Blazers' West Ambitions Have a Luka Dončić-Sized Problem

Luka Dončić has scored 94 points against the Portland Trail Blazers in two games this season, and Portland somehow managed to win one of them ...

But 94 points is insane. 

Friday's 124-118 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers could sting a little more come April.

The Blazers blew a 16-point lead, Dončić scored 53 points, and Los Angeles offered another reminder of just how difficult Portland's pursuit of a top Western Conference seed could become.

And Dončić is doing things that haven't been seen in decades.

Through nine appearances, the 27-year-old has scored 361 points, averaging 40.1 alongside 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists. Only Wilt Chamberlain has also averaged at least 40 points through his first nine games of a season.

Portland already knows what he's capable of. Dončić scored 41 in the Blazers' 136-129 victory on October 27, then scored 20 in the third quarter alone Friday ... five more than Portland managed as an entire team.

The Blazers also committed 24 turnovers, which Los Angeles converted into 28 points. Giving Dončić that many extra opportunities is practically asking him to beat you.

What's arguably more concerning for Portland is that the Lakers aren't entirely dependent on him, either.

With Dončić sidelined by lower-back tightness Sunday, Austin Reaves scored 43 points in a 121-116 victory over Detroit, improving Los Angeles to 9-2.

The Lakers entered Sunday leading the NBA in offensive rating, although their defense ranked just 20th. Portland, meanwhile, ranked second offensively, offering some encouragement that the Blazers have enough firepower to compete.

And at 6-3, Portland has every reason to feel good about its own start.

But beating Los Angeles once doesn't erase the threat it poses across 82 games, especially with Oklahoma City, San Antonio and several other Western Conference contenders already piling up victories.

There's no guarantee Dončić maintains a 40-point average. Nobody has done that over an entire season since Chamberlain in 1962-63, and the Lakers will inevitably have some difficult stretches of their own.

The Blazers shouldn't be counting on those stretches to make up ground, though.

With home-court advantage potentially coming down to a handful of games, Portland can't afford to keep letting opportunities like Friday slip away.

The Blazers have already proven they can beat Dončić. Finishing ahead of his Lakers is another challenge entirely.

And if Portland finds itself a game or two short of a top-four seed come April, blowing a 16-point lead in Los Angeles might be one November result it wishes it could have back.