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Luka: It's on 'me and Bron' to recharge Lakers

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Published in Basketball
Monday, 24 March 2025 22:40

ORLANDO, Fla. -- After everything came together almost instantly for the Los Angeles Lakers once the Luka Doncic deal was completed and they rocketed up the standings thanks to a surprisingly suffocating defense, that success has left them as quickly as it arrived.

Monday's 118-106 loss to the Orlando Magic dropped Los Angeles to 3-7 in its past 10 games, with the average margin of defeat in those contests well into double digits (15.7 points).

And now, with just 11 games remaining in the regular season and a top-six seed in the Western Conference far from guaranteed, the loss to the Magic delivered a chance for self-reflection for the suddenly reeling group.

"I think we just got a little bit satisfied," Doncic said. "We can't afford that right now."

The Lakers are No. 4 in the West and only three games up on the No. 7 LA Clippers, who occupy the first play-in tournament spot.

Before its four-game road trip through Orlando, Indiana, Chicago and Memphis, Los Angeles had supposedly received a wake-up call over the weekend when the Chicago Bulls dominated the Lakers 146-115 on Saturday.

However, Los Angeles' third-quarter performance against the Magic was eerily reminiscent of how the Lakers fell apart on both ends after halftime against the Bulls just a couple of days ago.

Chicago outscored them 39-27 in the third quarter, Orlando outscored them 34-18.

Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith said Los Angeles let its offensive struggles in the third dictate its defense. "We let our offense mess with our defensive energy," he said.

When asked whom it's incumbent upon to stop a trend like that from compounding itself on both ends of the floor, Doncic took responsibility, along with LeBron James, to lead.

"I think me and Bron, think we should be the guys to do that," Doncic said. "That's on me. Obviously, I've got to do better, I've got to talk more. I talked in the first half, then just kind of [let my] voice down and I shouldn't do that."

Doncic scored 21 points in the first two quarters and only 11 after halftime. James (24 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds) looked better than he did Saturday when was playing in his first game in two weeks because of a strained left groin, but still registered a team-worst minus-17 against the Magic.

"We're going through it a little bit," Lakers coach JJ Redick said after the game.

Seven of Los Angeles' remaining games are on the road and the Lakers still have three back-to-back sets left on the schedule, starting Wednesday in Indiana followed by Thursday in Chicago.

With three weeks left in the regular season, the pressure is on the Lakers, who are searching for some momentum before the games matter even more in the postseason.

"We need the adversity," Finney-Smith said. "Especially being a new team, we get to learn a lot about each other during tough times. You usually don't see things when you're winning. So we got the chance to grow. We're going to use this opportunity to grow."

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