All the celebrities, aside from one, confirmed out Thursday when the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Golden State Warriors in a recreation with playoff implications.
Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Austin Reaves scored over 30 factors, and Jimmy Butler made his imprint defensively, however the different star within the equation, Luka Doncic, was underwhelming.
Doncic shot a paltry 6-of-17 from the ground and, concerningly, took solely three pictures within the fourth quarter when the Lakers outscored the Warriors 39-35 and almost pulled off a come-from-behind win. The Slovenian was additionally not his traditional maestro as a playmaker, ending with solely two assists within the fourth quarter and 7 total.
To the Warriors’ credit score, they denied Doncic the ball by way of traps, double groups or full-court stress. The star guard needed to take care of Butler, Jonathan Kuminga or Draymond Inexperienced each time he received previous his first defender. He had completely no respite.
Doncic took full accountability for the Lakers’ loss, downplaying that Golden State’s whole defensive scheme was constructed round stopping him.
“That efficiency from me was unacceptable,” Doncic said. “Once I play like that, it makes it tougher for the crew to win, so I simply received to determine that out…. It is at all times irritating when you possibly can’t assist your crew. It isn’t at all times about scoring, you are able to do different stuff on the court docket and attempt to assist in different methods.”
Doncic’s efficiency was so poor {that a} 114-game streak of him making no less than one three-pointer was snapped.
