Luka Doncic has been the focal point of the Los Angeles Lakers’ offense during the 2025-26 season, though he’s had to pick up even more offensive responsibility with Austin Reaves out with a calf injury.
Doncic is no stranger to having the basketball in his hands, so the extra usage shouldn’t be a problem. But against the Detroit Pistons, even he had trouble finding room to operate. The Pistons own the best record in the Eastern Conference and they showed why as they constantly hounded Doncic and the other Lakers ball-handlers.
The disruption from Detroit’s defense led to 21 turnovers from Los Angeles, including a string of them in the fourth quarter that eventually put the game out of reach. The Lakers lost 128-106, though the final score somehow underscores how poorly L.A. played to close it out.
Doncic was responsible for eight of those turnovers and after the loss, he admitted he needs to take better care of the ball.
“Yeah, too many for me,” he said.
While Luka wasn’t exactly sure why the game flipped the way it did, he again lamented their turnovers.
“Not really. I don’t know. We just had a lot of turnovers,” he said. “I had a lot of turnovers, and they just went down in transition and scored. The turnovers and everything is what we talk about a lot… Gotta take care of the ball.”
Doncic’s eight turnovers were uncharacteristic of the star, though that speaks to how aggressive Detroit was in passing lanes and at the point of attack. With Gabe Vincent and Reaves both out, head coach JJ Redick was forced to have players like Nick Smith Jr. help bring up the basketball, though that lead to more mistakes.
While Doncic finished with 30 points and 11 assists, it wasn’t nearly enough as Detroit also had no problem scoring in the half court. The Lakers’ basketball containment on the perimeter was atrocious, allowing any Pistons player to get into the paint and score right at the rim. Detroit scored 74 points in the paint, an embarrassing amount for L.A’s defense.
Luka obviously isn’t completely at fault for the loss, though it certainly didn’t help that the live turnovers took the team away from its sets. Redick and the coaching staff are going to have to figure out ways to lighten Doncic’s load, but that will be a challenge so long as Reaves is out.
Luka Doncic looking to get teammates involved at start of games
Doncic is historically one of the best first quarter scorers in the NBA, usually wasting no time getting his own shots. However, he understands how impactful he can be as a playmaker and acknowledged that he’s making a concerted effort to get his teammates involved more at the start of games.
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