Luka Doncic makes his thoughts clear on MVP race

The Los Angeles Lakers entered Friday night's game looking to earn their second consecutive victory after their recent nine-game win streak was snapped by the Detroit Pistons Monday.

The Lakers did just that, cruising to a 17-point win against the Nets.

Luka Doncic dominated once again, scoring 41 points to go along with eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block.

Austin Reaves added 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists as well.

LeBron James and Jaxson Hayes were the only other Lakers in double-figures, combining to score 24 points.

With the win, Los Angeles moved to 48-26 on the season, holding their advantage over the Denver Nuggets for third place in the Western Conference. Denver trails by a game and a half with eight games remaining.

After the game, Doncic was asked about his chances at the MVP award, considering this year's MVP race has plenty of different candidates.

“The better I play the more I go down in rankings, so I don’t know what more I can do.”

Although Doncic may not be the favorite to win the award, his recent performances have certainly entered him into the MVP conversation.

Given other candidates like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic and Jaylen Brown, who knows which way MVP voters could be leaning.

In the meantime, Doncic and the Lakers will hope to finish the season strong in order to earn a top-three seed.

They'll return to action Monday against the Wizards.

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