The Los Angeles Lakers suffered another disappointing loss on Thursday night, dropping a game to the shorthanded Phoenix Suns in the final seconds. It’s their third loss in a row — 1-3 since the All-Star break ended — and fifth loss in seven games, dropping them to a clear sixth in the Western Conference postseason picture.
Thursday’s loss was particularly stunning. Luka Doncic was fantastic, scoring 41 points on 12-of-21 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists, but nobody else could get it going against a Suns team missing both Dillon Brooks and Devin Booker. Royce O’Neale’s game-winning 3-pointer gave the home underdogs the win to keep within striking distance in the playoff picture.
Doncic spoke after the game about the team’s mindset, and how it needs to look moving forward on the heels of a three-game losing streak and 2-5 stretch, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“Just go game-by-game, try to win every game. Obviously we didn’t start good [out of the All-Star break], but nothing is over. We just got to keep bringing the mindset of trying to win every game” – Luka Doncic on what the Lakers, losers of 5 out of 7, must do to get on track pic.twitter.com/Bjbd9nJutO
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 27, 2026
One of the more concerning things about the Lakers’ recent losing ways is that they are no longer an elite clutch-time team. They have now lost back-to-back games in the final seconds. It was their crunch-time record keeping them afloat for much of the season.
However, they are still 34-24 and only three games back of the Houston Rockets for the No. 3 seed in the conference. The tight West allows them to lose a couple games without completely ceding ground. However, they are going to need a quick turnaround if they want to avoid falling all the way to the Play-In Tournament, as the Suns are now only a game behind them.
The Lakers play the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night with a chance to get back on track to close out the month of February.
JJ Redick: Lakers losses are louder
Lakers head coach JJ Redick applauded his team for the way they respond to losses, but also stated that they are at a disadvantage. He believes L.A.’s losses are louder than other teams simply by virtue of them being the Lakers. Still, he thinks his team does a good job rolling with that despite the reality.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
