WATCH: Luka Doncic and Raptors’ Scottie Barnes get into a scuffle, push each other as the Lakers’ star put up a record breaking scoreline with 45 points

Luca Doncic is making the headlines with his star performance against the Raptors in a game that the Lakers dominated from the jump. The Lakers won the game 131-25, after a disappointing loss against the Warriors last week on Friday, October 30.

During the course of the game, Barnes and Doncic got into a scuffle after being tangled up during a play. This led to a visibly intense exchange between the two. A viral video of the exchange showed Barnes walking up to Luka and bumping into him.

The video further showed both of their arms getting tangled up, following which a visibly frustrated Doncic shaking off Barnes' arm. The two then constantly bumped into each other. Fans are calling the incident Barnes’ attempt to rage bait Luka.


Luka refused to take the bait, seemingly to avoid a foul, as Barnes appeared to be trying to provoke him. However, Barnes drew up a technical foul over the exchange.

Fans divided after the incident

Several fans wanted a penalty for Barnes for the incident as it appeared that he was trying to tangle arms with Doncic. A fan said, “You can blatantly see Scottie tangling arms with Luka”.

However several felt otherwise, and highlighted Doncic’s role in the incident, with one saying, “I hate when Luka does this. Man up and fight through the contact man.” While another said, “No way Luka is crying about this”.

Another fan pointed out Doncic's previous altercation with Yaxel Lendeborg, saying “This is what Yaxel was talking about. Watch Luke looking at the referee". The two had exchanged words during a game.

Also read: Yaxel Lendeborg went from turning down a $9 million NIL deal in college to a $28 million contract with the Warriors: Here’s more about his contract and net worth

Doncic put on a 45-point display

Luka Doncic went on to score 45 points with 5 rebounds. He also recorded a phenomenal score line in Q1, which no other player has yet to record. He recorded four 3-pointers and four steals in a single quarter. Adding to this, each time Doncci went to the free throw line he was met with “MVP” chants from the crowd, according to Silver Screen and Roll.

Following the game he said, “Obviously I am not the best defender in the NBA…But I think this year I really took a step forward.” Further addressing the chatter about him, he said, “Obviously people are going to talk when they want to talk, but my team knows that.” He also earned praise from head coach JJ Redick, who said, “He’s been awesome on defence”.

Scottie Barnes on the other hand scored 29 points, coming after a career-high performance of 41-points in the Raptors’ last match against Orlando Magic on October 30.