Luka Doncic takes blame for Lakers losing to Warriors: ‘That performance from me was unacceptable’

NBA star Luka Doncic took the blame for the Los Angeles Lakers losing to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena. 

Doncic shot 6-of-17 from the field and 0-of-6 from beyond the arc in 38 minutes. He was also hunted on defense by the Warriors. 

“That performance from me was unacceptable,” Doncic said. “When I play like that, that makes [it] harder [for the team] to win, so just got to figure that out.”

The Warriors beat the Lakers by a final score of 123-116. 

“It obviously felt like a playoff game,” Doncic said. “Obviously, the Warriors, since they acquired Jimmy [Butler], they’ve been playing unbelievably. So it was kind of playoff game and now we see what kind of team they are. Maybe we can meet them, maybe not, in the playoffs. So, we just need to be more ready.”

Doncic has appeared in 23 games with the Lakers. He’s averaging 26.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.9 assists with Los Angeles while shooting 41.2% overall, 35.1% from 3 and 79.9% from the foul line. 

The Lakers are in fourth place in the West, while the Warriors are in fifth place. 

Doncic has appeared in 45 games this season with the Dallas Mavericks and Lakers. He’s averaging 27.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.8 assists. 

“It was not what they were doing,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said. “It was what we were doing. And we showed them at halftime. The spacing alignments [were incorrect] and having the wrong guy in the dunker spot, the wrong guy in the corner.”

The Lakers host the lowly New Orleans Pelicans on Friday on the second night of a back-to-back before they go on the road to play a two-game set against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have the best record in the NBA. 

Doncic faces the Mavericks in Dallas next Wednesday. It will be fascinating to see how he plays versus his former team.