After two straight wins to begin the 2026-27 NBA season, getting the best of the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers hit the road for the first time, going head-to-head with the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center on Sunday.

Even though the Lakers were favorites heading into this matchup against Lauri Markkanen and company, the Jazz came to play, leading by as much as 18 points. It took some time for the Lakers to start clicking, but they flipped the script before halftime, erasing the deficit and taking the lead.

Ultimately, following a stellar 52-point performance from Luka Doncic, the Lakers were able to stay perfect and come out on top, 132-123.

Here are my three takeaways from the Lakers’ third straight win.

No. 3: Rebounding Struggles Continue

The Lakers got destroyed on the glass by the Jazz on Sunday. Utah outrebounded JJ Redick’s squad 51-30, which is unacceptable and seems to be a persistent problem to start the 2026-27 campaign.

Walker Kessler failed to make much of an impact in his first game against his old team, finishing with more fouls (4) than points (2). He added seven rebounds and a block, but took only two shots and didn’t look like the same imposing force in the paint that he was in the first two games.

It doesn’t help that Kevon Looney is looking like a bust early in the season. The veteran center played just five minutes off the bench, scoring two points and grabbing two rebounds.

Los Angeles is in desperate need of an upgrade at center in the second unit, which was never more apparent than in this game against the Jazz.

No. 2: Lakers Show Impressive Resilience

The team came out flat on Sunday afternoon, as they simply couldn’t get anything going in the first quarter, which led to being down by 18.

Obviously, that’s not ideal, especially against a young team that no one expects to do much this season.

However, it gave the new-look Lakers an opportunity to show their resiliency, as they didn’t quit and kicked it into high gear in the second quarter. 

The comeback was sparked by Doncic, who was playing on another level against the Jazz and actually got MVP chants when at the free-throw line late in the game, but it was a team effort, with players stepping up on both ends of the floor.

No. 1: Luka Doncic Puts on a Show With MVP-Caliber Performance

Doncic had his best all-around performance of the season thus far on Sunday, as he was virtually unstoppable with his scoring, passing and being the team’s best rebounder.

The reigning scoring champion finished with a season-high 52 points to go along with 10 assists, eight rebounds and two steals. 

The 27-year-old was on a mission, and once he got on a roll, the Jazz had no answer for him, as he got better and better as the game went on.

Austin Reaves also had a solid performance, with 29 points on only 12 shots. The Lakers backcourt duo is already playing at a high level and showing the chemistry that made them so tough to contain for opposing teams last season.

On Tuesday, the Lakers will face arguably their toughest challenge thus far, hosting the Portland Trail Blazers, who will also be undefeated (2-0) coming into this matchup at Crypto.com Arena.