If Luka Doncic’s dominant season till now was not enough for the MVP claims, he dropped his first 45-point triple-double this season to carry the Los Angeles Lakers past the Utah Jazz in a clutch 143-135 win on Thursday at the Delta Center in Utah to further reinstate his authority. But after the sensational performance, a reporter reminded him about the Los Angeles Lakers losing their top defensive rating in clutch following the game against the Jazz!

Hearing that drop to the second spot, Doncic immediately came up with a sigh, saying “Damn” before proceeding to answer the question. The Slovenian agreed that being more consistent in defense would be much better.

“Even the clutch is not bad to be second or first. But I feel like we have a lot of improvement left,” Doncic replied.

According to the 2025-26 season’s defensive stats in clutch, the Lakers have fallen to second spot after Thursday’s effort against the Jazz. They have a defensive rating of 93.6 in the clutch this season, winning 10 out of 10 games. But now, the recently crowned NBA Cup winners, the New York Knicks have dethroned the Purple and Gold with a defensive rating of 92.0.

The Lakers have shown great efficiency in defense this season, but in their last matchup, the Jazz were extremely locked in with their offense even without their star player, Lauri Markkanen.

They shot 70% from the floor in the first quarter and carved out a 41-32 lead in the first 12 minutes. However, Doncic’s brilliance kept the visitors in striking distance. He scored 25 points before halftime and scored or assisted on 16 of the Lakers’ 27 baskets during that period.

In the final quarter, the Lakers completely locked out the Jazz defense as they started with a 14-5 scoring stretch, and when Doncic got consecutive threes, the Lakers secured a double-digit lead at 131-119 for the first time in the game with 4:23 remaining on the clock.

Luka Doncic downplays MVP award, focused on winning the Championship

Lakers talisman Luka Doncic has been absolutely box office this season. The point guard is producing sensational numbers, averaging 35.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 9.1 assists while shooting 46.3% from the field.

He recorded a historic performance against the Jazz, dropping 45 points, 14 assists, 11 rebounds, and five steals. This was his 85th career triple-double and fifth for the Lakers. He is genuinely putting up MVP numbers. He has been a big reason for the Lakers’ rise to the third spot in the West with a strong 19-7 record.

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On Thursday, he appeared in an interview with Dave McMenamin where he spoke about his potential of winning the MVP award. “My first focus, obviously, is Championship. I don’t try to think much of individual awards, but obviously, anybody who plays basketball wants the MVP. Obviously, I want it, but it’s gonna come with our team winning,” Doncic replied.

In his eight seasons in the NBA, Doncic has received MVP votes in six of them, missing out last season due to injury, as he failed to meet the MVP voting criteria of at least playing 50 games, and the other instance was in his rookie season, where he eventually won the Rookie of the Year award.

Although Doncic’s numbers are off the charts, the point guard will have tough competition as the likes of Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be pushing the Slovenian down to the wire for the Michael Jordan Trophy.