For Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic, Monday night’s win over the Heat, a blowout with a 138-117 margin, was nothing new. He has been scorching coming out of the gate here in 2026-27, and wound up with 42 points to go with 13 assists and seven rebounds, shooting 14-of-24 from the field and committing just two turnovers. On the season, now, Doncic is averaging 38.3 points, and seems to be settling in nicely as the Lakers’ alpha dog with LeBron James now in Philadelphia. Doncic is leading the NBA in shots made (11.7), 3-pointers made (5.9) and free-throws made (9.0), as well as leading all three categories in attempts.
It’s Doncic’s team now. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was left impressed. He said: “He can make plays, every play in the book that you need to make as a point-of-attack guy.”
Lakers’ Ziaire Williams Can’t Understand Defense vs. Luka Doncic
For Lakers newcomer Ziaire Williams, who has been establishing himself as a defensive-minded wing in the NBA after signing on in LA this summer, the way teams are reacting to Doncic remains bizarre.
As Williams sees it, teams should be taking the threat of Doncic’s offense a lot more seriously, and throwing a wealth of defensive looks at him.
As Williams said: “It’s crazy. Like, it’s unbelievable. The defensive mindset in me is always like, ‘Why are you not blitzing him, or why are they not doubling him?’ Like, why are they just letting him just walk to his spot and just do whatever he wants out there? But they’re trying.
“You know, he’s just that good and he just makes it look that easy. He’s unbelievable man, and even a better person. And yeah, I’m happy to be on his side, for sure.”
Doncic and the Lakers will be off on Tuesday and back in action against the Kings in Sacramento on Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET.
Lakers Wing Calls Out Rivals’ ‘Mindset’ vs. Luka Doncic