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HOUSTON, TEXAS – MARCH 18: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts against the Houston Rockets during the second half at Toyota Center on March 18, 2026 in Houston, Texas.
Amid the Los Angeles Lakers‘ nine-game winning streak, Luka Doncic has put together one of the most impressive offensive stretches in NBA history.
Along with becoming the only player in league history to score at least 30 points in nine straight wins, Doncic is making a strong case for the MVP award, as his odds have been quickly surging over the past month by way of both individual and team success.
Over the course of the Lakers’ winning streak, Doncic dropped 60 points and a near triple-double over the Miami Heat, his most points while playing for Los Angeles, and what might be one of his ‘MVP moments’ of the season, should he overtake Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the top regular-season award.
Insider Drops Wild Luka Doncic, Bam Adebayo Take
GettyMIAMI, FLORIDA – MARCH 19: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers dribbles the ball against Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat during the first quarter at Kaseya Center on March 19, 2026 in Miami, Florida.
When speaking about Doncic’s 60 points against the Heat, NBA writer for ESPN, Tim McMahon, dropped his take that he believes that performance was better than Bam Adebayo‘s 83 points earlier in the month, the second-highest scoring game in league history.
“That 60, I’m sorry, that was more impressive than Bam’s 83 against a tanking team,” McMahon said on The Hoop Collective Podcast. “That 60 when you needed all 60, to win a 21, 22-hour turnaround back to back against a team that is trying to make the playoffs.”
McMahon was already outspokenly against the way in which Adebayo scored his 83 points, many of which came at the free-throw line against the tanking Washington Wizards.
Just by comparison, Doncic scored 60 points on 18/30 shooting from the field, 9/17 from three-point range, and 15/19 from the free-throw line in 38 minutes in an eight-point win over the Heat.
That, compared to Adebayo’s 83 points on 20/43, 7/22 three-point, and 36/43 free-throw shooting numbers, should be left up for interpretation on which was more impressive, as both were standout performances to say the least.
Adebayo’s 83 and Doncic’s 60 are the two highest-scoring games in the 2025-26 NBA season.
While McMahon praised Doncic for his 60-point game, he also claimed that the Slovenian’s tendency to complain to referees, as seen with his latest technical foul, which was recently rescinded, could be an area of his game that could be cause for some criticism.
Luka Doncic MVP Odds Rising With Historic Play During Lakers Winning Streak
As mentioned, Doncic has been on a roll during the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak. He recently won back-to-back Player of the Week awards, and now has four on the season, the most by any player this year.
In the Lakers’ last nine games, Doncic is averaging 40 points, 8.4 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 2.6 steals on what would be a career-high 40.3% shooting from three, according to the NBA. He’s also the only player in league history to score at least 30 points in nine wins in a row.
While Doncic was a favorite for the MVP award when the season began, his odds dropped through the middle stretch of the year as the Lakers battled in the middle of the West standings.
However, since the start of March and amidst Los Angeles turning into one of the hottest teams in the NBA, Doncic’s MVP odds have since surged.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, he has quickly jumped up from sixth to second in MVP odds, currently only behind Gilgeous-Alexander at +1000. Most other major sportsbooks have Doncic anywhere from +1000 to +2500 in MVP odds, but the consensus is that he is now second in the race for the award.
The likelihood that Doncic takes home the MVP remains slim, despite the fact that he leads the Oklahoma City Thunder star in most statistical categories and that the Lakers aren’t far behind in the standings.
Still, as the MVP odds reflect, it would take a massive shift in the final 11 games of the regular season for the reining winner not to take home the award again this year.
Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski
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