Doncic scores 53 as Lakers beat Portland 124-118

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 124-118. In the game, Luka Doncic recorded 53 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, raising his season average to 40.1 points.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick said after the game that there were no adjectives left to describe Doncic. Redick said he would have to sit down someday and find new ones, but he had nothing to say right now.

The 27-year-old Slovenian star became the fourth Lakers player to score 40 or more points in four straight games. Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant and George Mikan had achieved this before. Doncic also passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by scoring the 11th 50-point game of his career, moving up to 10th place in NBA history in this category alongside Allen Iverson.

Doncic, who scored 361 points in the first nine games of the season, posted the highest nine-game start of the modern NBA era. For a higher start in NBA history, one has to go back to the 1962-63 season and Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 472 points in his first nine games.

Doncic raised the number of games in his career with at least 40 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists to 62. In this category, Doncic surpassed LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain, caught Michael Jordan, and reached the highest total in NBA history.