Dončić scores 52 as Lakers erase 18-point deficit to beat Jazz and move to 3-0

Luka Dončić scored 52 points and dragged the Los Angeles Lakers back from 18 points down to beat the Utah Jazz 132-123 on Sunday night, keeping his side unbeaten at 3-0 after three games of the 2026-27 season.

Dončić made eight 3-pointers and handed out 10 assists. Reuters had him down for eight rebounds, the Associated Press for seven. Either way, it was the first 50-point game of the season by anyone in the league, and it came on the road, against a Utah team that had looked in complete control for a quarter.

From 18 down to a 21-point quarter

The Jazz led 47-29 after the first quarter, despite Dončić scoring 17 points in the period on his own. Nothing the Lakers did at the other end could slow Utah early.

The second quarter changed everything. Los Angeles outscored the Jazz 45-24, according to NBA.com, and went into the interval 74-71 in front. Dončić had 25 points by half-time.

Utah did not fold. The game was still in the balance deep into the fourth quarter before the Lakers produced a 14-5 run that Dončić finished with back-to-back 3-pointers, putting Los Angeles 127-121 up with 1:42 left. The Jazz never recovered.

"We show a lot of character, a lot of heart," Dončić told ESPN. "It's an away game, you're down 20, you can easily just go away. But we stay in the game, we talk to each other, and everybody talks a lot about the team. I think we showed a lot of potential there, and we just came back and everybody was locked in."

JJ Redick's description, as reported by NBA.com, was shorter. "When he's in the flow state, he gets into 'Showman Mode,'" he said.

Austin Reaves added 29 points for the Lakers. Walker Kessler, making his first appearance in Utah since the sign-and-trade deal that took him to Los Angeles in July, finished with two points and seven rebounds, the AP reported.

Where the night sits in Dončić's record

The numbers around this performance are the kind that usually take a career to assemble. Reuters counted it as Dončić's 10th regular-season game with at least 50 points. ESPN noted it was his fourth career game with 50 points and 10 assists, and that he is now only the second player in NBA history to post a 50-point, 10-assist game for more than one franchise. The other is Wilt Chamberlain.

NBA.com added a Lakers-specific first: no player in the franchise's history had previously put up at least 50 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and five 3-pointers in a single game. The site called it Dončić's first masterclass of the season, which rather implies more are expected.