The Lakers lost to the Celtics 89-111 tonight in an abysmal showcase by the team, which their big three could not compensate for tonight. Following the game, Luka Doncic spoke to the media and addressed multiple issues with the Lakers’ offense and response to the Celtics’ physicality.
During the press conference, Doncic was asked to reflect on the big three’s performance tonight and what they can do as great individual offensive players to work better together as a team.
“I think you can see we’re not there yet,” Doncic initially conceded. “As I said, we’re working on it. You should see big potential in us three playing together,” said Doncic, reaffirmingly.
The Slovenian star finished the game with 25 points, five rebounds, three assists, and one block while shooting 9-22 from the field (40.9 FG%) and 4-7 from beyond the arc (57.1 3P%). He led all scorers for the struggling Lakers tonight.
LeBron James was the second-highest scorer for the Lakers and exited the floor with 20 points, four rebounds, five assists, two steals, and one block. He shot 9-21 from the floor (42.9 FG%) and struggled to find his rhythm from beyond the three-point arc (1-5, 20.0 3P%).
Austin Reaves was efficient tonight, but did not get the same volume of shots by not reaching his spots in a timely fashion. He ended the game with 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block while shooting 4-10 from the field (40.0 FG%) and 1-4 from behind the three-point line (25.0 3P%).
They combined for 60 points out of the team’s total 89 points tonight. It is important to note that no one other than these three players reached double digits in scoring for the Lakers. Therefore, Redick was right when he said that the team’s overall offense was awful tonight, not just the big three’s.
To be fair, this trio has only played 11 games together this season (including tonight). They have been plagued with injuries all season and played 45 games with either one of these players being sidelined. But just like JJ Redick, Doncic was not happy with the team’s offense overall tonight.
“Yeah, I think they were very physical. They were playing great defense, but we needed to play better offense. We just scored 89 points, which is not high, so we’ve got to be better,” said Doncic while reflecting on the biggest gap in the two teams’ performance tonight.
The Lakers fell to 34-22 following tonight’s loss to the Celtics. They will now host the Magic at home for the final game of this eight-game home stretch on Tuesday, February 24, before heading to Phoenix to play the Suns on Thursday, February 26.
