Luka Doncic scored 52 points Sunday, Oct. 25, and the Lakers beat the Jazz 132-123 in Salt Lake City. ESPN’s final box score gives him eight made threes and 10 assists. The number I would put beside that scoring line is four: his turnovers, down from 11 against the Clippers on Friday.
I want the Lakers to remember that improvement as clearly as the shots. They cut their team turnovers from 21 to 10, according to ESPN’s two box scores. Doncic supplied the spectacular part of this win. Keeping the ball gave his shot-making a better chance to count.
The Lakers are 3-0, per ESPN’s final game header. Sunday’s victory was hardly tidy. Utah led 47-29 after the first quarter, and Los Angeles needed a huge scoring night to get out of town with its unbeaten record. But this was a welcome change from the Clippers win that Reaves and Kessler rescued from turnovers. The Lakers found a different way to make an afternoon uncomfortable.
According to ESPN’s Jazz box score, Doncic shot 17 of 30 from the field, eight of 18 from three and 10 of 11 at the line. Those are three separate ways to hurt a defense. Utah could not count on the three-point line ending a possession, and fouling him offered very little relief.
Four turnovers still count. I am not handing out a ball-security trophy to the player who scored 52. I am saying that a creator can make ambitious passes, take difficult shots and keep his mistakes below the point where teammates spend the evening paying for them. Ten assists against four turnovers is a much better bargain than Friday’s seven assists against 11, as recorded by ESPN.
The timing of the scoring made the total more than decoration. The Associated Press recap, available through ESPN’s game data, says Doncic made consecutive threes to finish a 14-5 go-ahead run, leaving the Lakers ahead 127-121 with 1:42 remaining. Earlier, his stepback three with 4.1 seconds left in the first half had put them in front 74-71.
That halftime score is the other reason to enjoy this one. ESPN’s quarter totals show the Lakers answering a 47-point Utah first quarter with a 45-24 second quarter of their own. They did not need to wait until the final minutes to erase the opening damage. They had already done it before the break, then still needed Doncic to settle the argument late.
Reaves Made Sure This Was More Than a Solo Act
Austin Reaves contributed 29 points on seven-of-12 shooting, including four of five from three and 11 of 13 free throws, per ESPN. Doncic and Reaves combined for 81 points, calculated from their scoring totals. That is a lot of responsibility concentrated in the starting backcourt, but Reaves made his share remarkably economical.
He also reduced his turnovers from six against the Clippers to three in Utah, according to ESPN. Together, the guards went from 17 giveaways to seven. That comparison is where I find the most useful lesson from the weekend. Both could score while making fewer mistakes. The Lakers should demand that combination again without demanding another 81 points.
We have argued for giving Reaves more chances to create Lakers offense. Sunday’s four assists, per ESPN, were fewer than Friday’s nine, but his value here was the scoring he supplied beside Doncic. A teammate who turns a dozen field-goal attempts into 29 points is doing plenty to keep the offense moving. There is room for Reaves to contribute differently from game to game.
The rest of the scoring deserves its own accounting. ESPN lists 13 points for Collin Sexton, 11 each for Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle, and nine for Sandro Mamukelashvili. Williams and Thybulle each made three of seven threes. Doncic’s eight makes were the headline, but the Lakers finished with 20 made threes on 47 attempts. His teammates supplied 12 of those makes, calculated from ESPN’s totals.
I would still resist making this the shooting standard for the current Lakers roster. A night with 20 made threes gives an offense enormous breathing room. The repeatable demand should be to preserve the possession and give the next shooter a chance. The shooting can vary without the team volunteering extra empty trips.
Walker Kessler finished with two points on one-of-two shooting, seven rebounds and one block, per ESPN. That is why I like having this result immediately after the Clippers win. Friday required a big scoring contribution from the center. Sunday did not. The Lakers won both games, and their best route to becoming harder to defend is to let the productive players change without letting carelessness become permanent.
Reaves’ hot start also makes the case for giving him more three-point attempts.
Nights like this also feed Doncic’s MVP case, and Draymond Green has the wrong reason for doubting it.
Portland visits on Tuesday, according to the AP recap. I want the Lakers to bring Sunday’s restraint with the ball into that game before anyone starts shopping for another 50-point performance. Doncic has already shown what he can do with the ball. Keep giving him chances to use it.