Luka Dončić paired another huge scoring night with a defensive stat line not seen since player tracking began, as the Lakers beat Toronto 131-125. A frantic finish, after the starters had been pulled, showed how heavily Los Angeles still leans on its lead star.

Efficiency drove Sunday’s performance against Toronto. Dončić made 12 of 23 field-goal attempts and went 13-for-13 at the free-throw line. As a team, the Lakers made 18 of 37 threes, 49 percent. The loss dropped Toronto to 3-3.

The scoring run keeps building. It was his third 40-point game in his last four and his fourth straight with at least 37. Dončić leads the NBA at 37.7 points per game, more than eight points ahead of second place. He has now reached 40 points 20 times in 98 regular-season games as a Laker.

Dončić’s defense is becoming part of his MVP case

The defensive work drew as much notice as the scoring. Two of his three charges came against RJ Barrett and one against Scottie Barnes.

Coach JJ Redick called the charges a sign of leadership from the 27-year-old. Dončić acknowledged he is not the league’s best defender. He believes he has taken a real step forward this season.

Walker Kessler backed that up. The Lakers traded for him in the offseason to help a defense that ranked 20th in 2025-26. In Kessler’s view, Dončić’s defense does not get enough credit. With his scoring and his defense both drawing attention, Dončić’s early MVP case is growing.

A big lead nearly slipped as Lakers leaned on Dončić

The game nearly got away. Los Angeles led 102-76 with 90 seconds left in the third quarter. Toronto cut the gap to single digits before Dončić and Austin Reaves sparked a 9-1 run.

The Lakers pulled their starters with 1:43 left and a 16-point cushion. Toronto’s bench then scored 11 points in 40 seconds. Dončić, Reaves and Kessler had to come back in to close it out.

The scare followed Friday’s game at Golden State. There, the Lakers built a 25-point lead and still lost by 17.

Reaves added 19 points. For Toronto, Barnes scored 29 and Barrett had 22. The defeat opened a four-game road trip and was the Raptors’ third loss in four games.

On October 27, the Raptors said swelling in his left knee would sideline Leonard for at least a week. Tests found no acute injury. Sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania that Leonard is expected to miss a period of weeks and that an MRI showed no structural damage.

Leonard, 35, had averaged 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals in his two games before the injury. The absence also means he will miss Toronto’s only game this season at Intuit Dome, home of his former team, the Clippers.

The Lakers get little rest. They host the 2-4 Miami Heat at Crypto.com Arena at 7 p.m. PT on Monday, November 2, the second game of a back-to-back.