Luka Dončić is averaging 40.1 points through nine games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Stephen Curry sit next at 29.9. The gap is 10.2 points a game — the clearest separation at the top of the scoring race this season.

After a season-high 53 points in the Lakers’ 124-118 NBA Cup win over the Trail Blazers on Friday, Los Angeles is alone atop the Western Conference at 8-2.

NBA scoring race through Friday (min. 7 GP)

Dončić has scored 40 or more in six of nine games and 50 or more twice — 52 against Utah and 53 against Portland. His last seven: 52, 41, 37, 45, 42, 40 and 53. He has also put up four straight games of at least 40 (45, 42, 40, 53), joining Bryant, Baylor and Mikan as the only Lakers to do that.

He is at 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists on 49.8 percent shooting, 41.9 percent from three and 87.3 percent from the line. The Lakers are 7-2 in the games he has played and won the one he missed, 103-87 over the Clippers on Oct. 29.

Dončić’s nine-game scoring log

1. Oct. 22–24Openers of 28 and 23 before the explosion.
2. Oct. 2552 at Utah — first 50-point night of the season.
3. Nov. 2–645, 42, 40 and 53: four straight 40-point games.
4. Fri Nov. 653 in a Cup win; average climbs to 40.1.

Gilgeous-Alexander is at 29.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists through nine Thunder games. Curry matches him at 29.9 in seven Warriors games. Wembanyama is next at 29.1. Nobody else is within 10 points of Dončić’s lead.

That gap is the story as much as the raw average. Scoring titles are usually decided by fractions. This one opens with a double-digit cushion after nine games.

Gap from Dončić to each pursuer

Only Wilt Chamberlain has averaged 40 or more points for a full NBA season — 50.4 in 1961-62 and 44.8 in 1962-63. Chamberlain is also the only player to score more than Dončić’s 361 points through the first nine games of a season.

The highest full-season mark since then is Michael Jordan’s 37.1 in 1986-87. James Harden’s 36.1 in 2018-19 is the modern high-water mark of the 21st century. Dončić’s career-best season average before this year was 33.9 with Dallas in 2023-24. He is already past Jordan’s pace through nine games.

Historic season scoring marks

1. 1961-63Chamberlain posts the only two 40-point seasons.
2. 1986-87Jordan’s 37.1 becomes the post-Wilt ceiling.
3. 2018-19Harden’s 36.1 leads the 21st century.
4. Nov. 2026Dončić sits at 40.1 through nine — Wilt’s company.

The Lakers are 8-2, tied with the 76ers for the NBA’s best record, and alone in first in the West. Minnesota, Houston, San Antonio and Oklahoma City sit at seven wins. Los Angeles leads the league in scoring at 122.0 points a game and in effective field-goal percentage at 59.2 percent. Dončić has accounted for 29.6 percent of the Lakers’ points.

At plus-77 they rank fifth in point differential behind Minnesota (plus-107), Houston (plus-93), Boston (plus-87) and San Antonio (plus-81). Their 8-2 start is one of 24 exact 8-2 marks through 10 games in the 2014-15 through 2025-26 logs; those clubs averaged plus-9.3, and Los Angeles is at plus-7.7.

West contenders by wins (through Friday)

Dončić and the Lakers are off Saturday. The scoring race moves only if Gilgeous-Alexander, Curry or Wembanyama cut into the 10-point gap before Los Angeles plays again. Sustaining 40 for 82 games is the historic question; nine games are already enough to put him in Wilt’s nine-game company and alone atop the West.