On Monday night, the Los Angeles Lakers kept their winning ways going with a comfortable road win over the Chicago Bulls. Luka Doncic was brilliant in this game, pouring in 46 points on the evening, and electrifying the crowd with several contested threes late in the fourth quarter to salt the game away.
Doncic has been on a tear throughout this season for the Lakers, leading the league in scoring and establishing himself as an MVP candidate.
In fact, recently it was revealed that Doncic had set a new Lakers franchise record with his scoring prowess.
“Luka Doncic needed only 65 games to become the fastest Laker EVER to reach 2,000 points, surpassing the great George Mikan (72 games),” reported ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.
Scoring has never been a question for the former number three overall draft pick, whom the Lakers acquired from the Dallas Mavericks around one year ago in the most infamous trade in NBA history.
However, there are some question marks for both Doncic and the Lakers as a whole regarding their ability to defend, as Los Angeles currently ranks near the bottom of the league in defensive efficiency. This problem was exposed by the Minnesota Timberwolves last year in the first-round playoff series between the two teams, and wasn't exactly fully addressed in the offseason, although Marcus Smart has helped on that end of the floor.
Still, many fans are hopeful that general manager Rob Pelinka will attempt to address that issue at the trade deadline this year, which is set for February 5.
However, even if that problem doesn't get remedied, Doncic's otherworldly scoring ability, combined with the firepower of both LeBron James and Austin Reaves once he gets healthy, should be enough to give the Lakers a puncher's chance in every game.
Los Angeles will next take the floor on Wednesday evening for a road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
