Luka Doncic gave the Los Angeles Lakers a 3-0 start Sunday while climbing past Kevin Durant in a different scoring race. His 52 points powered a 132-123 victory over the Utah Jazz, giving him 10 career games with at least 50 points.
“Luka, he’s on the way,” Durant said in a March interview with Boardroom per Bleacher Report. “They’re hitting those marks that I hit at that time, that LeBron hit, Kobe hit at that age. … I just hope that moment is as special for them as it is for me passing the greats that I looked up to and watched when I was younger. I hope I left that impact on the game.”
Doncic’s latest performance moved him ahead of Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo in career 50-point outings. He also drew even with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, sharing 11th place in NBA history.
The milestone came during Los Angeles’ first road appearance this season. After opening with two home victories, the Lakers overcame an uneven beginning in Utah to keep their unbeaten record intact.
Where does Luka Doncic stand among the NBA’s 50-point scorers?
At 27, Doncic has reached double figures in career 50-point performances. His next such game would bring him level with Allen Iverson, who sits one ahead.
Against Utah, Doncic converted 56.7% of his 30 field-goal attempts. He also connected at a 44.4% clip across 18 attempts from beyond the arc, combining volume with efficiency on his way to 52.
He established his scoring rhythm immediately, accounting for Los Angeles’ opening six points. By the end of the first quarter, he had 17, even as the Lakers struggled to find their footing around him.
Durant’s earlier comments concerned the broader pursuit of scoring milestones. Following Houston’s March 21 victory against Miami, his 32,294 career points placed him fifth on the league’s scoring leaderboard, ahead of Michael Jordan.
That career-points ranking measures something different from the 50-point list Doncic climbed Sunday. Still, Durant had already identified Doncic as a player following the scoring benchmarks that he, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant reached.
Sunday supplied another milestone in that progression, with Doncic moving beyond Durant in the number of times each has reached 50.
How does Doncic’s performance compare with Lakers scoring greats?
Doncic also advanced within Lakers history, Yahoo reports. The Utah game marked his third 50-point performance for Los Angeles, matching James’ total during his Lakers tenure and putting Doncic fifth on the franchise list.
According to StatMuse, that moved him beyond Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain. Bryant remains the franchise leader in 50-point games.
The two lists give Doncic’s afternoon separate significance. His career total now matches Abdul-Jabbar’s, while his Lakers total matches James’. The comparisons reflect different stretches of his career, with only three of his 10 qualifying performances coming in a Los Angeles uniform.
For the Lakers, the immediate result also mattered. Doncic’s biggest scoring performance of the young season helped them secure a nine-point road victory after their two home wins.
Los Angeles finished the afternoon unbeaten, and Doncic finished it with new company on both the NBA and Lakers scoring lists. That boy is cold.
Luka Doncic’s 52-point Eruption Moves Him Past Kevin Durant