard Luka Doncic reached heights only achieved by Wilt Chamberlain during his return to action on Friday. Doncic scored 44 points against Memphis, becoming the only player in NBA history other than Chamberlain to top 40 points in three straight games to begin his season.
Doncic had missed the previous three games with a sprained finger on his left hand and a lower left leg contusion.
“I mean, I feel great,” Doncic said when told about joining Chamberlain that category, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “But obviously, if we get a win, I feel even better. So that’s the whole point, trying to help the team to win. And sometimes it’s going to be scoring, sometimes other things.”
By averaging 45.3 points in his first three games, Doncic became the first Lakers player since Kobe Bryant in 2007 to average 45 or more in any three-game span. He doesn’t see himself keeping up the 4o-per game pace throughout a whole season.
“That’s going to be tough,” Doncic said. “Sometimes they’re going to double me more. Sometimes I won’t be able to score that much. I had I think three or four shots that were crazy shots that I felt like doing, but they were terrible shots. … I’ve got to work on that. But that’s tough. I don’t know.”
We have more on the Lakers:
- After missing two games due to a quad contusion, Marcus Smart contributed 12 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals on Friday. “He was great,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said, per Khobi Price of the Orange County Register. “The main point about physicality, I think he, along with a couple other guys, but he’s gotta be the leader of the physicality. He’s gotta set the tone and there were a lot of moments where he did that. But it made a big difference and then he just played really good on the offensive end, made some timely shots for us.”
- Starting center Deandre Ayton didn’t play in the second half after experiencing back spasms. Redick said Ayton was available to play in the fourth quarter, but didn’t want to “risk it.”
- Austin Reaves averaged 40 points during the three games Doncic missed. He had a season-low 21 points against Memphis and was disappointed with his 5 of 14 shooting. “His ability to get us off to hot starts is big for us because, if you come out and he has 15 in the first, we’re going to score, I would assume, 30 [points],” Reaves said of Doncic. “Unless everybody else is shooting bricks like I was (Friday).”
- The win on Friday was the first of four NBA Cup Group Play games. Their other matchups are at the Pelicans on Nov. 14, at home vs. the Clippers on Nov. 25 and at home vs. the Mavericks on Nov. 28, Price notes. “It’s my little taste of an All-Star Game,” Ayton said. “It feels like that’s when everybody [is] watching, and everybody playing their hardest. Dudes are playing extremely hard. It feels like playoff games, the fans are super into it.”