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Dave Mcmenamin
Los Angeles-Luka Doncic hit their first shot Thursday night, scoring in a finger roll in the first minutes of his baptism in the rivalry of Golden State Warriors Lakers.
But there were not many prominent aspects for Doncic after that, since it ended with 19 points in the shot of 6 of 17 in the defeat of the 123-116 against the Warriors.
“That performance of mine was unacceptable,” Doncic said after the defeat fell to the number 4 in the west conference classification with six remaining games in the regular season. “When I play like that, that’s done [it] more difficult [for the team] To win, so I have to solve that. “
Doncic’s shooting problems extended to the 3 -point range, where he left 0 by 6, breaking a streak of 114 games to make at least 3 appointments almost two years until April 7, 2023. It was the fifth longest streak in the history of the NBA.
The left elbow of the Lakers guard was very wrapped in kinesiology and ice cream tape, but did not blame the injury at night.
“Okay,” said Doncic. “That is my left [arm]Then that’s fine. I was shooting with the right. He [just] seem [the] left.”
The Warriors used a Switch Eventhing defense brand, which shook the first half, since it shot only 35.7% and lost 60-47.
“It was not what they were doing,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick, about the defensive impact of Golden State from the beginning. “It was what we were doing. And we showed them in part time. The alignments of spaces [were incorrect] And have the wrong guy in the place of the Dunker, the wrong guy in the corner. “
The Lakers joined to score 69 points in the second half, with LeBron James, who was playing in his seventh game since he returned from an absence of two weeks due to a tense left groin, scoring 25 of his 33 points and Austin Reave producing 20 of his 31 points after the break.
“That was the best I have felt before the injury, sure,” James said. “I just tried to press, have downhill. My rhythm, as for my jumping shot, I felt quite well today. I’ve been shooting it from the free -well line of free throws.
The Lakers were able to cut the advantage of the fourth quarter of the Warriors from 14 to five with 4:37 remaining and again with 34.6 seconds, but did not approach.
The Lakers receive the Pelicans from New Orleans underwater on Friday on Friday on the second night of a consequent before going to the road to play a set of two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder, followed by a game on Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks in Donc’s first return to face his old franchise.
The Lakers are a game in the Warriors No. 5, but prevent the tiebreaker from winning the series of season 3-1. And it is half -game behind No. 3 Denver, but the Nuggets hold the tiebreaker.
“Obviously he felt like a playoff game,” Doncic said. Obviously, the warriors, since Jimmy acquired [Butler]They have been playing incredibly. So it was a kind of playoff game and now we see what type of equipment they are. Maybe we can meet them, maybe not, in the playoffs. So, we just need to be smarter. “
James, who said he has “hopes” to play against New Orleans, also kept the focus on when he was asked about Draymond Green’s optimism about the possibilities of the Warriors championship this season.
“I have no idea, I can’t answer that question,” James said when asked how legitimate it is Green’s statement when it comes to Golden State contender. “I have to worry about us. I can’t worry about other teams. That is not my job.”
