Memphis, Tennessee. Luka Doncic reaching 40 points is becoming a routine storyline early this season.

Returning after missing three games with injuries, Doncic scored 44 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 117–112 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night — giving him 40-plus in each of his first three games. The only other player in NBA history to open a season with three straight 40-point games is Wilt Chamberlain, who did it twice.

“He just continues to get where he wants to go, and he takes what the defense gives him,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said, with Doncic seated at the back of the interview room.

Doncic --14 of 27 from the field and 6 of 15 from 3--  scored 43 in the Lakers’ opening-night loss to Golden State and poured in 49 against Minnesota in Game 2 before missing three games with a left finger sprain and a lower left leg contusion.

Friday marked his return, and the scoring pace didn’t dip.

“I feel great. But obviously after we get a win, I feel even better,” Doncic said. “That’s the whole point.”

Doncic scored 19 in the first quarter to spark L.A. early, added 16 in the third as the Lakers erased a Memphis lead, and closed with nine in the fourth to help seal the victory.

“His scoring 40 is going to set us up well,” said backcourt partner Austin Reaves, who had 21 points but shot 5 of 14. “It doesn’t matter if he’s scoring 20 of them in the first, second, third — hopefully he’s scoring most of them in the fourth.”

Reaves added: “If you come out and he has 15 in the first, we’re going to score 30 in the quarter, unless everybody else is shooting bricks like I was tonight.”

Three games in, Doncic is averaging 45.3 points.

Asked if he could sustain a 40-point average for the season, he smiled.

“That’s going to be tough,” he said. “Sometimes I won’t be able to score that much.”

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