Late in the fourth quarter, with 59 points under his belt, Luka Doncic stepped up to shoot a pair of free throws with the chance to push for 60 over in South Beach. Something incredible followed. The Florida crowd started chanting "MVP! MVP! MVP!" for an opposing team's player.
Doncic split the pair and the Los Angeles Lakers wound up beating the Miami Heat in an exciting 134-126 win on Thursday night that featured a stellar comeback effort from the purple and gold. It also showcased the third-highest scoring night of Luka's entire regular season career.
Those 60 points came on 18-of-30 shooting from the field, 9-of-17 from beyond the arc, and 15-of-19 from the free throw line. Doncic added seven rebounds, five steals, and three steals for good measure. What is nutty about this sensational performance is the circumstances that led up to it.
Dan Woike reported before the game: "The Los Angeles Lakers, who play tonight at 8 pm local in Miami, arrived at their hotel South Florida after 5 a.m. following their win Wednesday night in Houston (a game that started at 8:30 pm central)."
The Lakers started the evening looking like a team who was as tired as that would suggest. They ended the night with Doncic sending a loud and clear message about just how hard his MVP case is becoming to ignore.
Luka Doncic is loudly making his MVP push for everyone to see
Lakers fans have gotten to watch Doncic up close and personal all season. That has resulted in endless frustration about some of the ridiculous media narratives that have followed their superstar point guard throughout the campaign.
Instead of being celebrated as one of the clear and undeniable MVP candidates in the league, Doncic was getting dragged by critics for all the wrong reasons. It was clear from some of those talking points who actually spent the proper time watching Luka and the Lakers play.
Anyone who was spouting nonsense about the defensive end or the complaining with officials, and blowing it up to needless levels of attention was dismissing the incredible body of work Doncic was delivering. After this recent surge, the latter is becoming next to impossible.
The Lakers' eight-game winning streak has thrust them into the NBA spotlight yet again. Doncic being the shining superstar at the forefront of that success is getting harder and harder to sidestep.
Perhaps it might be too little too late to fully undo the damage done by the malpractice of narratives. Lakers fans surely know their guy has been and is continuing to play MVP-level basketball. Maybe, just maybe, Thursday was a sign that the league will catch up in the nick of time.