James had an amazing debut! He created three miracles in NBA history in one game, the Lakers won 3 consecutive games, and Doncic scored 37+10

Editor|Old Kankanqiu

On November 19, the NBA 2025-26 season ushered in the focus of the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Lakers sat at home and faced the Utah Jazz. What people are looking forward to is that the Lakers have received a major benefit. LeBron James (sciatica), who has missed 14 consecutive games, will make his comeback today. This will also be his first season in the 23rd year of his career, surpassing Vince Carter (22 years) to become the first player in NBA history to play for 23 seasons. This is definitely a historic moment.

The most important thing is that despite James's consecutive absences, the Lakers' current record is still strong. Under the leadership of Doncic and Reeves, the team has won 10 wins and 2 losses, won 2 consecutive victories, and ranked fourth in the Western Conference, which is really surprising. Before the game, the US media ESPN made a prediction for this game: the Lakers' winning rate is as high as 89.5%, while the Jazz's winning rate is only 10.5%, with a significant gap.

In terms of the starting lineup, the Jazz’s latest starting five are: Keyante George, Ace Bailey, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Lauri Markkanen and Jusuf Nurkic; For the Lakers, Thiero (recovering from left knee surgery) and Vincent (left ankle sprain) will still be absent. James will usher in the first game back. The starting lineup is: Luka Doncic, Austin Reeves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James and Deandre Ayton.

At the beginning of the first quarter, Mykhailiuk and Keyante George each scored two three-pointers. The Jazz led the Lakers 16-6 in the beginning. James received the ball on the wing and made a decisive three-point shot out of the frame. George faced Hayes and hit a difficult pull-up mid-range shot. Hayes responded with an alley-oop dunk in the next round. Doncic passed a wonderful pass to Laravia for a one-arm dunk, and then easily passed Kyle Lee for a layup. The Lakers went on a 9-2 run to narrow the point difference to 3 points. James counterattacked, caught the opponent's foothold and sent out an assist. Laravia caught the ball in the corner and hit a three-pointer. Markkanen immediately responded with a three-pointer, and then dribbled past James and tied it 2+1. After the first quarter, the Jazz led the Lakers 36-27 by 9 points.

In the first quarter of the game, James played 7 minutes, scored 0 of 1 three-pointers, got 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 1 turnover, with a plus-minus value of -14; Doncic made 3 of 7 shots, scored 9 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 4 turnovers.

Back in the second quarter, Ayton first blocked Collier, then stole Collier and assisted Reeves for a layup. The Lakers went 5-0 to catch up to 5 points and stop the Jazz. Doncic posted up Mykhailiuk, drilled into the paint and made a hard layup to score 2+1. Then he took a step away from the three-point line and made a three-pointer. He already scored 18 points. Reeves dealt the card under the single hanging basket. When Doncic took off and tried to make an alley-oop, he was hit in the ribs by George in the air. He looked in pain when he landed. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured. James hit a three-pointer during the counterattack, Reeves faced the defense and made another 3+1, and the Lakers tied the score. Markkanen still hit a three-pointer at the buzzer despite Reeves' strong defense, and there were extra penalties. After halftime, the Jazz led the Lakers by 4 points 71-67.

Halftime data, for the Lakers, James played 18 minutes, scored 7 points on 2-of-4, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 turnover, with a plus-minus of -10, and has made 2,560 shots in his career. Recorded three-pointers, tying Reggie Miller for sixth place in history; Doncic made 5 of 11 shots in 19 minutes and scored 20 points, 6 assists and 3 steals; Reeves made 4 of 6 shots and 3 three-pointers, contributing 14 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist.

For the Jazz, Keyante George made 9 of 15 shots in 17 minutes and scored 23 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists; Markkanen made 8 of 14 shots in 17 minutes and scored 22 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

Changed sides to fight again. Markkanen passed Doncic and hit a layup against Ayton. James responded with an assist from Reeves for an easy layup, and then faked a fadeaway mid-range shot and hit his first two points of the season. Bailey received an assist from Nurkic and succeeded in a reverse layup. The scores of the two teams increased alternately. James hit George with his back and ran into the inside for a layup. He scored in double figures and continued his record. Doncic was surrounded by three people while advancing in the backcourt. He was hit by Kyle Lee and fell to the ground in pain. The referee called a foul on Doncic. Then Doncic made a series of fouls and went to the free throw line to respond. Then the two men made a pass and scored with an extra penalty. The Lakers overtook the score and took the lead for the first time in this game.

In the fourth quarter of the decisive battle, James sent an assist, Hayes performed a long-distance tomahawk dunk, and then assisted Ayton twice in a row. He has now sent 10 assists, and the Lakers have led to 19 points. Ayton grabbed consecutive offensive rebounds and put them in. The Lakers opened the point difference to 23+ points with more than 4 minutes left. There was no suspense in the game. In the end, the Lakers completed an 11-point reversal and won 3 consecutive victories.

Full game statistics, for the Lakers, James made an amazing debut. He contributed 11 points, 3 rebounds and 12 assists on 4-of-7 shooting. He scored in double figures in 1,293 consecutive games and continued to set the first record in history (the last time he failed to score in double figures was January 5, 2007). In addition , becoming the second-oldest player in NBA history to have double-digit assists in a single game during the regular season, second only to Stockton. He set three miracles in NBA history in one game, which is really awesome; Doncic made 13 of 16 free throws and scored 37 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals and 8 turnovers; Reeves scored 26 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist.

For the Jazz, Keyante George made 12 of 22 shots and scored 33 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals; Markkanen contributed 31 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.