Luka Dončić Is On a Scoring Tear the Likes of Which We Have Not Seen Since Michael Jordan

The Lakers continued to roll on Wednesday night, beating the Pacers 137-130. The victory moved Los Angeles to 47–26 on the season and tightened its grip on the third seed in the West. It can also be remembered as the night Luka Dončić’s heater officially reached Michael Jordan territory.

Dončić has been absolutely electric for several weeks now, loudly announcing his presence in the MVP conversation by putting up massive scoring numbers while leading the Lakers to a tremendous stretch of winning basketball. That continued on Wednesday as the Slovenian superstar dropped 43 points on 15-for-30 shooting against Indiana.

It has been a torrid stretch the likes of which we have not seen since His Airness graced the court. Per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Dončić is the first player since Jordan to average 40 points over the course of six road games after his big night against the Pacers. Here’s what his last six games have looked like.

POINTS	OPPONENT	RESULT
43	Pacers	Lakers win
32	Pistons	Lakers loss
33	Magic	Lakers win
60	Heat	Lakers win
40	Rockets	Lakers win
36	Rockets	Lakers win

Overall, Dončić is averaging 40.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 38.5 minutes per night on this L.A. road trip. He is shooting 28.5 field goals per game and hitting 48% of those attempts. Those are some ludicrous statistics and have resulted in mostly winning basketball; as you can see above the Lakers are 5–1 on this road trip.

The Lakers can’t ask for much more from the 27-year-old star.

How Dončić’s streak compares to Jordan’s

The natural reaction to Dončić hitting a mark not seen since Jordan is to wonder how their streaks stacked up.

Jordan hit his mark in the first half of the 1986–87 season, his third in the NBA. His Bulls played a long stretch of road games from Nov. 26 through Dec. 5. In that stretch Jordan averaged 41 points, taking an average of 34 shots per night and making 43.1% of those attempts. He rounded off his statline with 6.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.0 blocks in 42.8 minutes per game. Shockingly Chicago went 1–5 in this six-game stretch; its only win came in overtime and every defeat was by single digits.

Obviously the Jordan era was a lot different than today’s game and a straight-up comparison doesn’t paint the full picture of the quality of the two stars’ respective performances. But it is interesting, if anything. Dončić added a larger dose of assists to each game than Jordan and drove his team to victories. But MJ was dominant on the defensive end on top of his excellent scoring; his team’s record reflects the ineptitude of those early Bulls rosters outside Jordan more than anything.

Dončić has been amazing in March

While matching Jordan in any category is always a great moment for an NBA player, these awe-inspiring perofrmances have just been another day at the office for Dončić in light of how great he’s been in March.

Since the calendar flipped from February, the Lakers star is leading the NBA with 36.9 points per game and 12.6 made shots per night. Los Angeles has gone 12–2, separating itself from the mess of teams fighting for positioning in the middle of the Western Conference playoff bracket and outscoring opponents by 122 points in Dončić’s 521 minutes. It’s been a truly incredible month for the international superstar and one the Lakers desperately needed as they try to make a playoff push.

Dončić’s month should be remembered as one of the great hot streaks in recent memory. But his last six games have been at Jordan level.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Luka Dončić Is On a Scoring Tear the Likes of Which We Have Not Seen Since Michael Jordan.

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