The Los Angeles Lakers fell 107-91 to the San Antonio Spurs, snapping their three-game winning streak and dropping their record to 23-12.
LeBron James’ last-minute absence affected the team, leaving Luka Doncic to lead the Lakers. However, for the Slovenian, his performance was not enough.
Doncic takes the blame for the loss
In his eight-year career, Luka has proven why he is one of the MVP candidates and why he is a key player on the current Lakers roster.
Despite Wednesday’s loss, the 26-year-old star was the game’s leading scorer with 38 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and two steals in 38 minutes of play.
Meanwhile, the other four Lakers starters scored only 31 points in total: Jake LaRavia added 16 points, Deandre Ayton scored 9, and Jarred Vanderbilt and Marcus Smart contributed 2 each. Jaxson Hayes added another 10 for the team. However, the team scored the second-fewest points this season (91), after scoring only 88 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, December 20.
Speaking to the press after the game, Doncic highlighted the teamwork following the last-minute absence of LeBron, who suffers from arthritis in his left foot joint and sciatica and was unable to play in the game. In addition, the Lakers were also without Austin Reaves due to muscle problems.
Despite this, Luka also expressed disappointment with his own performance, highlighting that he had seven turnovers and seemingly pointing to his own play as the cause of the team’s loss to the Spurs:
I think I still shoulda done way better than this.
Now, Luka and the Lakers will look to bounce back from this setback on Friday when they face Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks at crypto.com Arena at 10:30 p.m. EDT.
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