SALT LAKE CITY — Luka Doncic’s offensive flurry to shut out the Lakers’ comeback highway win over the Jazz on Sunday drew all of the consideration.

And understandably so.

His 52 factors at Delta Center are the most scored by a participant so far in the 2026-27 season.

Luka Doncic has the highest-scoring sport by a participant so far this season. NBAE via Getty Images

The trio of 3-pointers he hit in the last few minutes of the sport were all consequential: The first tied at the sport at 116 apiece with just over 4 minutes left; the second gave the Lakers a five-point lead with 2:22 left in the sport; and the third not only gave Doncic’s staff a 127-121 lead with 1:42 left, but also gave him his tenth profession 50-point sport (third as a Laker).

And that’s not even factoring in him aiding Austin Reaves on a 3 that iced the sport, placing the Lakers up 130-123 with 34 seconds left while Doncic and Reaves taunted the crowd.

But it was his contributions on the less glamorous finish of the ground that put the Lakers in the positions they were in to come back from an 18-point deficit.

In the midst of the Slovenian famous person’s offensive onslaught was one of the largest defensive performs of the sport.

After making the 3 that tied the sport at 116, the 6-foot-8 guard slid into the correct assist defensive place to take a cost against Keyonte George driving into the paint before the Jazz guard could make the kickout move to Doncic’s man, Ace Bailey, in the nook. 

Luka Doncic drawing a cost against Keyonte George was a game-changing play late in the fourth quarter. Getty Images

Doncic made a pair of free throws on the Lakers’ ensuing possession after drawing a foul to give his staff a lead they held for the the rest of the sport. 

“At the end of the day, he’s a competitor, he wants to win,” Walker Kessler said. “He wants to do what it takes to win. That charge was not only a great play, but just a great momentum change.”

Doncic had a momentum-changing defensive play earlier in the sport that led to an instant offensive payoff.

He closed out the second quarter by stripping Bailey on his drive to the rim before hitting a pull-up 3, giving the Lakers a 74-71 lead going into halftime after they trailed by 18 earlier in the quarter.

Luka Doncic’s stepback 3 over Ace Bailey to shut out the first half wouldn’t have occur with out the defensive cease he made beforehand. AP Photo/Bethany Baker

Coach JJ Redick said Doncic’s 3-pointer proper halftime was when he realized he discovered his offensive rhythm.

But that 3 doesn’t come with out the defensive cease and playmaking that preceded it. 

“I told him this earlier [on Sunday]: Defensively, he’s been really good,” Redick said. “He didn’t start the game with the right physicality on Bailey. He’ll own all that stuff. As the game progressed, it was the defensive version of Luka that we love to see.”

Doncic acknowledged his subpar defensive play earlier in the sport, notably boxing out Bailey, who had 5 of his six offensive rebounds in the first quarter.

“Ace Bailey got like three offensive rebounds on me, so that was my bad point,” he said, “But otherwise, pretty solid.”

But he made a important defensive turnaround just in time to lead the Lakers to their straight win.