The Los Angeles Lakers emerged victorious on Luka Doncic’s debut, beating the Utah Jazz 132-113 at Crypto.com Arena on Monday. It was the sixth win in a row for the Lakers and Doncic stated postgame that they will be a very dangerous team.
“Very dangerous,” Doncic said. “I think the ball was moving very well. On defensive end, I think we can lock down a lot of players. So, I was just happy to be on the court again.”
The ball certainly was moving well, as the Lakers racked up 28 assists. Doncic was responsible for some of those, as he finished with 14 points (5-14 FG), five rebounds, and four assists in 24 minutes on his return from a calf strain.
It wasn’t a debut to remember as such, but that was to be expected, as Doncic had been on the sidelines for over a month. Once the 25-year-old is up to speed, expect this Lakers offense to go up another notch and that’s a scary thought for the rest of the league.
The Lakers improved to 32-19 on the season with this result and they have now won 10 of their last 11 games. There is no denying at this stage that they are one of the better teams in the Western Conference and will be making noise in the playoffs. The question, though, is whether they can win it all and that seems unlikely.
The Lakers’ decision to rescind the Mark Williams trade means they’ll be going into the playoffs with Jaxson Hayes as the starting center. That’s not ideal, to say the least, and could well prove to be their downfall in the latter rounds of the postseason.
Luka Doncic Explains What It’s Like To Play With LeBron James
Doncic also got to play with LeBron James in a competitive setup for the first time on Monday and he certainly liked the experience. In his postgame press conference, the Slovenian praised James when explaining what it’s like to play with him.
“I mean he’s special,” Doncic said. “He sees the game in a different way than a lot of people. His IQ’s insane. Just (to) have two guys like that on the court, I think it is gonna help the team out.”
Pregame, James had also told Doncic, “Luka, be your f—ing self. Don’t fit in, fit the f— out. Be yourself.” The five-time All-Star was asked what that meant to him and admitted he got ‘chills.’
“It’s special for him to say something like that,” Doncic stated. “Just feels amazing, gave me confidence. And after that speech, it was chills. So I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
“It feels amazing. It gave me confidence. I got chills”
– Luka on LeBron telling him to just be himself before the game
pic.twitter.com/YRPRffBJ5s
— 🎭 (@MaskedInLA) February 11, 2025
That was a great gesture. James also had Doncic introduced last in the starting lineup introductions. He wanted to make his new teammate feel as welcome and comfortable as possible.
As for James’ play against the Jazz, he was his usual effective self, finishing with 24 points (10-17 FG), seven rebounds, eight assists, and one steal. His IQ and ability to dictate the flow of the game makes the Lakers difficult to play against and they now have another one like him in Doncic.
You’d assume the Lakers will have at least one of James and Doncic on the court at all times, which should ensure the offense doesn’t stagnate all that often. Teams will struggle to keep pace with them unless they have a great big man who is capable of taking advantage of the one glaring weakness on this team.
The Lakers will take on the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 22 and it will be very interesting to see how they tackle the Nikola Jokic problem. It will be the first big test for this group, as they won’t be facing elite competition before that.
The Lakers will be taking on the Jazz again next, but this time at the Delta Center on Wednesday at 9 PM ET.
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