The Detroit Pistons did what no team had managed in three weeks: beat the Los Angeles Lakers. Monday’s 113-110 loss snapped a nine-game winning streak, with Daniss Jenkins dropping a career-high 30 points to spoil the party at Little Caesars Arena. Luka Doncic shot 11-for-29 from the field and missed a contested 3-point shot at the buzzer, a rare stumble for a player who’s been operating on another planet since early March.

Still, he finished with 32 points. That’s 10 straight games of 30 or more. And all of this is happening while Doncic navigates a custody battle with ex-fiancée Anamaria Goltes over their two daughters, both of whom remain in Slovenia.

When asked how he manages to perform at this level amid the turmoil, Doncic was honest: “That’s life, I don’t know what to say. But that’s my job, so I have to be here. They pay me a lot to play for them, so… and also basketball is giving me some kind of peace when I play a game.”

That peace has translated into violence against NBA defenses, making Doncic a compelling candidate in the NBA MVP conversation. The Lakers pushed his candidacy on Tuesday with a social media post highlighting his statistical dominance across seven categories.

Doncic is first in points per game (33.4), first in three-pointers made per game (4.0), first in 30+point games (60), first in 40-point games (13), first in rebounds per game among guards (7.9), second in 30-point triple-doubles (7, behind Nikola Jokić’s 10), and third in assists per game (8.4).

The Slovenian just pulled off one of the most dominant scoring runs in the Lakers franchise history during their nine-game winning stretch: 40.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game. That includes a 60-point demolition of Miami, the highest-scoring game by an opposing player at Kaseya Center.

The last Laker to log a 60-point game was Kobe Bryant in his final game. Notably, the Lakers’ post on Doncic dropped at an intriguing moment in the MVP debate.

Victor Wembanyama’s MVP Comments Divide the NBA

Hours before the Lakers fell in Detroit, Victor Wembanyama made his case clear after San Antonio dismantled Miami 136-111. The 22-year-old laid out three arguments for why he should lead the MVP race: defense is 50 percent of the game and undervalued in voting, the Spurs nearly swept Oklahoma City this season, and offensive impact extends beyond scoring.

“I think right now there is a debate. There should be, even though I think I should lead the race,” Wembanyama told reporters. “My goal is to make sure there is no debate at the end of the season.”

The comments sparked immediate reaction. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith admitted Wembanyama had swayed him: “He’s done changed my mind.” Analyst Brian Windhorst echoed that sentiment, conceding his heart pointed toward the Spurs’ center even as logic suggested Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Not everyone was impressed, however.

Even before Wembanyama’s open statement, Skip Bayless, speaking on the “Gil’s Arena” podcast, had questioned his consistency. “When he decides before a game, as he did in four of the five Thunder games, when he decides he is going to play tonight, he plays his [expletive] off. But there are many games along the trail where I don’t know what he is doing,” Bayless said.

“SGA plays every dribble of every night. It’s not like Russell Westbrook-hard. It’s not shocking to your eye, but he’s playing at the same speed every dribble every night. So to me, he is still it, his team is still it.”

Nick Wright reinforced that view, arguing Wembanyama cannot claim the best-player mantle until he consistently scores 30 points. Doncic, meanwhile, keeps doing exactly that, even on his worst shooting nights. The Lakers finish their road trip on Wednesday in Indiana.

Related: Lakers Announce Luka Doncic History During Bulls Game

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.