If fans at the Kaseya Center thought they were done witnessing offensive masterclasses, think again.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic—fresh off a 40-point effort in a win over the Houston Rockets—brought the heat to Miami with a 60-point eruption as LA escaped with a 134-126 win Thursday night. The victory not only marked the purple and gold’s eighth straight, but it also underscored Doncic’s candidacy for this year’s MVP award.
Luka Doncic Builds MVP Case With 60-Point Outburst, ‘Special Run’
JJ Redick on Doncic’s Heroics
Doncic’s 60 came on 18-of-30 shooting from the field, including 9-of-17 from three-point range. He also tallied seven rebounds, three assists and five steals in his 38 minutes of action, which concluded with “MVP” chants in the waning moments.
“You hear the whole crowd chanting ‘MVP,’ that’s what I think every player wants to hear,” Doncic told reporters. “So I got a lot of goosebumps. It was pretty special.”
“It was a superhero performance,” head coach JJ Redick said postgame. “I thought him really keeping us afloat early was really important. … He made big shots, he made tough shots, made a lot of right reads. When he gets it going like that, some of it is—you just kind of like, let him go. His teammates felt that, they saw that. … The shot-making was unreal tonight.”
“[His teammates] are enjoying it probably as much as he is right now,” Redick added. “It’s a special run that he’s on. And we’ve seen all-time greats like him go on these runs, and you just kinda gotta embrace it and enjoy the moment.”
Aside from his season-high, Doncic etched his name in the Lakers’ history books once more, becoming the Lakers’ single-season leader in made three-pointers with 232 (and counting) in just 58 games. He surpassed former Laker D’Angelo Russell’s mark of 226 set in 2024.
Doncic Shakes Up MVP Race
Doncic’s nuclear scoring has kept him roaming in MVP talks, with Friday morning’s MVP ladder boosting him above Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama to trail only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It’s a well-deserved promotion that only amplifies his case.
“To the MVP point, we would not be anywhere near the position we’re in without him having the season that he’s having,” Redick said in his postgame press conference. “Particularly [as] of late, he’s dominating right now.”
Over the course of the Lakers’ eight-game winning streak, Doncic has averaged 40.9 points, 8.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists on 50.2% shooting from the field, 42.2% from three and 78.6% from the free-throw line. On the season, in which the Lakers stand at third in the West at 45-25 overall, he’s put up 33.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 8.4 assists on .477/.370/.772 splits.
Even as the rankings fluctuate in the home stretch, there’s no denying the Slovenian superstar should stay a top-three candidate. If Doncic continues his generational run while the Lakers stack wins over contenders, he could very well give SGA a run for his money. That’s no small feat considering the latter’s own success and OKC’s 55-15 record fresh off a championship. Fans and voters will have two more chances to see Luka and SGA square off in marquee matchups: Apr. 2 in OKC and Apr. 7 in LA.
For now, however, Doncic and the Lakers will focus on closing out their road trip. They face the Orlando Magic on Saturday, Mar. 21, and the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, Mar. 25, both games slated for 4 p.m. PT.
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