Without LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers needed to rely heavily on Luka Doncic to carry them against the Brooklyn Nets as they looked to get back on track.
The Lakers entered the matchup incredibly shorthanded as they were also without Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jaxson Hayes. Without four of their key rotation members, Los Angeles had no choice but to feed Doncic the basketball and let him go to work offensively.
However, Brooklyn anticipated the need to over utilize Doncic and they made his life difficult by throwing different defensive coverages at him. While Doncic can normally dissect any defense, he was uncharacteristically sloppy with the basketball and continued to struggle shooting from the field.
He finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists on a poor 8-of-26 shooting in the Lakers’ disappointing loss.
Doncic saw plenty of blitzes and he believes he and the team simply stopped executing how to beat them, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Just should’ve made better decisions on that one. I think we started the game doing a really good job, good decisions, and then just went kind of out of it.”
Doncic also acknowledged that he feels like the Lakers missed an opportunity to win a game because the role players like Gabe Vincent, Jordan Goodwin and Dalton Knecht stepped up:
“Definitely. I think I should’ve helped more, but they all played great. And we gotta have the same mentality moving forward. Injuries are gonna happen and it’s just gotta be next man up mentality.”
Lakers head coach JJ Redick pointed to the Lakers’ lack of communication for their sloppy night, which Doncic took accountable for as he is usually better when facing blitzing defenses:
“I’m comfortable with it. You can see in the other games, today wasn’t a good example of me, but you could see in the other games, when they blitz we’re in great spots. And that’s what JJ said about communication today, that’s wasn’t on point. And that’s my fault and we should’ve been better.”
Doncic led the Lakers with five turnovers but was hardly the only one who didn’t play well in the loss to the Nets. But as the new focal point of the offense, he needs to be his usual self for the Lakers to be successful. While Doncic can certainly bounce back, the upcoming games against the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets will be tough hills to climb.
Lakers receive award at Sloan Analytics Conference for Luka Doncic trade
The Luka Doncic trade continues to garner attention for its shock and gravity in the NBA. The Lakers are fortunate to have Doncic fall into their laps, yet were still given an award at the Sloan Analytics Conference for the deal.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
