Luka Doncic has made a name for himself in the ‘trash-talking space’ of the NBA. He’s currently one technical foul away from being suspended a game. He was very much aware of this when he found himself in a war of words with the Bulls’ Matas Buzelis.
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Buzelis was assigned as the primary defender on Luka for the night. It was in the second quarter when things got a bit testy. After backing Matas down and draining a middy over him, he back-pedalled and did the ‘keep talking’ gesture.
Doncic would then go on a personal offensive run of his, scoring 12 straight points on Buzelis in less than 4 minutes. They would chirp at one another back and forth to a point where a ref intervened and told them to quit with the jawing.
Doncic ended the night with 51 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists all while getting the Lakers the 142-130. It’s safe to say he got the last laugh.
Postgame, he was asked about this interaction. Doncic said:
“Somebody started talking to me so that woke me up. Matas Buzelis… I was surprised & shocked. I’m not gonna say what he said. If I say that, I would definitely get a tech. It woke me up. I didn’t say nothing, that’s why I was surprised. Not very nice.”
“Somebody started talking to me so that woke me up. Matas Buzelis… I was surprised & shocked. I’m not gonna say what he said. If I say that, I would definitely get a tech. It woke me up. I didn’t say nothing, that’s why I was surprised. Not very nice”
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) March 13, 2026
Buzelis defended himself postgame as well and in fact, contradicted Doncic’s statement. Luka claimed he didn’t say anything to Matas but Matas, while admitting to saying something fairly bad, stated Luka started chirping first.
“I’d rather not say what I said. But he said something to me first. So that’s why I had to respond. And I mean, I’m not gonna say what he said either. But I just felt like I responded to what he said.”
It’s become a ‘he said/she said’ debacle and all the Lakers can do is be thankful Luka didn’t rack up a technical foul tonight.
They’re currently 3rd in the West but only 0.5 games ahead of the Nuggets. They face the Nuggets in their next game, a crucial battle for positioning in the West with major standings ramifications.
