The 40-40 club: Luka Doncic begins the Lakers' new season with a pair of prolific performances

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic has begun his first full season with the Lakers on a serious heater.

The Slovenian superstar is off to one of the greatest starts to a season in NBA history, following up his 43-point effort on opening night against Golden State with a 49-point spree in Los Angeles’ victory over Minnesota on Friday night.

After a summer spent getting into top shape, excelling at EuroBasket and settling into Los Angeles, Doncic has become the fourth player in NBA history to begin a season with back-to-back 40-point performances — and he barely missed a triple-double twice, too.

His game has been superb, even if he's still working out some early-season problems with his celebrations.

After Doncic leaned in, stepped back and buried a beautiful 26-footer over Jaden McDaniels to put the Lakers up by 19 in the fourth quarter, he did a shoulder shimmy that embarrassed him, but delighted a building full of fans who love to see him shine.

“It's honestly because I don't know what to do at those moments," Doncic said with a grin. "I just do some stupid thing, and I don't know what to do, and that just came out. It's got to be better. I've got to work on it.”

Almost everything else Doncic does for the Lakers has been phenomenal out of the gate.

His 92 points are the most to start a season in the history of a team that has employed many of the greatest players ever to pick up a basketball over the past eight decades. It's also the fourth-most points scored through two games by any player in NBA history.

Only three players had ever started a season with back-to-back 40-point efforts: Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Anthony Davis, who did it in New Orleans in 2016.

Doncic even has 23 rebounds and 17 assists in two games.

“It’s felt great,” Doncic said. “I wish we would have won the first game, but obviously it’s a good comeback. I think Minnesota is a great team. We had to do a lot to win today, but myself, I feel great.”

With LeBron James sidelined by sciatica for at least the first few weeks, Doncic knew a scoring burden would be on his shoulders. That's nothing new for Doncic, who carried less-talented Dallas teams for long stretches over the past half-decade — but he's determined to combine his scoring with a strong all-around floor game reflecting the next step in his evolution as a player.

Doncic’s teammates were just as wowed as Lakers fans by this 49-point effort — although they weren’t impressed by his dunk in the fourth quarter, with Austin Reaves grinningly saying that Doncic “ain’t very explosive.”

“He’s obviously one of the best players in the league,” Reaves said. “He’s been that since he got in the league, so the stuff he does isn’t a surprise to anybody. It’s not like it’s crazy, because you look at the numbers he’s putting up, but he does it within a way that everybody is involved. He’s such a good passer. And that’s enough compliments for him.”

The Lakers were aware Doncic was on the brink of his eighth career 50-point game in the final minutes, and coach JJ Redick kept him in the blowout a bit longer than usual. Unfortunately, Doncic missed his final two shots — including a layup — and then bricked a free throw that would have put him over the top.

Redick finally exercised prudence and pulled his franchise player.

“I’m trying to get the guy 50, and I’d already given him three chances,” Redick said with mock exasperation. “I gave him a fourth chance, he gets fouled, and he blows that, too. Nah, he was awesome.”

Doncic said he felt no special motivation to beat the Timberwolves, who blasted the Lakers out of the playoffs in the first round last spring to end Doncic’s long season of upheaval.

“Last year was really tough for me,” Doncic said. “I just want to forget about last season and just try to move on. I didn’t really think about that, because it’s just the second game.”

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