Doncic's halftime heave flipped a 16-point hole into a season-high 53-point night and a 124-118 NBA Cup win over the Trail Blazers — his fourth straight 40-point game, company only Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant and George Mikan keep in Lakers history.
The Lakers missed their first 15 three-pointers and trailed Portland by 16 in the second quarter. Luka Doncic banked in a 62-foot shot at the halftime buzzer, scored 20 points in a third quarter Portland scored 15 as a team, and finished with a season-high 53 as Los Angeles rallied to beat the Trail Blazers 124-118 in NBA Cup group play at crypto.com Arena.
The Heave That Turned the Night
For nearly a half, the Lakers could not buy a shot from distance. They opened the game on the yellow NBA Cup court missing their first 15 attempts from three-point range, made only three of their first 23, and Portland — playing the finale of a four-game road trip, beaten only once all season — pushed the lead to 16 in the second quarter.
Then came the last play of the half. Doncic took the ball in the backcourt, launched from 62 feet at the buzzer, and banked it in. Portland still led 60-53 at the break, but the building had changed, and so had the game. The shot was the Lakers' fourth made three of the half — from the farthest spot on the floor.
Twenty Points Against Fifteen
The third quarter was the takeover. Los Angeles outscored Portland 34-15 in the period, ripping off 17 consecutive points at one stretch. Doncic scored 20 of those 34 himself — five more than the entire Trail Blazers team managed in the quarter.
The Lakers took their first lead since Doncic's opening basket made it 2-0 when Ziaire Williams hit a three for a 71-68 edge with 4:23 left in the third. They carried an 87-75 lead into the fourth, with Doncic already sitting on 40.
His duel with Damian Lillard, Portland's returning star, tells the night in one line: Doncic finished with 53 points, five rebounds and five assists on 17-for-33 shooting; Lillard had 22 points and four assists, and his team needed a 43-point fourth quarter just to make the finish nervous.
Portland Wouldn't Fold
The Trail Blazers made the Lakers earn every second of it. Los Angeles pushed its own lead to 16 early in the fourth behind a 32-11 run, and Portland still roared back — Deni Avdija, who finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists, kept creating, and Lillard's free throws cut the margin to 114-110 with 50.8 seconds left.
That is when Doncic closed it. His floater in the lane with 27.7 seconds remaining pushed him past 50 points and restored order, and he and Austin Reaves combined for the Lakers' final 10 points of pressure release. Reaves finished with 25 points — 15 of them in the fourth quarter — and Walker Kessler added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
The Company He's Keeping
This was Doncic's 11th career 50-point game and his fourth as a Laker. It was his second 50-point game of this young season, after 52 at Utah on October 25, and it extended a seven-game surge in which he has scored at least 35 points every night — with six 40-point games in that stretch, including four in a row.
Four straight 40-point games puts him in a room with three other Lakers in franchise history: Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant and George Mikan. Friday's game also moved him past Mikan for the fifth-most 40-point games in Lakers history — after just 101 regular-season games in a Lakers uniform. He is the league's leading scorer, averaging 40.1 points a night, and the win avenged the Lakers' October 27 loss to this same Portland team.
The Lakers are 8-2 and 1-1 in NBA Cup group play; Portland falls to 6-2 and 0-1 in the Cup. Up next: the Lakers visit Detroit on Sunday, and the Trail Blazers host San Antonio on Saturday.
Elsewhere Tonight
- Timberwolves 115, Pelicans 109 — Ayo Dosunmu scored 26 and Minnesota closed on a 38-point fourth quarter in New Orleans to stay unbeaten in NBA Cup play; Jeremiah Fears led the Pelicans with 24.
- Thunder 128, Grizzlies 97 — Ajay Mitchell scored 35 and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 28 as Oklahoma City routed Memphis, which shot just 33 percent.
- Spurs 124, Kings 109 — Victor Wembanyama put up 30 points and 14 rebounds in 26 minutes as San Antonio won in Sacramento; Darius Acuff Jr. led the Kings with 22.
- Celtics 119, Hornets 80 — Jayson Tatum scored 34 points with eight rebounds and nine assists in 29 minutes as Boston blew out Charlotte.
- Raptors 121, Bucks 107 — RJ Barrett and Alijah Martin scored 27 apiece for Toronto in Milwaukee; Tyler Herro had 23 points and 10 assists for the Bucks.
- Hawks 139, Wizards 132 — Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 28 for Atlanta in a shootout in which Washington's Kyshawn George had a game-high 33 in defeat.
- Cavaliers 119, 76ers 95 — Donovan Mitchell scored 23 with eight assists and Evan Mobley added 22 as Cleveland handled Philadelphia; Jaylen Brown led the 76ers with 20.
- Mavericks 112, Jazz 100 — P.J. Washington scored 26 and Cooper Flagg posted 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as Dallas beat Utah; Lauri Markkanen led the Jazz with 24.
Sources · 3 sources
- ESPN — Box score, play-by-play and scoreboard for Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Lakers, November 6, 2026 (event 401909294), read twice and in agreement
- Associated Press — Game story by Greg Beacham — Doncic's 53, the streak and the franchise-history details (November 6, 2026)
- Reuters — Game report — NBA Cup group state and the closing sequence (November 6, 2026)
The 62-foot distance is ESPN's official play-by-play measurement for the halftime shot (Q2, 0.0: "Luka Doncic makes 62-foot jump bank shot"); the Associated Press measured the same shot at 61 feet.
Every possession from crypto.com Arena — the full box score, play-by-play and Doncic's 53 — is in the Game Center for Portland at Los Angeles, and the night's full NBA slate is on the NBA hub.
