{"id":534297,"date":"2026-03-20T06:59:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T06:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/534297\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T06:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T06:59:07","slug":"luka-doncic-puts-up-60-vs-heat-as-lakers-win-streak-hits-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/534297\/","title":{"rendered":"Luka Doncic puts up 60 vs. Heat as Lakers’ win streak hits 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI — When Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> starLuka Doncic<\/a>went to the free throw line Thursday with 14.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, needing to make one out of two to reach 60 points, a funny thing happened in Kaseya Center.<\/p>\n

TheMiami Heat<\/a>‘s home crowd started chanting, “MVP! MVP!” for Doncic.<\/p>\n

“It was pretty impressive, especially an away game in Miami,” Doncic said after L.A.’s 134-126 victory<\/a> extended the team’s winning streak to eight. “You hear the whole crowd chanting, ‘MVP,’ that’s what I think every player wants to hear. … I got a lot of goosebumps, so it was pretty special.”<\/p>\n

Doncic missed the first free throw and stepped away from the line and smiled while composing himself before making the second — notching the third game of at least 60 points in his career and the highest-scoring game by an opponent in Miami, eclipsingJames Harden<\/a>‘s 58 on Feb. 28, 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When the final buzzer sounded, Doncic was mobbed by his teammates, circling him to celebrate his fourth game with 40-plus points in the past eight games.<\/p>\n

“I mean, that’s what it’s all about,” Doncic said of his team’s reaction. “You see everybody celebrating on the bench … it shows that we care a lot about each other. And that’s what great teams do. Just makes my heart happy seeing them celebrate my 60-point game.”<\/p>\n

The outburst came a night after he scored 40 points in a win over the Houston Rockets<\/a>, as Doncic, LeBron James<\/a> and Austin Reaves<\/a> all played in both legs of the back-to-back after being listed as questionable because of various nagging injuries.<\/p>\n

“I mean, obviously you’re tired, but I think it was more mentally,” Doncic said. “Like [coach] JJ [Redick] said before the game, ‘It’s a mental game.’ And that’s what it was. You just got to say to yourself you’re not tired and keep going.”<\/p>\n

Doncic’s final line was 60 points on 18-for-30 shooting (9-for-17 from 3), seven rebounds, three assists and five steals. It was just the fifth 60-point, five-steal game in league history, joining Harden (2019), Allen Iverson (2005), Michael Jordan (1993) and Rick Barry (1974).<\/p>\n

During the Lakers’ win streak, Doncic is averaging 40.9 points.<\/p>\n

James started the game 7-for-7 from the field and finished with 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double of the season. Reaves scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half to help L.A. overcome an early 15-point deficit.<\/p>\n

Redick came into the night stumping for Doncic in the MVP conversation, even before he became the first Laker to score 60 since Kobe Bryant’s brilliant career finale<\/a> back in 2016.<\/p>\n

“He’s playing as well as anyone in basketball,” Redick said of Doncic. “He’s really elevated his play at a really important time for our team. He’s elevated the play of his teammates. I think there’s a trust level that we all have — coaches, teammates — with him closing games for us. He’s been fantastic, and I think he’s one of the best and should be in the MVP conversation.<\/p>\n

“Hopefully people will start talking about that because he’s having as good a season as anyone.”<\/p>\n

Asked whether there was a specific turning point in Doncic’s season, Redick could not identify one. Instead, he credited the overall mindset Doncic has adopted.<\/p>\n

“I think some of it [for Doncic] is just being clearheaded,” Redick said. “With all that’s happened with our team, he’s just in a really good place and he typically performs at his best when he’s clearheaded. And that’s what we spent a lot of the season trying to get to, not just for him, but for all our guys.”<\/p>\n

Reaves was asked to make a case for Doncic to be considered on the same level as other MVP contenders such as Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>, Denver’s Nikola Jokic<\/a>, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham<\/a>, Boston’s Jaylen Brown<\/a> and San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Leading the league in scoring,” Reaves said to begin his argument. “I said to somebody he was leading the league in a lot of things. [The Lakers are] third in the West. I don’t know. I couldn’t see a reason why he’s not, so I don’t really know. I don’t think what I say is going to really matter, but he definitely should be in that conversation.”<\/p>\n

Doncic did not offer an opinion on where he thinks he ranks in the MVP race with a few weeks remaining in the regular season.<\/p>\n

“It’s you guys, the media [that votes],” Doncic said. “I ain’t got nothing to do with it.”<\/p>\n

Redick, who was an NBA awards voter and worked as a podcast host and ESPN broadcast analyst before coaching the Lakers, took a swipe at a narrative propagated by some of his former media colleagues when asked for his opinion as to why Doncic hasn’t received more public MVP support thus far.<\/p>\n

“Because he complains to the refs,” Redick said, sarcastically. “I don’t know.”br\/]<\/p>\n

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