Luka Doncic’s crazy start is the perfect side story
The The Dallas Mavericks’ decision to fire general manager Nick Harrison he left NBA fans and pundits in awe. Luka Doncic’s hot start with the Los Angeles Lakers offered the perfect subplot.
To begin his first full year in Los Angeles, Doncic has scored 35+ points in 5 of 7 games this season. The 26-year-old has 260 points in 7 games the most by a player since then Rick Barry (274) in 1966.
Harrison traded Doncic to the Lakers before last season’s deadline and received a lot of criticism from both fans and the media. The Mavericks were less than a year away from a trip to the NBA Finals at the time of the deal.
Doncic spent the summer working on improving his physical shape and started the year strong. Through his first seven contests, he averaged 37.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 9.1 assists while also shooting roughly 49 percent from the field.
He had 38 points, six rebounds and seven assists in the Lakers’ 121-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday. The victory was sealed despite a first quarter in which the Hornets outscored Los Angeles 40-36 and after a 122-102 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
“We forgot about that game,” Doncic told Lou Murray of Athletic. “Obviously we know that none of us played the way we should have. That’s not us. So we owe it to ourselves to show that we can be a lot better than that. So I think, other than the first quarter, we showed that today.”
The Lakers are 8-3 on the year, while the Mavericks are 3-8 to start the new campaign.
2025-11-11 17:45:00
