By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a tough defeat against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center, squandering a commanding 25-point lead. Despite an individual performance that aligns with his averages of 36.2 points, 7.6 assists, and 6.8 rebounds at the top of the 2026–27 NBA Regular Season, Luka Doncic was left reflecting on what it takes to build chemistry with a heavily altered roster.
“I don’t know what it’s going to take. Obviously reps, just playing these games,” the Slovenian superstar was candid, addressing the media after Friday’s game. “It’s going to take some time, for sure. We got a lot of new guys. But I really like playing with these guys.”
“Everybody can be better than this,” he added. “Me first, I got to be better. We lose together, we win together.”
The collapse dropped the Lakers to a 4–2 record in the Regular Season, and marked an 0–1 start to their Emirates NBA Cup 2026 campaign.
A major factor in the second-half stagnation was aggressive, trapping defensive schemes. The Warriors repeatedly threw hard shock coverages at the guard to force the ball out of his hands, an approach Doncic noted he has anticipated throughout his career.
“There’s going to be a lot of shocks on me, a lot of times,” he confessed. “I have been playing, even going back to Europe, there was a lot of shocks, so I’m kind of used to it. We just need to do better with that. You create the advantage, you put two on a ball, and got to go score. It’s four-on-three, so we got to be better at that.”
Hoping to snap their two-game skid, the Lakers now look ahead to a back-to-back home stretch. They return to crypto.com Arena to host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, followed by a matchup against the Miami Heat on Monday.
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