
By Nikola Miloradovic / info@eurohoops.net
The main takeaway after the loss, in which the Lakers held a double-digit lead at the start of the fourth quarter, is that the LA team played only five players in the second half.
Luka Dončić, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Dorian Finney-Smith played the entire third and fourth quarters, raising the question after the game: Did fatigue cause the Lakers to lose?
The Slovenian star doesn’t think so.
“This is the playoffs. Fatigue shouldn’t play any role in this. I played a lot of minutes, but it shouldn’t matter. I think they just executed better on the defensive end during the last minutes,” Dončić said after the game.
Luka logged around 46 minutes on the court, scoring 38 points, but it wasn’t enough. Despite being in a historically difficult position, he still believes in the Lakers’ chances.
“It’s definitely disappointing, but nothing is lost. We haven’t lost anything yet. It’s first to four wins, and we just have to keep believing,” Dončić concluded.