It is early, but even the mainstream media is slowly picking up on the idea of this finally being Luka Doncic’s MVP season. The Lakers superstar is putting up absurd numbers across the board, especially scoring the ball at 38.3 ppg. His last 5 games read 52, 41, 37, 45 and 42 points scored against not-to-bad defenses overall. He’s also shooting a career high from the field and attempting an unreal 13.7 threes per game. I guess when you’re making 42% of them on that volume, there’s really not much your head coach can complain about. Wednesday is another opportunity for Doncic to put up numbers as he goes up against arguably the worst defense in the NBA in the Sacramento Kings.
Finally, the Sacramento Kings are off the mark with their first win of the season as they took down the Dallas Mavericks 115-100 on Monday. The trio of Zach LaVine, Malik Monk and Darius Acuff Jr. all scored 20+ points, but what impressed me the most was their effort on defense where they held the Mavs to just 21% shooting from three and also limited them to just 19 assists. It’s not often you see that from the Kings who take most of the nights off on that end of the floor. Is this sustainable in the long run? I’ll need a few more performances likes this to be convinced it is. Playing their division rivals the Lakers will be a big test, LA has triumphed in 7 of the last 8 games head-to-head.
I’m afraid the euphoria in the Kings locker room (if there is any) after the win over Dallas will be short lived. This game is all about Doncic and his Lakers. They’ve scored 125+ points in all but one of their games this season and they are showing no signs of slowing down. Sacramento gives up the most points in the paint, the most fastbreak points per game and the highest field goal percentage. This is the perfect game for LA to assert their dominance, I’ll be backing them to continue their hot scoring run here.
LA Lakers vs Sacramento Kings Predictions: Lakers Over 123.5 Team Points is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
