The Los Angeles Lakers seemed to be in total control of Wednesday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets to open the post-All-Star break portion of the season, but everything quickly fell apart. Austin Reaves was ejected in the second half and the Hornets immediately responded with an 18-1 run to seize control of the game.
LeBron James got the Lakers back into the game, but some huge plays down the stretch by LaMelo Ball and two late misses from James allowed the Hornets to escape with a very impressive 100-97 win.
The Reaves ejection changed the game and was undoubtedly a big factor in the loss, but the Lakers frankly should have had enough to get a win even without him for most of the second half. One of the major reasons that the Lakers lost this game was the newly-acquired superstar Luka Doncic, who had one of his worst games of the season. After the game, Reaves let everyone know what the Lakers need from Doncic going forward, according to LoJo Media.
“We need him to be him,” Reaves said.
Doncic had five turnovers in the first half, and his final stat line wasn’t pretty. The former Mavericks star finished the night with just 14 points on 5-for-18 shooting with six giveaways, though he did add 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Since Doncic is still getting back into game shape after a roughly six-week absence due to a calf injury, so it makes sense that he would still be getting his legs back underneath him. However, due to his defensive deficiencies especially when he’s not at 100%, Doncic turns into a liability when he’s playing poorly on the offensive end of the floor.
Of course, there’s no reason to hit the panic button after this game. This was the first game where Doncic played a full minute load after JJ Redick lifted his minutes restriction following the injury, and he still only played 33 minutes due to foul trouble. As he continues to get more reps on the court, Doncic will certainly get better and better and get back to playing the basketball that fans have become accustomed to seeing. When he does, this Lakers team still has a ton of potential this season and going forward.
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