Dončić scores 53 and banks in 61-footer as Lakers beat Trail Blazers 124-118

Luka Dončić scored 53 points, including a 61-foot bank shot at the halftime buzzer, as the Los Angeles Lakers came from 16 points down to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 124-118 in an NBA Cup game on Friday 6 November, according to the Associated Press.

It was the Lakers' fourth consecutive win, and it carried Dončić into rare company. He joined Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant and George Mikan as the only Lakers to score 40 points in four straight regular-season games, and passed Mikan for the fifth-most 40-point games in franchise history after just 101 regular-season appearances in Los Angeles.

The 53 points made it his 11th career 50-point game and his fourth with the Lakers. He added five assists and five rebounds, and the Pasadena Star-News reported he shot 17 for 33 from the field and made five of 15 three-point attempts.

A shot from the other free-throw circle

For long stretches of the first half, little went right for the Lakers at crypto.com Arena. They missed their first 15 three-point attempts, Dončić missed his first five from deep, and Portland built a 16-point lead in the second quarter.

Then, with the Lakers still trailing by double digits in the final seconds of the half, Dončić gathered the ball at the opposite free-throw circle and banked in a shot the Associated Press measured at 61 feet. The Wichita Eagle described it as a 62-foot, three-quarter-court heave. Either way, it was the kind of moment that changes the mood in a crowd of 19,057.

Dončić was understated afterwards. "I thought it was an important shot to make — so that’s why I decided to make it," he said, according to the Associated Press.

The third quarter belonged to him. He scored 20 points in the period, and the Lakers, who had trailed by 16 in the second quarter, went on a 32-11 run that gave them a 16-point lead of their own early in the fourth.

Reaves helps close it out

Portland did not go quietly. A late 12-point Lakers lead was cut to four before Dončić and Austin Reaves combined for 10 points in the final seconds, with Dončić's jumper in the lane with 28 seconds remaining the decisive blow.

Reaves finished with 25 points. Walker Kessler contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds, important work on a night when the Lakers' perimeter shooting deserted them for so long.

The result also settled a score. Portland had won 136-129 in the same building on Tuesday 27 October, and the Lakers put that right.

For the Trail Blazers, it was only their second defeat of the season, coming at the end of a four-game road trip. Deni Avdija had 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and Damian Lillard also scored 22, but they could not contain Dončić after the interval.