Is Luka Dončić’s honeymoon phase with the Lakers over after first-round exit?

The Los Angeles Lakers Playoffs race came to an end long before what many expected after losing in five games against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. As the Lakers turn the page, coach JJ Redick believes that improving their title hopes for next season starts immediately, asking their players to get in this season low.

“We have a way to go as a list,” Redick told journalists on Thursday. “There are individuals who were phenomenal. Certainly, there are others who could have been better.

“That’s where my mind goes immediately, we have to have a championship shape.”

NBA Fans have quickly speculated that Redick was talking about Luka Dončić, whose conditioning and defense were highly examined in the defeat of five Los Angeles games against Minnesota. There were several moments in the series in which Dončić was fly by a Timberwolves ball controller for a relatively easy cube or the defense of the Lakers had to turn and leave another open player.

But there were some statistics to support the notion that Dončić’s conditioning was the best duration of this series. In the 116-113 defeat of the Lakers against the Timberwolves in game 4, the 6-inch Dončić 6 inches only had a bouncing in 46 minutes. Although Dončić averaged 30.2 points per game during the series, his play also touched a fall in the fourth quarter. He only scored 20 points in 5 or 15 shots in the last quarter of the four losses of the Lakers.

The “First Things” Cohost Chris Broussard believes that the work of Dončić’s fourth quarter, along with LeBron James, “through the series was why the Lakers finally lost.

“[The Lakers’] Two superstars did not deliver in the fourth quarter, “Broussard said.” These games were reduced to the rooms. Game 3, when 1-1 was tied, Minnesota entered the last quarter leading for two points. They (the Timberwolves) ended up winning by 12. In game 4, the Lakers increased by 10 points but ended up losing for three. Game 5, LeBron seemed physically spent, but the fact is that, when entering the last quarter, Minnesota was winning by a point and ended up winning for seven. In those three games, Minnesota beat the Lakers for 29 points in the fourth quarter.

“The Lakers fired 29% from the field in the series in the fourth quarter. That is the worst of any team in the postseason. If you look back in six years, 16 years, they will say: ‘Luka averaged 30/7/6, and LeBron averaged 25/9/6, and could not even reach a sixth game?

The Broussard Cohost, Nick Wright, also believes that Dončić has the “most of the fault” for the loss of the series.

“I think this is the first series of his life in the basketball in which he had the advantage of the team that surrounded him or it was a fair fight and his team Loost because Hey does not deliver,” Wright said. “We never passed it in the playoffs. We have seen it not on, lose or win and win. It was not the player in this series that I believe that most of us anticipate that it would be based on its postseason history.”

Dončić’s defense has been examined in the last seasons, and his game at that end of the court looks as an important reason why the Dallas Mavericks lost to the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals of 2024. The Celtics had a percentage of 67.7% suddenly by units against Dončić in the first three games of the NBA final 3-0, according to the second spectrum. Before his trade to the Lakers in February, Dončić had a percentage of 44.7% blown as the main defender in all units since the beginning of the 2023-24 season, which was the brand of sausages in the league during that section, per second spectrum.

However, there was a period, where it seemed that Dončić had improved his game on that side of the court. For a few weeks after the exchange, the Lakers statistically had one of the best defenses in basketball.

While Paul Pierce believes that signing a star that is not known to play high -level defense during the first seasons is of his career is a lost cause, Ric Bucher believes that Dončić should be asked more at that end of the court.

“Why are we accepting that?” Bucher asked about the last Ediof or “Speak.” “It doesn’t have to be a great defender. Steph Curry became a much better defender over the years. That’s all that I am eliminating Luka. Luka doesn’t play any defense. Why can’t I get [Dončić playing defense well] consequently? … the luka we saw in this series does not have to be the Luka that we see [going forward]. Why can we be what we saw in the regular season? Just give me some energy. “

Dončić and Redick have spoken brilliantly since the Lakers acquired it in February, since the two were teammates with letters. Mavericks’s president of basketball operations, Nico has said that Dončić’s defense was one of the reasons why Dallas made the controversial exchange in February, which some thought they lit a fire under the star of the Lakers.

With Redick apparently calling Dončić and his defense was still missing, he thought, Broussard believes that the “honeymoon phase” between Dončić, Lakers and basketball fans have finished. Now, he is in Dončić to fix the holes in his game so he can get the monkey out of his back, according to Broussard.

“It reaches a point, six, seven years, whatever, wherever you have to win,” Broussard added. “People start to put your game about why you are not there. Luka is there now. It’s not just that they move with defense.

“We said about the trade that if Luka was going to be lazy and not maximize his ability, hey, now due to the trade. Well, will it do it? That is a question. For me, this must be the low season of his career.”

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