Now that the Lakers have lost seven of their past 10 games, they’re crashing back to reality. They might still be the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, but they’re dangerously close to play-in territoryโjust three games ahead of the 7th-place Clippers.
Their latest stumble came against Orlando, prompting Kendrick Perkins to take aim at Luka Doncic’s defense, calling it a serious liability for Los Angeles.
Despite the criticism, Doncic has been putting up impressive numbers with the Lakersโ27.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game.
“I think me and Bron, think we should be the guys to do that,” Luka admitted after the 118-106 loss to the Magic. “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.”
After a rocky start in LA, Doncic has found his offensive groove, but his defense remains a glaring weakness.
Perkins didn’t hold back on NBA Today: “The defensive effort that Luka has been putting forth has to be called out. He has to do better defensively. He has to bring that energy like he does on the offensive side of things. He cannot be a liability, because teams are going to search him out.”
This isn’t a new issue. Even while leading the Mavericks to last year’s NBA Finals, Doncic was never known as a defensive stopper. But if the Lakers want to make a serious playoff push, he’ll need to step it up on that end of the floor.
The Lakers will try to right the ship Wednesday evening against Indiana. With just eleven games left in the regular season, time is running out to build momentum for the playoffs.
