Luka Dončić and the Lakers Roll Into Mid-November on a Six-Game Win Streak

The Los Angeles Lakers have found a rhythm few expected this early in the season, and Luka Dončić is setting the beat.

Monday night in Atlanta, the Lakers built a 20-point second-quarter lead, survived a late Hawks charge and pulled away for a 124-114 win, their sixth straight, according to the Associated Press ^[1]. Dončić finished with 32 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists, and Atlanta's four-game winning streak came to an end ^[1]. Los Angeles entered the night 9-2 and first in the Western Conference ^[4], so the win lifted the club to 10-2 as the season heads toward mid-November.

A Gritty Road Win Without Reaves

The victory came on the second night of a road back-to-back and without guard Austin Reaves, who missed the game with an illness, the AP reported ^[1]. That absence mattered. Reaves had poured in 43 points the night before in a 121-116 win at Detroit, matching his career high with 14 made field goals, and he came into Atlanta averaging 25.3 points per game, according to Field Level Media ^[2].

Others stepped up. Center Walker Kessler, who grew up in the Atlanta area, posted 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Collin Sexton added 18 points and six assists off the bench ^[1][2]. Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 23 points and hit five of his eight three-point attempts, and the Lakers made 15 of 35 from deep as a team ^[1]. Rookie Cameron Carr scored the first points of his NBA career on a two-handed dunk in transition ^[1].

Atlanta did not go quietly. CJ McCollum scored 21 off the bench, Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 20 and Onyeka Okongwu had 16 ^[1]. Dyson Daniels, who drew the assignment of guarding Dončić, finished with 10 points, eight assists and four steals, and the Hawks trimmed the deficit to 115-111 with about three and a half minutes left before Los Angeles closed on a 6-0 run ^[1].

Dončić's availability had been in doubt. He sat out the Detroit game with lower-back tightness and was listed as questionable for Monday ^[2], and the AP's pregame injury report had him out ^[4]. He played anyway and delivered a double-double.

The Hottest Scorer in Basketball

Dončić arrived in Atlanta leading the NBA at 40.1 points per game, with 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists, Field Level Media reported ^[2]. Three nights earlier he scored 53 points in a 124-118 NBA Cup group-play win over Portland, rallying the Lakers from a 16-point second-quarter hole, according to an AFP report published by Al Jazeera ^[3]. It was the 11th 50-point game of his career and his fourth in a Lakers uniform, and it gave him at least 40 points in six of seven games at the time ^[3].

"I'm having a lot of fun," Dončić said after the Portland win ^[3].

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Coach JJ Redick has kept the hot start in perspective. He summed up the run in four words, according to Field Level Media: "Winning streaks start at five" ^[2].

Between them, Dončić and Reaves were averaging more than 65 points a night entering Monday's game, based on the figures Field Level Media reported ^[2]. That is a heavy load for two players, which is why the bench production in Atlanta stood out.

A New Era, and a Crowded West

The run is all the more striking because this is a new chapter in Los Angeles. LeBron James now plays in Philadelphia, as OutKick noted this week ^[5], and the Lakers are leaning on Dončić and Reaves to carry the scoring.

The top of the Western Conference is crowded, though. Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs are also 9-2, unbeaten on the road and winners of four of their last five games by 22 points or more, according to OutKick, with a matchup against the Chicago Bulls next on their schedule ^[6]. November standings rarely hold, but the early pace suggests the West could again be decided by a game or two.

Why It Matters

Monday's win was the kind that builds a locker room. A team missing its second-leading scorer, on the back end of a back-to-back, in a building where the home team had won four straight, found contributors up and down the roster. Kessler's homecoming, Sexton's spark off the bench and a rookie's first basket are the small stories that add up to a winning culture, and they are worth celebrating in a league that too often revolves around one name.

There are reasons for caution. A 20-point lead became a four-point game late, and a team that leans this heavily on one superstar has to keep him healthy. Dončić's back is worth watching as the schedule thickens.

But a 10-2 start is a 10-2 start. The Lakers have given their fans something to cheer in November, and the league's leading scorer is the reason why.