Luka Doncic. Image via: Harry How/ Getty Images
Luka Doncic scored 52 points on Sunday night to lift the Los Angeles Lakers over the Utah Jazz, 132-123, at the Delta Center. Los Angeles trailed 47-29 after the first quarter, an 18-point hole, and still won. Doncic shot 17-of-30 and added 10 assists, eight rebounds and two steals in 38 minutes. It was the first 50-point game by any NBA player this season. The win put the Lakers at 3-0, and replies online centered on his spot on an MVP ladder. Luka Doncic had 17 of the Lakers’ 29 first-quarter points. It was not enough against a Utah team controlling the offensive glass, with Ace Bailey adding 15, most of them off offensive rebounds. Reaves finished with 29 points on only 12 shots, and the two went a combined 21-of-24 at the free throw line. Bailey, 20, spent most of the night guarding Doncic. He scored 50 against Houston on December 23, 2022, in a 112-106 Dallas win, and 50 again against Phoenix on Christmas Day 2023, a 128-114 win in which he also passed 10,000 career points. Sunday moved him past LeBron James into sixth on the Lakers’ all-time list of 40-point games. It took him 95 games to reach 3,000 points as a Laker. George Mikan needed 106 and James needed 114.
Cut those attempts in half, he said, and the result changes. Hardy said the experience cannot be copied in practice. The coach said it felt longer than three and a half minutes.
He closed it with back-to-back threes late in the fourth. Utah coach Will Hardy pointed there first. He also accepted that Doncic makes hard shots, saying “that’s life in the NBA against the best players. He also went to Josh Green, who had barely played through two games. Green got a little over three minutes in the fourth quarter with nine minutes left. In that stretch Los Angeles turned it over four times and made one field goal. Doncic has done this before.
Reaction arrived fast. @smarti_mr kept it short: “Not MVP worthy according to the NBA though”. @ToysTwittapops pointed to a ladder with him sixth, posting “Luka falls to 6th on the MVP ladder” and tagging the league. @davidkimbrough2 went with sarcasm: “So he’s not the best player on the planet than who is ill wait”.