It's hard to imagine a better start for the Lakers. They are 10-2 and shooting the lights out as Luka Dončić pilots the league's top-ranked offense. Dončić's historic numbers speak for themselves, but he's doing more than getting and creating buckets. You've likely seen his defensive metrics making the social-media rounds, and they're legitimate. He's in great shape, and the multiple-effort energy is showing up, frankly, more on the defenisve end than on offense, where he's always a monster. 

So far, Dončić ranks first in steals (20), first in defensive loose balls recovered (9) and second in charges drawn (4). It's important to point out that Luka has always been a fairly productive box-score defender, certainly beyond what one of the worst defensive reputations in NBA history would suggest, but this year it looks different. His stop rate of 4.2 (meaning he finishes 4.2 of every 100 possessions with either a steal or a drawn offensive foul), per Databallr, ranks higher than many others, including the likes of Jaden McDaniels and Ausar Thompson. 

Dončić isn't just in the right place at the right time for a steal; his foul rate is down on contests, and scorers are shooting just 25% on 2-pointers when he's the closest defender, some 30% worse than their expected conversion rate from that spot, per NBA.com tracking. 

Include the 3-pointers he's contesting, opponents are shooting 32.3% against Luka -- 13% worse than expected. To put that number in perspective, it's second only to Victor Wembanyama among players who've defended at least 40 shots. 

As usual, offenses are hunting Dončić, who is facing an isolation on 17.5% of his defensive possessions (a 95th-percentile frequency), per Synergy, but he's only surrendering 0.79 points per possession on those isos (his man is 8 for 22), which is a 71st percentile ranking. 

It's worth repeating, as is the case with his steals (even though he's on a career-high pace here) and deflections, Dončić has long had better defensive metrics than his reputation would suggest. Dating back to his last year in Dallas, his defensive iso numbers are roughly average, and he's averaged almost a steal and a half per game for his career. 

The difference this season is in the movement (better shape), the multiple efforts, the ability to genuinely stay in front without fouling more times than not. He's a real part of a Lakers defense that is eight points per 100 better with him on the floor and, overall, is giving up nearly three fewer points per 100 than it did last season. 

Throw in Luka's red-hot shooting/scoring start, the All-NBA track that Austin Reaves is on, Walker Kessler's combination of rim protection, lob-partner chemistry with Dončić and offensive rebounding and the Lakers, though not a perfect team (they turn it over a lot and need to rebound better defensively), continue to look like a top-five team in the early going. 

In fact, the Lakers are a top-two team this week. And with that, on to this week's Power Rankings.