The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Dallas Mavericks 134-128 on Sunday night, and the first game confirmed fans' fears with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves injured. The Mavs won their 25th game of the season and moved into a tie for the sixth-worst record. Dallas is tanking. They didn’t want to win, but LA couldn’t get the victory. Lakers fans are living a nightmare, and it keeps getting worse.
The purple and gold are now tied with the Nuggets for third in the Western Conference with four games remaining in the regular season. The Lakers can finish no worse than fifth, but they have no hopes in the playoffs. LeBron James is leading the charge with role players around him. Los Angeles had depth questions before Luka and AR went out. Now, they are officially decimated.
Head coach JJ Redick had Bronny James, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Maxi Kleber in the rotation on Sunday night. They don’t have a true point and need Luke Kennard to thrive in an outsized ball-handling role. To make matters worse, the defense was a disaster as nothing went right for Los Angeles without their stars.
Lakers’ playoff hopes are all but dead
Luka is leading the league in scoring. The Lakers are without their two best bucket-getters and are not replacing their two stars. Coach Redick is saying all the right things. LA hopes to extend their season long enough for Luka and Reaves to return, but that is impossible.
Doncic has a Grade 2 hamstring injury, which comes with a three to six-week recovery. AR was ruled out for four to six weeks with an oblique injury. Both ailments are easy to reinjure and must be rested until fully healthy. That means a month-plus without them. The playoffs are just two weeks away, so it feels like neither Luka nor Austin can play in the opening round.
The Lakers will play the Rockets or Timberwolves in the first round. Those are two elite teams. Expecting LeBron at 41 years old to put the team on his back against one of those squads seems impossible. LA will play hard, but they just don’t have enough talent to win a first-round series without Doncic and Reaves.
That is no slight on the Lakers. They looked like a serious title threat in March. Los Angeles won 16 of 18 games before the two stars were injured against the Thunder. It went from a shocking high to a devastating low instantly. The Lakers' title odds vanished as did LeBron’s best shot at a fifth title.
The loss to the rebuilding Mavericks all but confirmed the Lakers' fate after injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Cooper Flagg dominated the purple and gold in a game that hurt Dallas’ odds at landing a top draft pick. It was the Mavs' first home win since Jan. 22. The Lakers needed the victory to hold on to the third seed in the West. Instead, the nightmare continued.
Los Angeles Lakers fans have to realize the team’s hopes are dead. They can’t survive without Luka and AR. Instead, it will be a first-round playoff exit that puts a ton of pressure on this offseason. The Lakers must re-sign Reaves and build a title-contending roster around Doncic. That will be easier said than done, so stay tuned in to see how it all shakes out after the heartbreak clears.