{"id":941147,"date":"2026-10-26T04:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T04:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/941147\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T04:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T04:24:13","slug":"luka-doncic-scores-52-points-to-power-lakers-comeback-over-jazz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/941147\/","title":{"rendered":"Luka Doncic scores 52 points to power Lakers comeback over Jazz"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SALT LAKE CITY\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Luka Doncic<\/a> raised three fingers toward the Utah crowd. Fans were left counting more than just his points.<\/p>\n

Doncic hit three clutch three-pointers late in the fourth quarter and took a momentum-swinging charge to lead the Lakers<\/a> to a nail-biting 132-123 victory over<\/a> the Utah Jazz on Sunday at Delta Center. Doncic led the Lakers (3-0<\/a>) with 52 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds as the team fought back from an 18-point second-quarter deficit.<\/p>\n

Guard Austin Reaves hit a dagger three with 34 seconds remaining to give the Lakers a seven-point lead. As Doncic salted the game away from the free-throw line, he was serenaded with chants of \u201cMVP!\u201d Reaves finished with 29 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting MVP chants in someone else\u2019s arena is crazy,\u201d center Walker Kessler said. \u201cBut, you know, obviously deserving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kessler knows this arena well. It\u2019s where he spent the first four years of his career. But the center was quiet in his return to Salt Lake City. After he joined the Lakers in a massive sign-and-trade deal<\/a> that cost the Lakers two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps and a four-year, $130-million contract, Kessler was held to just two points on one-of-two shooting with seven rebounds.<\/p>\n

Kessler received a mixed reception from the crowd, which included a large number of fans in Lakers colors. The Jazz didn\u2019t play a highlight reel during the game to welcome the center back, as many teams often do for a player who returns on an opposing team.<\/p>\n

Kessler had averaged 24 points and 8.5 rebounds per game during the Lakers\u2019 first two games and shot a blazing 84.6% from the field while feasting off lob passes from Doncic and Reaves.<\/p>\n

When asked whether Kessler\u2019s return would spark extra motivation for the Jazz, Utah coach Will Hardy dispelled any suggestions of revenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn no way is tonight about Walker,\u201d Hardy said. \u201cLike it\u2019s not a, \u2018Oh wow Walker\u2019s here so we better play harder.\u2019 We\u2019re gonna demand the same standard that we did in our last game. Some of the story lines I don\u2019t quite understand. Like we have a lot of love for Walker. He\u2019s somebody that we have a great relationship with and a lot of shared experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kessler admitted he \u201clet my emotions get the best of me\u201d in his return Utah, which he described as \u201ca special place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKind of got too amped and then just couldn\u2019t find the ball,\u201d Kessler said. \u201cCouldn\u2019t find the rhythm, just kind of was off a couple fouls that were tough, a couple blocks I usually [make]. It\u2019s one of those nights. But fortunately basketball is not a one-man sport.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Lakers showed they have one of the best duos in the league.<\/p>\n

Reaves was held scoreless during the first quarter, but awoke for 15 points in the second. The undrafted guard has so far lived up to the massive contract extension he signed in June, averaging 26.7 points per game on 63.9% shooting with 6.2 assists per game. <\/p>\n

\u201cAR so far in these three games has just been Mr. Consistency,\u201d Lakers coach JJ Redick said. <\/p>\n

Reaves started the comeback. Doncic completed it. In less than 30 seconds, Doncic watched a fadeaway jumper circle the rim before dropping through for a three-point play, then ripped the ball out of Ace Bailey\u2019s arms for a steal before hitting a three at the buzzer to put the Lakers up by three at halftime.<\/p>\n

The Slovenian superstar was coming off an admittedly \u201cterrible\u201d game in which he had 23 points, seven assists and 11 turnovers in the Lakers\u2019 home win over the Clippers. Redick said Doncic is still finding his rhythm after not playing with the Slovenian national team over the summer as he typically does.<\/p>\n

Doncic made just two of his first eight three-point attempts Sunday. He looked right back in rhythm when he splashed the tying three with 4:06 remaining in the fourth quarter and pushed his palms toward the ground to quiet the crowd.<\/p>\n

The final shot before halftime showed Redick that Doncic has his groove back.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he\u2019s in the flow state, he gets into, like, showman mode,\u201d Redick said. \u201cHe\u2019s on stage performing … it\u2019s always really fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doncic gave the friendly road crowd his best moves. Lying on his back watching one his shots roll through the net, he shimmied his shoulders before teammates pulled him to his feet. When he splashed the tying three with 4:06 remaining in the fourth, he wagged his finger. On the next possession, he let out a scream when he stepped in front of Keyonte George to take a charge. After putting the Lakers up by six with 1:40 remaining with one of his signature step-back threes, Doncic held three up three fingers to the crowd. <\/p>\n

Doncic went nearly seven months without hearing that roar. Not playing with the national team left him out of competition for one of the longest stretches of his career. He doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s back to full form yet. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still getting there honestly,\u201d Doncic said. \u201cThis is the first time I didn\u2019t play basketball in six or seven months, which is a long time. So I\u2019m not used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He still looked right at home hearing \u201cMVP\u201d chants from a road crowd. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SALT LAKE CITY\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Luka Doncic raised three fingers toward the Utah crowd. Fans were left counting more than just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":941148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,121275,69844,10031,1862,508109,162175,9473,24989,2873,11473,590,321,10227,9664,85,508108,9829],"class_list":["post-941147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-delta-center","tag-fan","tag-first-round-pick","tag-game","tag-guard-austin-reaves","tag-hardy","tag-jazz","tag-kessler","tag-lakers","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nba","tag-point","tag-rebound","tag-return","tag-sports","tag-utah-crowd","tag-walker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}