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By Aman Sharma
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Udonis Haslem has watched plenty of great players, and Luka Doncic still left him searching for words.
Doncic poured in a season-high 53 points as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 16-point hole to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 124-118. Haslem broke down the performance on Prime’s “NightCap.”
Even the Miami Heat legend couldn’t find a comparison.
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“We’ve seen a lot of basketball, guys. We don’t see nothing like this. And that’s not to take away from the greats that have played this game, but I have seen a lot. I’ve not seen a guy that has not been stopped with two guys, has not been stopped with three guys,” Haslem said.
Portland didn’t make it easy. The Lakers missed their first 15 attempts from 3-point range and fell behind by 16 before Doncic took over, scoring 20 in the third quarter to spark a 17-0 run.
Just before halftime, he drew a charge and then hit a 61-foot buzzer-beater, a sequence Blake Griffin called “a five-point swing.”
His final line read 17 of 33 from the field, 5 of 15 from 3-point range and 14 of 18 at the free-throw line. Austin Reaves added 25 points.
That was the 11th 50-point game of Doncic’s career and his fourth as a Laker, tying Allen Iverson for 10th-most in league history and moving him past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
He has now scored at least 40 in four straight games. Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant and George Mikan are the only other Lakers to do that in the regular season.
Oscar Robertson now shares a record with him, too. Doncic has strung together seven consecutive games with at least 35 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Before tipoff, Blazers head coach Micah Nori said Doncic was the MVP “right now. Hands down.” Nori then watched him prove it at Portland’s expense.
Through nine games, the 27-year-old is averaging 40.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.7 steals on 49.8% shooting, including 41.9% from deep.
Los Angeles sits at 8-2 with sole possession of the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed, its best start since the 2019-20 season ended with a championship.
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