Lauri Markkanen shone as the Utah Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns 138-134 in overtime at the Delta Center on Monday. Markkanen racked up 51 points (14-32 FG), 14 rebounds, and three assists against the Suns, and he made team history in the process.
Markkanen has now become the first Jazz player to score 50 points in a regular-season game in the 21st century. Donovan Mitchell did it twice in the playoffs in the Bubble in 2020, but he never got to a half-century in the regular season.
In case you’re wondering how far back one needs to go to find the last instance, it was when Karl Malone scored 56 points against the Golden State Warriors on April 7, 1998.
If you take a look at the last 10 times that a player had hit the 50-point mark for the Jazz before Markkanen, it is actually just two men.
1. Karl Malone vs. Golden State Warriors in 1998 – 56 points
2. Karl Malone vs. Golden State Warriors in 1995 – 51 points
3. Karl Malone vs. Milwaukee Bucks in 1990 – 61 points
4. Karl Malone vs. Charlotte Hornets in 1989 – 52 points
5. Adrian Dantley vs. Chicago Bulls in 1982 – 57 points
6. Adrian Dantley vs. Denver Nuggets in 1982 – 53 points
7. Adrian Dantley vs. Denver Nuggets in 1981 – 55 points
8. Adrian Dantley vs. Denver Nuggets in 1981 – 51 points
9. Adrian Dantley vs. Dallas Mavericks in 1980 – 50 points
10. Adrian Dantley vs. Los Angeles Lakers in 1979 – 50 points
What this list should tell you is that Adrian Dantley was an incredible scorer. To have more 50-point games for the Jazz than Malone, who is third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, is quite something.
Dantley won two scoring titles in 1981 and 1984 in his 15-year playing career. He could score with the best of them, and that scoring prowess led to him making six All-Star and two All-NBA teams. Like Malone, though, he never won an NBA title.
Markkanen, who is now averaging 34.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game for the Jazz in 2025-26, would be hoping he has a championship to his name by the time he walks away from the game. The Jazz aren’t close to competing as things stand, but their start to the season has given reasons to be optimistic about the future.
The Jazz shockingly blew out the Los Angeles Clippers 129-108 in their season opener. They then narrowly lost 105-104 to the Sacramento Kings before taking down the Suns in overtime. The Jazz are now 2-1 in 2025-26, and it took them nine games to get two wins in 2024-25. They finished last season with a woeful 17-65 record, and you wonder how much better they can be this time around.
The Jazz will be in action next when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers at the Delta Center on Wednesday at 9 PM ET.
