Luka Doncic scored 45 points, dished out 14 assists, collected 11 rebounds, and had five steals to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 143-135 on Thursday night in Salt Lake City.
Doncic earned his 85th career triple-double and his fifth with Los Angeles.
LeBron James tallied 28 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds for the Lakers, who beat Utah for the third time this season. Marcus Smart added 17 points and Jaxson Hayes chipped in 16.
Keyonte George led the Jazz with 34 points and dished out eight assists. Isaiah Collier added 18 points and 13 assists off the bench. Ace Bailey chipped in 19 points while Jusuf Nurkic and Brice Sensabaugh added 15 apiece.
Utah played without leading scorer Lauri Markkanen. The Jazz went just 31-of-47 (66%) from the free-throw line.
Utah showcased efficient offense in the first quarter, shooting 70% from the field and having 11 assists on 14 baskets. It helped the Jazz carve out a 41-32 lead after 12 minutes. Five different players made a 3-pointer for Utah in the first quarter, culminating in an outside basket from Kevin Love that put the Jazz up 40-30.
Doncic helped the Lakers stay within striking distance. He totaled 25 points before halftime and scored or assisted on 16 of Los Angeles’ 27 baskets during that stretch.
It put Los Angeles in a position to capitalize when Utah’s shooting cooled after halftime. The Lakers trailed by nine before chipping away and tying it at 102-102 when Doncic made a layup and a free throw with 1:12 in the third quarter.
Coller and Sensabaugh made back-to-back layups to temporarily put the Jazz back in front before the quarter ended.
Los Angeles opened the fourth quarter with a 15-4 run, ignited by a dunk from James and punctuated by a 3-pointer from Smart and took a 117-110 lead with 7:56 left.
Doncic’s back-to-back 3-pointers gave the Lakers their first double-digit lead at 131-119 with 4:23 remaining.
