Luka Doncic aims to extend his historic scoring start with the Los Angeles Lakers against the visiting Miami Heat on Monday, November 2, in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The Slovenian point guard has scored 226 points across the first six games of the season. In NBA history, only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain, who accomplished the feat twice, had previously recorded at least 225 points over the opening six games of a campaign.
Doncic leads the league in scoring at 37.7 points per game and has averaged 43.8 points over his last four outings. Jordan and Chamberlain are two of the most prolific scorers in the history of North America's premier basketball league, with Jordan winning 10 career scoring titles and Chamberlain holding the single-game record of 100 points.
Standout performance against the Toronto Raptors
Doncic delivered another dominant display on Sunday, November 1, leading the Lakers to a 131 to 125 victory over the Toronto Raptors. He finished the game with 45 points, a season-high 15 rebounds, eight made three-pointers, and five steals, which also set a personal high for the current season.
Speaking after Sunday's win, Doncic said that his only goal was to win every game and noted that the Lakers had stepped onto the court with an aggressive mindset.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick said after the game that Doncic's run of big performances was already starting to feel routine. Redick explained that it seemed fairly normal because the team had witnessed a similar stretch for a month last season, which he compared to a supernova, adding that the level of play was intense then and remained intense now.
Doncic, who played professionally for Real Madrid in Spain before entering the NBA in 2018, is a perennial All-Star known for his high-volume scoring and playmaking. Redick spent 15 seasons in the league as a shooting guard before coaching in Los Angeles.
Physical recovery and late lineup mistake
Monday's game against Miami is the second of back-to-back nights for the Lakers. In the team's previous set of games on consecutive days, Doncic scored 41 points in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on October 27, before sitting out the next day with back discomfort during a win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Doncic plans to play against the Heat. After Sunday's win, he explained how he intended to recover physically, saying he needed an ice bath, a massage, and rest before returning the next day.
Against the Raptors, the Lakers built a 26-point lead and still led by 15 with 84 seconds left, before Toronto rallied to cut the deficit to five points with 43.7 seconds remaining.
With the Raptors closing in, Redick put Doncic and Austin Reaves back into the game. The coach admitted he had erred by pulling his main players early, saying he would not make that mistake again and would leave his starters in because teams must play until the final buzzer. He added that if other players were not ready to play, he simply would not put them on the court.
Miami Heat defensive plan for Luka Doncic
The Miami Heat now face the task of trying to halt the Slovenian star's run. Heat center Bam Adebayo spoke after Sunday's practice about the strategy his team will use to make things difficult for the Lakers' top player.
Adebayo, an All-Star center and perennial NBA All-Defensive selection for the Eastern Conference club, said Miami would try to make Doncic hit difficult shots, while noting that players in the league can still make them. He explained that the Heat's goal was to make him face double teams and think a little more on the floor.
