LOS ANGELES — If the Los Angeles Lakers are eliminated at some point in the NBA playoffs and don’t actualize their goal of winning the championship this season, it’ll probably look a lot like Thursday’s 123-116 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
As the Warriors demonstrated, the blueprint against the Lakers is to try to force their stars into contested jumpers with a switch-heavy scheme and also funnel the ball to their non-star shooters and scorers. Then, on the other end, push the ball in transition and early offense, target Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves and use speed, movement and screening to exploit Los Angeles’ lack of rim protection.
Lakers coach JJ Redick insisted his group was prepared for Golden State’s attack on both sides of the ball, stating that the Lakers failed to execute their game plan. But the fact that the Lakers knew what the Warriors wanted to do against them and still couldn’t stop them is somewhat troubling.
“It was not what they were doing,” Redick said. “It was what we were doing.”
To Redick’s point, the Lakers had plenty of self-inflicted wounds, particularly on the defensive glass. They matched the Warriors’ 14 offensive rebounds, but the eight-point difference in second-chance points (23-15) was one of the key differences in the game. Los Angeles would play good defense for an entire possession only to watch one of the Warriors’ guards or wings come crashing in to grab a loose ball.
Offensively, the Lakers would run a beautiful action or successfully hunt an advantageous mismatch, only to miss a wide-open 3-pointer or another high-percentage look or turn the ball over. They got within five points twice in the fourth quarter but couldn’t make it a one-possession game as Golden State always answered with a big play of its own.
“The big, momentum-changing sort of a stretch, we just couldn’t muster,” Redick said.
The Lakers have struggled against switching schemes since Dončić’s arrival. They often devolve into seeking out the weakest or slowest defender and trying to drive past that player or create separation for an uncontested jumper.
The problem, especially with Dončić and LeBron James, is that when they don’t create enough of an advantage, they can bail out the defense by attempting high-difficulty contested jumpers. When they make them, it looks great. When they don’t, the group can go scoreless for over six minutes, as they did to close the first quarter and begin the second quarter Thursday.
“I think we just got a little stagnant,” Redick said. “Didn’t wanna move. You gotta move. You gotta play with force. You gotta get to the next thing.”
The offense eventually broke out in the second half, scoring 69 points, including 39 in the fourth quarter. But it was too little, too late with the double-digit cushion the Warriors had built and their incredible level of shot-making down the stretch.
Dončić suffered through his worst game as a Laker — on both ends of the floor. He finished with 19 points on 6-for-17 shooting (to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists), struggling to beat Warriors defenders off the dribble or create separation at the 3-point line.
Dončić went 0-for-6 on 3s, snapping his 114-game streak of making at least one 3-pointer dating back to April 7, 2023. It was the fifth-longest streak in NBA history.
Off-nights happen, but the defensive end was far more concerning. The Warriors relentlessly targeted him, bringing him into seemingly every screening action. Curry, in particular, was ruthless. He blew by Dončić at least a dozen times, waltzing to the rim and forcing the Lakers into rotation, which led to open 3s and offensive rebounds.
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Wasn’t his night,” Redick said of Dončić.
Dončić took accountability for his poor play and said he’ll be better.
“That performance from me was unacceptable,” Dončić said. “When I play like that, that makes (it) harder (for the team) to win, so just got to figure that out.”
His left elbow was heavily wrapped in kinesiology tape and iced after the game, but Dončić joked that it didn’t affect his shooting despite the optics.
“It’s fine,” Dončić said. “That’s my left (arm), so it’s fine. I was shooting with the right. It (just) looked like (the) left.”
Perhaps the most encouraging development from the loss was James’ 33-point performance. It was the best he’s looked since his injury and the first time he’s led the Lakers in scoring since then.
James scored 25 points in the second half as he mashed his way to the rim and caught fire from deep (five 3s) in a familiar way against the Warriors. James added five rebounds and nine assists.
“That was the best I’ve felt since before the injury, for sure,” James said. “I just tried to press, get downhill. My rhythm, as far as my jump shot, felt pretty good today. I have been shooting it from the free throw line extremely well as of late. But that was probably the best physically I’ve felt so hopefully I can build off of that.”
In a game with significant stakes, the Lakers fell short and dropped to 46-30 and No. 4 in the Western Conference. Los Angeles has fared well in most big games recently and had two days to prepare, including practicing Wednesday.
“It obviously felt like a playoff game,” Dončić said. “Obviously, the Warriors, since they acquired Jimmy (Butler), they’ve been playing unbelievably. So it was kind of a 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.”
The surging Warriors (45-31) are only a game behind Los Angeles with six remaining for each team. The only silver lining for Los Angeles is that the Warriors play the No. 3 Denver Nuggets on Friday, meaning one of the two will be dropping another game and giving the Lakers some breathing room.
If the season ended on Friday, the No. 4 Lakers would host the No. 5 Warriors in a first-round series. The Lakers won the season series 3-1, but three of those games were before Dončić or Butler had debuted for their respective teams. There is a decent chance these two teams face each other in some variation of a first-round matchup — with No. 3 vs. No. 6 or No. 4 vs. No. 5 being the two most likely scenarios — providing the latest chapter in the James-Stephen Curry rivalry.
It would be quite the test for the Lakers. They’d have to manage Dončić’s defensive limitations better, pre-switching or scram switching to keep him out of the fray. They still have to figure out how to remain organized and intentional against switching teams. There is only so much they can do against speed, but they can certainly leverage their size in a more physically imposing way. Reaves (31 points) and Hachimura (24) both excelled, but the Lakers need more from the rest of the cast (the bench had seven points on 3-for-15 shooting).
They get another test, albeit against a much worse opponent, when they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday before playing their next three games on the road, including two against the West’s top team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Redick acknowledged it was disappointing for the Lakers to struggle with focus and execution in such a critical game and at a time when the coaching staff is imploring the players to develop a “playoff mentality.”
In that sense, the Lakers are still a ways away from being the team they hope they can become, even if the flashes have been there over the past two months.
“We’re still building it,” Redick said. “We’re not there.”
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(Photo of Luka Dončić: Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)
