Luka Doncic scored a season-high 53 points on Friday night, and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied past the Portland Trail Blazers 124-118 in NBA Cup play at Crypto.com Arena. The win was the fourth in a row for the Lakers, and it avenged a loss to the Blazers last week.
Doncic made 17 of his 33 shots, hit five 3-pointers and went 14 of 18 at the free throw line. He added five rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes. For most of the first half, though, his team was chasing the game, and it took one of the longest shots of the season to turn the night around.
A 62-foot spark before halftime
Portland led 29-20 after the first quarter and held a 10-point lead in the final seconds of the first half. Then Doncic launched a 62-foot, three-quarter-court shot at the halftime buzzer. It dropped, the deficit was down to 60-53, and the building woke up. Reuters pointed to that play as the moment the momentum shifted, and the second half backed it up.
Twenty points in a single quarter
Doncic scored 20 points in the third quarter alone, five more than the entire Portland team managed in the same 12 minutes. The Lakers outscored the Blazers 34-15 in the period. A Ziaire Williams 3-pointer with 4:23 left in the quarter, set up by a Doncic assist, gave Los Angeles a 71-68 lead, its first lead since Doncic scored the opening basket of the game, and the Lakers never trailed again. The Lakers carried an 87-75 lead into the fourth quarter, and Doncic already had 40 points.
Portland made it close late
The Blazers refused to fold. Deni Avdija finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists, and Damian Lillard scored 22 points. Portland scored 43 points in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to 114-110 when Lillard made two free throws with 50.8 seconds left. Doncic answered with a floater with 27.7 seconds to play, a basket that pushed him past 50 points and closed the door. He added two free throws with 10 seconds left, and Los Angeles, which scored 37 points of its own in the fourth quarter, closed the game out at the line.
Austin Reaves helped carry the load for Los Angeles with 25 points, making all eight of his free throws and collecting four steals after a cold shooting start. Walker Kessler added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
The result also flipped the script from the first meeting between the teams this season. Portland won that game 136-129 in late October, on a night when Doncic scored 41 points in a losing effort. This time, his biggest scoring night of the season came with the win attached.
A streak Kobe Bryant would recognize
The 53 points gave Doncic the 11th 50-point game of his career, moving him into a tie for 10th place on the NBA’s all-time list. It was also his fourth straight game with at least 40 points. The run started with 45 points against Toronto and 42 against Miami, and it rolled on with his 40-point night at Sacramento on Wednesday. He is the first Laker to score 40 or more in four straight games since Kobe Bryant did it in 2012, and he already has six 40-point games this young season.
The Lakers improved to 8-2 and evened their NBA Cup group record at 1-1. Portland fell to 6-2, lost its Cup opener and saw its three-game winning streak end. The Lakers are home again on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons. For more scores and analysis, visit our Sports coverage.
Sources: Reuters game recap, November 7, 2026; sportradar box score; theScore; NBC Sports.