Luka Doncic, on the Lakers' bad streak: "I think LeBron and I should.."
The 26-year-old Slovenian superstar is clear about who are the players that have to make everything go back to how it was in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Lakers have lost three consecutive games, two of them with Luka Doncic and LeBron James in the lineup. Despite having a clear injury list, the Californians are in a downward spiral and could be in danger of losing home-court advantage in the first round. The Slovenian superstar knows who's to blame and who can get them out of the slump. After falling to the Orlando Magic, he pointed out who could turn things around.
Asked after the loss to the Orlando Magic about who should take responsibility, the Lakers' star player was quick to respond. It's him and LeBron, and there's no escaping blame and responsibility. "I think Bron and I should be the ones to do it. That's on me. Obviously, I need to do better, I need to speak more. I talked in the first half, then I lowered my voice, and I shouldn't have," he said.
Later, in the post-game interview, Doncic spoke about how the Lakers have taken their foot off the gas, stating, "I think we have settled a bit. We can't afford that right now." The Lakers were the second-seed in the Western Conference before LeBron got injured and missed some time. They went through a tough stretch of six games in eight days, during which Doncic also missed some games. Now, even with a clean injury list, they are struggling.
Seven of their remaining games are on the road, and they have three back-to-backs. Their next two games are in Indiana and Chicago, a back-to-back they must win. Then, in April, they have two road games against the Oklahoma City Thunder before ending the season with consecutive games against the Rockets at home and on the road in Portland.
They are two games ahead of the Warriors for the sixth spot, but also two and a half games behind the Rockets for the second spot. Any slump could make the difference between starting the first round at home or on the road. The good news for the Lakers is that they can carve out their own destiny. They have four games against direct rivals. The Lakers play twice against the Rockets in Los Angeles, once against the Warriors, and once in Memphis. These four games will be crucial for their final standings.
Tough Losses for the Lakers against Magic and Bulls
The Lakers have lost twice to the Orlando Magic this year. On both occasions, it was Franz Wagner who tore them apart. In November, when they were a play-in team, some media outlets talked about Los Angeles not being able to compete with teams that had scoring wings. They acquired Dorian Finney-Smith to help in that regard, but the Lakers continue to falter.
In the game against the Magic, both Wagner and Paolo Banchero scored over 30 points. It's tough to win a game when two opposing players score over 30 points. Against the Bulls, in their previous loss, Coby White scored 36 points on 12 of 17 shooting, including 6 of 9 from beyond the arc. Matas Buzelis scored 31 points on 12 of 18 shooting, and Josh Giddey flirted with a quadruple-double.
In January and February, the Lakers had a stretch with one of the best defenses in the league. Now, however, they can't seem to stop anyone from scoring. In the last 10 games, the Lakers have had the 23rd defense after having the best defense for two months. That is the area of concern they have to address if they want to compete for a championship.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Luka Doncic, sobre la mala racha de los Lakers: "Creo que LeBron y yo deberíamos..."
