Just as the 2025-26 season was going to start, a bold prediction came from the Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki. “I’m gonna go with Luka. I think he’s gonna put up some great numbers,” he had said, picking his MVP candidate. His former Mavericks teammate Steve Nash was right beside him. “Luka Dončić, MVP. Is that a hot take?” Nash said.
Dončić, however, did not take long to validate the take. In the Lakers’ season opener against the Golden State Warriors, he exploded with a game-high 43 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists, and two steals, shooting an efficient 17-for-27 (63.0%). With that, right at the beginning of his first full season with the Lakers, he cemented himself with some of the legendary Lakers.
Three nights later, it looks like that was just the beginning. In LA’s second game of the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, October 24, Dončić actually received “MVP” chants at the Crypto.com arena after another monstrous performance, getting past the Wolves 128-110. And once again, he did not just fill the stat sheet, but also made some trips to the NBA record books.
Luka Dončić Makes History With His Back-to-Back 40+ Point Performances
Against the Timberwolves, Dončić exploded with another double-double, scoring 49 points, grabbing 11 boards, and dishing out eight assists. He shot 60.9% from the field (14-of-23) and 41.7% from beyond the arc (5-of-12).
The Slovenian guard also netted 84.2% of his free-throw attempts (16-of-19). And all this came in just 35 minutes of action. After the game, a tweet from the NBA revealed how “Luka Magic” took over the game.
“The FIRST player in NBA history to open a season with back-to-back games of 40+ PTS, 10+ REB, and 5+ AST!” the post mentioned, along with a clip of some of the highlight plays.
Notably, Minnesota had the better start, leading 40-36 in the first quarter. The Lakers could have been blown out had Dončić not scored 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 from 3-point range in that quarter. With that, he tied Kobe Bryant and Kyle Kuzma for the most points in a first quarter in Lakers history since the 1996-97 season.
By halftime, Dončić already had 32 points under his belt. He absolutely toyed with the Minnesota defenders, tricking them into fouling him on pump fakes in the perimeter. Dwyane Wade aptly put it on the broadcast: “Everything the defense does is the wrong thing when it comes to Luka.”
Riding on his dominating performance, LA never looked back in the remaining three quarters and outscored the Wolves 92-70. As the night wrapped up, the stat nerds had dug out some fascinating inputs. Here is where Dončić’s performance rests in NBA history:
JJ Redick Points Out Dončić’s Missed Scoring Mark
Interestingly, despite all this, Lakers head coach JJ Redick jokingly criticized Dončić for missing the opportunity to make it a 50-point game.
At one point, LA took a game-high 25-point lead after a Dončić and-1 dunk. Dončić was at 48 points after making his free throw. Redick revealed that he kept Dončić in the game with the hopes of a 50-point game that didn’t come to fruition. He missed one of his free throws with 3:05 remaining and was subbed out seconds later.
“I’m trying to get the guy 50 and yeah, I’d already given him three chances,” Redick said. “I gave a fourth chance. He gets fouled and then he blows that too. He was awesome.” However, Lakers fans can surely keep their fingers crossed that Dončić will attain that at some point, given his blistering start to the season.
