Three days after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put together an MVP performance in a marquee win over the Denver Nuggets, Luka Dončić hit back to keep his name in the race with an incredible showing in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 142-130 win over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night.
Dončić nearly put up a 50-point triple-double, finishing with 51 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in 37 minutes.
The Lakers also got strong contributions from LeBron James, playing in his first game since March 5 due to foot and elbow injuries, and Austin Reaves. James had 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Reaves put up 30 for the second straight game.
As vital as the contributions from James and Reaves were in a high-scoring affair, it was Dončić’s dominant effort that had fans and analysts talking about where he stacks up in the MVP race with one month remaining in the regular season.
According to Dončić, one of the things that motivated him to take over the game was on-court trash talk from Matas Buzelis.
“Somebody started talking to me, so that woke me up,” Dončić told reporters after the win. “I’m not going to say what he said, but if I said that, I would definitely get a tech.”
In 12 games since the All-Star break, Dončić is averaging 32.9 points on 43.7 percent three-point shooting, 8.2 rebounds and 8.1 assists per contest. He’s leading the league in scoring average overall (32.9).
On top of Dončić’s individual success, the Lakers (41-25) have hit their stride once again after a brief lull. They have won four straight games and moved up to the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
The Lakers’ next six games could go a long way toward deciding if Dončić is really going to push Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama for the MVP award because they are all against teams with winning records.
They host Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets on Saturday in an ABC primetime game, followed by a six-game road trip starting on Monday that includes matchups with the Houston Rockets (twice), Miami Heat, Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons.