LOS ANGELES –Luka Dončić was mad. Luka Dončić was happy. Luka Dončić was dancing.
The Lakers got all the emotions from their star Friday night in a 49-point performance to lead a 128-110 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Dončić channeled his competitive rage against the team that knocked him out of the playoffs a season ago. He smiled as he and the Lakers rolled in the third quarter, the ball popping from one open player to the next. And he shook his hips side-to-side after an impossible 3 over Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels, one of the league’s best defenders.
And as he got to whatever spots he wanted during the Lakers’ first win of the season, the crowd serenaded Dončić with chants of “M-V-P, M-V-P.”
LUKA AND-1 FOR 48… LEBRON & CO. ARE LOVING IT ‼️ https://t.co/hP0umqaM4W pic.twitter.com/i0dk5b2rL8
— NBA (@NBA) October 25, 2025
Dončić 92 points through two games are the most by a player in consecutive games to begin a season in Lakers’ history. He is driving everything as the Lakers temporarily avenged their first-round defeat to the Timberwolves last postseason, adding 11 rebounds and eight assists in 35 minutes to go with his big scoring night.
Minnesota opened the game where it left off in last season’s playoffs, attacking a porous Lakers’ defense and hitting 10 of its first 13 shots. The Lakers trailed by as many as 11 points early.
But Dončić’s offensive brilliance kept the Lakers in the game. He scored 23 points in the first quarter to keep the Lakers within four before the rest of the team began to chip in. Austin Reaves finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists. Rui Hachimura scored 23. In the third quarter, as the Lakers grabbed firm control of the game, Deandre Ayton ignited the crowd by attacking the basket with force.
But even on a night where Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards scored 31, no one was better than Dončić, who only stumbled when the Lakers tried to get him to 50 points. He missed a reverse layup in the fourth, and after coach J.J. Redick left him in to play with the back of the team’s bench, he split a pair of free throws.
Dončić left the game on the next stopped ball, walking off with a big smile as he was cheered by everyone on the Lakers’ bench.
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