The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night, with the final score being 113-110. Luka Doncic put up 41 points, but it wasn’t enough. And if the Lakers are losing to this version of the Suns while Doncic is putting up 41 points, it’s clear that they aren’t built for sustained playoff success. They’ll come to that painful realization in a couple of months.
Doncic is an elite offensive player, but a lineup with him and Austin Reaves is pretty brutal defensively. And even though LeBron James and Reaves were both active, neither was able to give Doncic enough scoring support to make up for their defensive issues.
That could come back to bite them in the playoffs.
Lakers lost when Luka Doncic had 41 points - that doesn't bode well for the playoffs
If any player is scoring 41 points, his team should win the game. And historically speaking, Doncic has had to put up those performances in order to find success. But he’s done just that.
Unfortunately, neither Reaves nor James was able to provide him any support on Saturday. Reaves finished the game with 14 points, and James had 15.
Meanwhile, the Suns were without both of their top scorers for the season: Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks. So, other guys stepped up, and they were able to take down the Lakers.
Grayson Allen had 28 points, Collin Gillespie had 21, and Royce O’Neale put up 13 en route to a short-handed Suns victory that could be emblematic of the Lakers’ potential future problems.
Doncic is going to get his buckets. Almost always. But the Lakers don’t have a good enough infrastructure to get by if and when his co-stars put up duds in the scoring column.
This is what could end up happening to the Lakers in the playoffs, when defense reigns supreme. If Doncic isn’t giving the Lakers enough defensively, and his supporting cast isn’t helping him score the ball, LA likely isn’t going to win.
The Suns are the exact type of team the Lakers could end up seeing in the playoffs, and in all likelihood, they’re going to have to play a squad with much more talent than the Phoenix group they saw on Thursday.
Yet somehow, the Lakers still couldn’t get the job done. And if they run into these same issues a couple of months from now, they’re going to be sent packing from the postseason earlier than they hope.
Doncic ball is dangerous, and the Lakers don’t have the right cast to support him right now.