Gilbert Arenas breaks down how Luka Doncic could plague Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's dominance in potential Lakers-Thunder playoffs series

Luka Doncic has continued to shine bright with the LA Lakers, towing the team to a top-four record. However, the team remained far from the league’s top seed OKC Thunder, who holds the top spot in the Western Conference with a 59-12 win-loss record, making them a prime matchup with Doncic’s Lakers.

For former NBA player Gilbert Arenas, Doncic would have the upper hand against Gilgeous-Alexander in a potential Lakers-Thunder matchup in the playoffs. In his latest Gil's Arena podcast, Arenas said that the referees will favor Doncic more than Shai in a playoff series, making Doncic a more effective player than the MVP candidate.

“If you’re Lakers or Denver, you want your second-round matchup against that young OKC,” Arenas said.

“What Shai is great at is getting fouled. Well, what happens when the playoffs come in and they don’t want to blow their whistles, that hurts his game, and then that hurts the team’s game. They’re going to give the (calls) to Luka,” Arenas said.

Arenas added that Gilgeous-Alexander will only be getting the foul calls after Doncic as he thinks that the Slovenian star will be favored more due to his methodical play style.

“Luka is going to get the call first, then Shai, then AR (Austin Reaves), with the bait stuff,” he said.

Doncic has been averaging 27.6 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game this season. Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander has been one of, if not the best player in the league this season, putting up 32.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game for the Thunder.

In last year’s playoffs, Doncic, then still playing for the Dallas Mavericks, eliminated Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder in the second round en route to making it to the NBA Finals.

Luka Doncic praises Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for his MVP-caliber season

While they have pitted against each other since last year, the Lakers' Luka Doncic has remained respectful of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. In an interview, Doncic praised the Thunder star for his all-around game, before explaining how tough he is to guard.

"Just overall, he's a great scorer. Gets his teammates involved, just a lot of times it's hard to stop him. I think at some point, you gotta send two, three players. It's amazing to play against a guy like this. The battles. It's fun. He's an amazing player,” he said of SGA.

Gilgeous-Alexander is in a tight race with Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic for this year’s MVP award.

On the other hand, Doncic was eliminated from any individual awards as he will not meet the minimum required games played for the season after suffering an injury before his trade to the Lakers.