When Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncicwent to the free throw line Thursday with 14.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, needing to make one out of two to reach 60 points, a funny thing happened in Kaseya Center.
TheMiami Heat's home crowd started chanting, "MVP! MVP!" for Doncic.
"It was pretty impressive, especially an away game in Miami," Doncic said after L.A.'s 134-126 victory extended the team's win streak to eight. "You hear the whole crowd chanting, 'MVP,' that's what I think every player wants to hear. ... I got a lot of goosebumps, so it was pretty special."
Doncic missed the first free throw and stepped away from the line and smiled while composing himself before making the second -- notching the third game of at least 60 points in his career and the highest scoring game ever by an opponent in Miami, eclipsing James Harden's 58 on Feb. 28, 2019.
When the final buzzer sounded, Doncic was mobbed by his teammates on the court, circling him to celebrate his fourth game with 40-plus points in the past eight games.
James started the game 7-for-7 from the field and finished with 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double of the season. Reaves scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half to help L.A. overcome an early 15-point deficit.
Redick came into the night stumping for Doncic for MVP consideration, even before he became the first Laker to score 60 since Kobe Bryant's brilliant career finale back in 2016.
"He's playing as well as anyone in basketball," Redick said of Doncic. "He's really elevated his play at a really important time for our team. He's elevated the play of his teammates. I think there's a trust level that we all have -- coaches, teammates -- with him closing games for us. He's been fantastic, and I think he's one of the best and should be in the MVP conversation.
"Hopefully people will start talking about that because he's having as good a season as anyone."
Asked whether there was a specific turning point in Doncic's season, Redick could not identify one. Instead, he credited the overall mindset Doncic has adopted.
I mean, that's what it's all about," Doncic said of his team's reaction. "You see everybody celebrating on the bench ... it shows that we care a lot about each other. And that's what great teams do. Just makes my heart happy seeing them celebrate my 60-point game."
The outburst came a night after he scored 40 points in a win over the Houston Rockets, as Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves all played in both legs of the back-to-back after being listed as questionable with various knick-knack injuries.
"I mean, obviously you're tired, but I think it was more mentally," Doncic said. "Like JJ [Redick]said before the game, 'It's a mental game.' And that's what it was. You just got to say to yourself you're not tired and keep going."
Doncic's final line was 60 points on 18-for-30 shooting (9-for-17 from 3), 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals. It was just the fifth 60-point, 5-steal game in league history, joining Harden (2019), Allen Iverson (2005), Michael Jordan (1993) and Rick Barry (1974).
During the Lakers' win streak, Doncic is averaging 40.9 points per game.
I think some of it [for Doncic] is just being clear headed," Redick said. "With all that's happened with our team, he's just in a really good place and he typically performs at his best when he's clear headed. And that's what we spent a lot of the season trying to get to, not just for him, but for all our guys."
Reaves was asked to make a case for Doncic to be considered on the same level as other MVP candidates such as Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver's Nikola Jokic, Detroit's Cade Cunningham, Boston's Jaylen Brown and San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama.
"Leading the league in scoring," Reaves stated to begin his argument. "I said to somebody he was leading the league in a lot of things. [The Lakers are] third in the West. I don't know. I couldn't see a reason why he's not, so I don't really know. I don't think what I say is going to really matter, but he definitely should be in that conversation."
Doncic did not offer an opinion on where he thinks he ranks in the MVP race with a few weeks remaining in the regular season.