Lauri Markkanen said he hopes his maiden 50-point performance against the Phoenix Suns will not be the last of his NBA career.

The Utah Jazz defeated the Suns 138-134 in overtime, with Markkanen scoring 51 points for the team’s second win of the 2025-26 season.

It marked the first 50-point display from a Jazz player since Karl Malone scored 56 against the Golden State Warriors in 1998, while Markkanen also tied the franchise record for most free throws made in a game without a miss (17).

The 28-year-old added 14 rebounds and three assists to his points total, while also making six shots from beyond the arc.

The Finnish forward became the first player in Jazz history with at least 50 points, 10 rebounds and five made three-pointers in a game.

live, laugh, lauri pic.twitter.com/bAj9ezlVMr

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 28, 2025

Markkanen reached the 50-point mark from the charity stripe, scoring his final points in the last two seconds of overtime.

And despite playing 45 minutes in total, he insisted he was not tired as he looked to seal victory at Delta Center.

“As long as you're mentally not tired, and kind of force yourself out of that mindset that you're tired, and then you can push through whatever you need to,” Markkanen said.

“The game is slower now. You get hungrier as it happens, so hopefully, it's not the last.

“I never think about, I'm going to go for 50, but obviously, when it's overtime, and you're at 47 and they start fouling, you start think there's a there's a good chance that it's going to happen.”