Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Deandre Ayton led the Los Angeles Lakers to a nice victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night, which officially brought the team to the halfway point of the regular season in terms of games played.
The Lakers sit at 25-16 so far this season and are right in the thick of the Western Conference playoff contenders.
But, there’s no denying it has been an up-and-down season for the Lakers so far. A very strong start has been followed by some rough stretches over the past few weeks and injuries have severely hampered the team as well. Doncic, James and Austin Reaves have all missed time at different points this season, as has basically every important role player on the roster.
In assessing his team through the first half of the year, Luka believes the Lakers could be better than what their record shows, and points to a couple of recent performances that they must channel to improve things going forward.
“It’s not a bad record. Obviously, it could be better,” Doncic said after the Raptors win. “But sometimes, if we play like this and we play like we’re playing against Atlanta, it gives us a better chance to win. So we just got to look at those two games and play like that.”
The Lakers have lost five of their last seven games, but those two victories were extremely impressive performances over good Eastern Conference teams in the Raptors and Atlanta Hawks. The Lakers have proven they can play at a high level on any given night, but have been unable to consistently perform at that level lately.
Things won’t get easier for the Lakers as they are set to embark on an eight-game road trip that will really test them. Doncic and James will have to lead the way and keep this team together as Reaves continues to recover from his calf injury.
The Lakers could be in a far worse position right now, especially considering all of the injuries they have dealt with, but they are also certainly capable of playing better than they have as of late. And Luka will be sure to push this team to get back to their previous form and get back on track for the second half of the year and down the stretch of this regular season.
Lakers’ Luka Doncic named 2026 NBA All-Star Game starter
Doncic has been outstanding all season long for the Lakers and he was recently rewarded for his amazing play as he was named a starter for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game, leading the league in fan votes.
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