Luka Doncic continues to play at a historic level in his first full season with the Los Angeles Lakers. As Doncic and the Lakers forge ahead with their NBA season, still without their leader and current face of the franchise LeBron James,

Three takeaways from the Lakers' fifth consecutive win, a 118-116 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Crypto.com Arena.

Luka Doncic dropped 35 points in the Los Angeles Lakers' 118–116 win over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs at home on Wednesday.

Wednesday's game between the Lakers and Spurs wasn't exactly pretty, but the Lakers prevailed to extend their winning streak to five games.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart takes full responsibility for his last-second mistake in the win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Afterward, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson called out Wenbanyama’s passivity on the court, calling for him to change the way he plays on offense. Wembanyama has a monstrous target on his back as the Spurs’ best player but Johnson wants more out of his big man.

That’s particularly the case in the Western Conference, where the Los Angeles Lakers have withstood injuries to LeBron James (sciatica) and Luka Dončić, though he has come off the injury report. Austin Reaves even missed a game,