Lakers climb from ninth to second in Post power rankings as Luka Doncic averages 40

The Lakers made the biggest jump near the top of this week's New York Post NBA power rankings. Melissa Rohlin moved Los Angeles up from ninth to second, behind only the 8-1 Philadelphia 76ers. The reason is Luka Doncic, who is averaging 40.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists for a team that sits first in the Western Conference. Rohlin called it an early MVP campaign and wrote that the Lakers could be a championship team if he keeps it up.

The move came the day after Doncic's best game of the season. He scored 53 in Friday's 124-118 win over Portland, and he hit the jumper in the lane with 28 seconds left that sealed it, CBS Los Angeles reported. The Lakers missed their first 15 three-point attempts and trailed by 16. They came back with 17 straight points in the third quarter, and Doncic outscored the Blazers 20-15 by himself in that period. ClutchPoints had him at 17-of-33 from the field and 14-of-18 at the line. It was the 11th 50-point game of his career, which ties Allen Iverson.

The numbers keep stacking up. theScore noted that Doncic is the first Laker to score 40 in four straight games since Kobe Bryant in 2012, and that he already has six 40-point games this season. ESPN's game file shows the 53 pushed his average past 40. "I'm having a lot of fun," Doncic said afterward, per theScore.

The Post had Portland ninth, which makes Friday's comeback look better. The Blazers came in leading the West.

What it means for Sunday in Detroit

The Lakers are 8-2 and have won four straight. In order, they beat Toronto 131-125, Miami 138-117, Sacramento 116-103 and Portland. Their last loss was 112-95 at Golden State, and that is also the only game this season where they were held under 100. They are scoring 122.0 points a game and allowing 114.3, a margin of plus-7.7. They are 5-1 at home and 3-1 on the road.

Sunday's game at Detroit is their toughest test of the week. The Post ranked the 6-2 Pistons sixth and credited them with the league's best defensive rating at 103. Their only losses have come against the 76ers and the defending champion Knicks. That defense against a 40-point scorer is the matchup to watch, and the total shows it. It sits at 221.5, roughly 15 points below the 236.3 combined points the Lakers' games have averaged.

On this site's board, Detroit is favored at -167 on Novig. Los Angeles is +160 there, and FanDuel has the best Lakers price among the 12 venues at +162. That two-point gap shows how closely the venues agree. On the spread, the Pistons are favored by 4.5 at -102 on Novig. On the total, Novig has the over at +104 and the under at -108. The best under is BetRivers at -110 on 222.5. Sportsbook hold runs from about 2.4% to 5.2% across the markets.

The Lakers are underdogs for the first time during this run, and the game is the first real check on whether the Post's ranking holds up.