Saturday night was Luka Doncic’s introduction to the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics rivalry. However, Doncic is familiar with Boston given he faced off against them in last year’s NBA Finals.
The 26-year-old All-NBA guard experienced struggles against the Celtics with how stout their defense is, with all five of their starters being able to defend at a high level. Those problems reappeared on Saturday, as Doncic could not get into a rhythm offensively due to Jaylen Brown’s physical defense.
While Brown did not guard the newest Lakers guard all game, he took the majority of possessions defending him. With that came a sign of respect as Brown believes that Doncic is a generational talent, so Boston needed to make life tough for him, via Noa Dalzell of Celtics Blog:
“It’s definitely a lot of studying. I think Luka is one of the greats. He is a generational talent, so I find watching Luka play offensively, like what he’s capable of doing, scoring the ball, offensively his talent is next to none. So he’s one of my favorite players on that side of the ball, so I spent a lot of time watching his game and things like that. Tonight, I was able to make some plays. But Luka is a great player.”
The second half was much kinder for Doncic, but the Lakers’ offense came to a halt as they only scored 13 points in the third quarter. But, L.A. made a valiant effort to try and make things interesting, thanks in part to the five-time All-Star.
Unfortunately, the purple and gold missed timely 3-pointers to get over the hump. In totality, Doncic finished with 34 points, eight rebounds and three assists on 11-for-22 from the field and 5-for-10 from distance.
A common theme this season has been the Lakers struggling against teams with size and athleticism. It was reassuring to see L.A. battle back in the fourth quarter, but Doncic and company have to find ways to be effective offensively when physicality comes their way.
Luka Doncic ‘fine’ after hurting back in fall
After Saturday’s loss, LeBron James’ health was in question as he exited early with a groin strain. Another concern was of Luka Doncic, who clearly was laboring all game long and did not seem to be 100 percent.
However, Doncic revealed that he is experiencing back soreness as he took hard falls against the New Orleans Pelicans and L.A. Clippers. Thankfull, he says he is ‘fine’ and the Lakers are certainly going to need him with James expected to miss time.
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