![\"Luka](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2267327618_98a737-e1774691557189.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Austin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates with Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on March 18, 2026 in Houston, Texas. <\/p>\n
After watching his backcourt partner, Luka Doncic, drop 30 or more points for a 12th consecutive game on Friday, Austin Reaves said the quiet part out loud about the ongoing NBA MVP narrative, claiming that it\u2019s \u201cinsane\u201d that his Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> teammate isn\u2019t leading the race.<\/p>\n \u201cHe continues to drop in the MVP race, which is insane to me,\u201d Reaves said<\/a> Friday night after the Lakers\u2019 116-91 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess it don\u2019t really matter, maybe he\u2019s gotta score 60, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n Reaves was referencing Doncic dropping from No. 2 to No. 4 on the latest KIA NBA MVP Ladder, even while averaging astronomical offensive numbers in March<\/a>, while leading the Lakers to a 12-2 record.<\/p>\n Austin Reaves CALLS OUT the MVP voters after another Luka masterclass \ud83d\udc40 <\/p>\n \u201cHe continues to drop in the MVP race, which is insane to me. I guess it don\u2019t really matter, maybe he\u2019s gotta score 60, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n Luka Doncic MVP Case<\/p>\n Doncic ranked second behind Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> in the MVP Ladder released on March 20, only to fall two spots within a week. During said week, he averaged 42.0 points while leading the Lakers to a 3-1 record.<\/p>\n After dropping another 41 points on Friday, Doncic asked the NBA MVP voters what more he had to do to be seen as a legitimate candidate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe better I play, the more I go down in ratings,\u201d Doncic said in Spanish.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I don\u2019t know what more I can do,\u201d added the Lakers star.<\/p>\n LUKA DONCIC IN THE PAST 10 GAMES:<\/p>\n 41 PTS \u2013 8 REB \u2013 5 3PM (tonight) JUST IN: Luka Doncic on the MVP race:<\/p>\n \u201cThe better I play, the more I go down.\u201d <\/p>\n Lakers Enter Final Stretch<\/p>\n Much like NBA.com\u2019s Shaun Powell \u2014 who dropped Doncic to No. 4 in the MVP Ladder \u2014 several voters and analysts don\u2019t view the Lakers star as as a top-two candidate.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s\u00a0Jaylen Brown<\/a> one, I think it\u2019s SGA two, and I think it\u2019s Victor three,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Michael Wilbon said recently.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then don\u2019t talk to me about a guy who plays half the court, Luka Doncic.\u201d<\/p>\n Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas also doesn\u2019t view Doncic as MVP material.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, right now, there\u2019s only two guys that you can really say is the most valuable to their team\u2026 and that\u2019s Wemby and Jaylen Brown,\u201d Thomas told\u00a0FanDuel TV\u2019s \u201cRun it Back\u201d<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n Doncic\u2019s chances to win MVP may have taken another hit Friday when he picked up his 16th technical foul of the season, earning an automatic suspension for Monday\u2019s game against the Washington Wizards<\/a>. For the Lakers, the loss of Doncic shouldn\u2019t hurt against the lowly Wizards, who\u2019ve lost nine of their last 10 games.<\/p>\n \u201c[Williams] was yelling in my face \u2014 three times,\u201d Doncic said after the win against Brooklyn, via ESPN\u2019s Dave McMenamin.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI just wanted to get out of there. It\u2019s a double tech, of course. What can I say? I didn\u2019t even talk. I just wanted to get out of there. And they said I pushed, my push was \u2018exaggerated,\u2019 which [it] was obviously not. And I don\u2019t know what else to tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n After Monday\u2019s clash against the Wizards, the Lakers host the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> on Tuesday before an away game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. Doncic will get a huge opportunity to prove his MVP case going up against SGA, the odds-on favorite to capture his second consecutive Michael Jordan Trophy.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSai Mohan<\/a> covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Lakers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Austin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates with Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-569843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n43 PTS \u2013 7 AST \u2013 6 REB
\n32 PTS \u2013 7 REB \u2013 6 AST
\n33 PTS \u2013 8 AST \u2013 5 REB
\n60 PTS \u2013 9 3PM \u2013 7 REB
\n40 PTS \u2013 10 AST \u2013 7 3PM
\n36 PTS \u2013 6 REB \u2013 4 AST
\n30 PTS \u2013 11 REB \u2013 11 AST
\n35 PTS \u2013 8 REB \u2013 4 AST
\n44 PTS \u2013 9 REB \u2013 7 3PM <\/p>\n