The Los Angeles Lakers were simply bullied by the Oklahoma City Thunder in a blowout loss on Wednesday night. Luka Doncic had his first human performance of the season, finishing with 19 points on 7-of-20 from the field, turning the ball over four times with seven assists and seven rebounds.
The Lakers and Thunder were even in rebounding, but the Oklahoma City ran away with some of the other major hustle stats. They won the turnover battle, 20-11, scoring 26 points off of L.A.’s miscues. They also outscored the Lakers 48-30 in the paint, an area L.A. should excel in given the elite penetration of lead guards Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Physicality, in turn, became the focus of Luka’s postgame discussion following the massive loss to the reigning champions, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Like we said in the locker room, we’ve got to bounce back. We need to get ready for the New Orleans game. They don’t have a great record, but they’re a physical team. We just need to start more physical. When we don’t start physical, it’s tough on us. So just need to bring the energy and physicality.”
He doubled down on energy and physicality, saying that it’s especially important to start games:
“I think, like I said before, two things. Being physical and energy. We got to start the game better. I feel like when we start the game sloppy it’s not going to be a great game. So we need to start with those two things, and move it to the New Orleans game.”
Doncic further elaborated on why setting the tone at the start of games and maintaining it throughout is so important:
“I think so. When you start physical, in any games, we do a pretty good job at playing 48 minutes. When you start sloppy, then it’s not our game. I think we need to start, like I said, physical and with more energy.”
The Lakers are still 8-4 through 12 games, a great spot to be in even with a massive loss. But losing to the Thunder in this way shows that they may still be relatively far off from being a top-tier championship contender. And for Doncic, energy and physicality may be the first steps to help make up that gap.
Luka Doncic holds himself accountable for loss
The Lakers were at the wrong end of a massive blowout against the Thunder on Wednesday night. They lost 121-92 in a game that the Thunder had control of from the very opening tip. They led by 32 at halftime and by 36 after three quarters, while Luka Doncic struggled mightily against OKC’s elite defensive attack.
Doncic was outdueled by Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting with nine assists — in what was one of L.A.’s first real tests of the season against a Western Conference contender.
This game could be a signal as to how far away the Lakers still are from being championship contenders. And Doncic bore the responsibility for the way things transpired in the massive loss.
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