Doncic wins duel with Wembanyama, Thunder lose unbeaten streak

With 35 points and 13 assists, Luka Doncic led the Los Angeles Lakers to a tight 118-116 win Wednesday over the San Antonio Spurs of Victor Wembanyama, who had a frustrating night with just 19 points.

Here are the highlights from a day that saw the Oklahoma City Thunder suffer their first loss of the season, falling to Tiago Splitter’s Portland Trail Blazers.

Doncic's colossal start

In Los Angeles, the expected first battle between Doncic and Wembanyama ended up being another masterclass by the Slovenian, who is off to one of the best starts to a season in NBA history.

Doncic bordered on a triple double with 35 points, 9 rebounds and 13 assists, putting the team on his back in the absence of LeBron James and Austin Reaves.

The point guard has scored a total of 200 points in his first five games of the campaign, a figure second only to the legendary Wilt Chamberlain, who racked up 264 in the 1962 opener and 256 in the 1961 opener.

Doncic continues to ratify that this is his season of redemption, after the Dallas Mavericks puzzlingly traded him to the Lakers last February.

In the best physical shape in years, the Slovenian is leading a Lakers team that is on a five-game winning streak and in second place in the Western Conference (7-2) without LeBron, who has yet to return from sciatica.

The Spurs (5-2), fifth in the sector, came into the game as favorites in the face of local losses and the devastating start to the season that Wembanyama has also made.

The French center, however, fell short of expectations by finishing with 19 points (5-14 shooting from the field), 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

Wembanyama spent the entire game in personal foul trouble and was ejected with one minute and 40 seconds remaining, with the Spurs only down by one point (113-112).

The Lakers held on to the slim lead but nearly shot themselves in the foot when veteran Marcus Smart rushed a baseline kickout when his team led 118-116 with just 1.2 seconds left on the clock.

Thanks to Smart stepping on the line on the kickout, the Spurs had one last possession.

Forward Julian Champagnie was fouled and had two free throws to send the game to overtime but converted neither.

Champions fall

In Portland, the Oklahoma City Thunder fell to an unexpected defeat that left the NBA with no undefeated teams this season.

The reigning champions had an unblemished record of eight wins so far.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning Most Valuable Player (MVP), reached 35 points and 9 rebounds, but missed his squires Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, who were out due to injury.

For the Blazers the hero was Israeli forward Deni Avdija, who bordered on a triple double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists.

Portland got to a 22-point deficit (38-16), but never lost faith until taking the lead for the first time with less than seven minutes to go.

Splitter has posted an impressive 5-2 record since his sudden appointment as the Portland Trail Blazers’ interim head coach on Oct. 23.

The Brazilian took over for the suspended Chauncey Billups, who was fingered by the FBI for participating in a rigged poker game scheme and leaking team information to gamblers.