After taking away the Mavericks’ star player Doncic, the Lakers have a record of 1 win and 2 losses, recently losing consecutively to the 14th-ranked Hornets in the Eastern Conference and the 14th-ranked Jazz in the Western Conference.
The Lakers’ “super giant combination” of James and Doncic lost consecutively to the third and fourth worst teams in the league before and after the All-Star Game. Doncic joined the Lakers and became James’ teammate, but has not yet produced the expected effect.
Doncic has played three games for the Lakers so far, averaging 15 points, 5.3 assists, 4 turnovers, and 6.7 rebounds per game, with a shooting percentage of 35.5% and a three-point shooting percentage of 20% (5 of 24).
Doncic is rusty and needs time to recover from his injury to regain his game form and physical touch.
Before being traded to the Lakers, Doncic was out for more than 45 days and had not had normal training and games for a month and a half. It really takes some time for him to build physical fitness and find his touch, but more importantly, to adapt to the Lakers’ style of play and James’ system.
In the past three games, the Lakers’ core lineup of James + Doncic + Reeves has encountered many difficulties in offense. Lakers coach Redick said, “We played pretty badly on the offensive end. The players tried very hard, but the offense struggled.”
“This is the reality of integrating new players during the six-day All-Star Weekend break.” Although the Lakers suffered two consecutive losses and lost to a lottery opponent, Redick did not seem anxious.
The Lakers often see several situations in the game:
James asked Doncic for the ball, Doncic stood on the court and watched James’ performance, James hid in the corner and watched Doncic play one-on-one in the high post. The Lakers’ ball conduction and transfer on the court stagnated, and the offensive rhythm was often stuck when Doncic held the ball or James played one-on-one.
What’s worse is that the Lakers teammates of “Old James” James and Doncic spent most of the time on the court watching the two of them holding the ball and dribbling the ball. More often than not, the two Lakers ball-holding cores couldn’t cut in, but they also couldn’t create more playing space, so the two were forced to barely take jump shots from the outside.
Doncic made 5 of 24 three-pointers in three games with the Lakers, with a three-point shooting percentage of only 20%. Both the game condition and touch were in an awkward situation. James has a great shot, a solid three-point shot, and his personal performance is above average, making it hard to find fault with him. But James has taken a lot of three-pointers. In the past three games, he made 11 of 26 shots and only 5 of 8 free throws. He took nearly 9 three-pointers per game and bought less than 3 free throws per game.
For the Lakers, this is not a “good James”.
Doncic is the core player with the ball, and he takes more singles, fadeaway jump shots and three-point shots from the top of the arc. Therefore, the Lakers need a James who can overwhelm the restricted area, attack fiercely under the basket and score points, and generate greater containment.
“The Lakers’ new offensive lineup has new problems that need to be solved, but the players are competing hard and playing very hard.” Redick believes that this is a transition period and learning and adaptation process that the Lakers must go through. Redick is looking forward to the team effect after the perfect combination of James and Doncic.
It can be seen from the past three games that Doncic has not yet found the rhythm and positioning of playing with James. The Lakers teammates are also doing their best to cooperate with Doncic to help him recover as soon as possible, play more efficiently, and connect with his teammates.
Lakers third-place scorer Reeves emphasized, “I know Doncic will encounter some pain in the process of integrating into the team, but we need him to be himself, and we also hope that others can play to their strengths. We don’t expect everyone to get along well right away.”
Doncic has never missed more than six weeks in his career. This is new, but Doncic is confident that he can integrate into the Lakers team and perform at his best. “I need some time to get rid of the rust and get back to the rhythm of the game. I had 5 or 6 turnovers at the beginning of the game. This shouldn’t happen.”
The whole world knows that Doncic is great, and Mavericks fans understand that Doncic represents the future of the NBA and winning, but Doncic’s biggest challenge is to find himself, integrate into the Lakers, learn to play with James, create a winning culture, and lead the Lakers to the championship stage.
Doncic is excellent and James is experienced enough, but the process and experience of the two NBA superstars becoming teammates and learning to play together is not only a challenge for the two superstars, but also the most severe test of the coaching ability of Lakers coach Redick.
