The Western Conference playoff race has been a game of musical chairs these last few weeks. The Lakers rose up to the second seed after an eight-game winning streak, then they fell down to fifth after losing four straight. Now they’re back up to third after beating the Nuggets last night for their third consecutive double-digit win.
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With just 14 games left in the season, they must get the best out of Luka Doncic, especially as LeBron James continues to sit out. Although Luka has done a lot of great things, he’s also hurt the Lakers at times with his propensity for turning the ball over.
Luka put up a big stat line last night in dropping 31 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists on a Denver team that was without Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray for the second straight game. He also had six turnovers though, four of which came in the second quarter and threatened to help the Nuggets erase a huge first-quarter deficit.
Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson discussed Luka’s up-and-down night on last night’s Nightcap episode, and while they couldn’t help but laugh at Luka’s behind-the-back turnover as he was going out of bounds, they acknowledged that when if you want all the greatness that Luka brings, you have to be willing to accept the occasional head-scratching play.
“That’s Luka. You have to accept the good with the bad,” Sharpe said. “That’s his game, that’s how he plays. You have to be willing to roll with that.”
Turnovers could be the Lakers’ undoing in the playoffs
Turnovers have always been a part of Luka’s game, but he’s given the ball away more since becoming a Laker than he did earlier in the year as a Maverick. His 4.3 turnovers per game in his 16 games in L.A. are the fourth-most in the league behind only Trae Young, Cade Cunningham, and James Harden.
Next on that list is Luka’s teammate, LeBron James. This highlights one area of concern for the Lakers in the postseason, if their two stars are coughing the ball up at such a high rate, it could prove difficult to overcome, especially against the toughest defensive teams in the West like OKC and Minnesota.
Luckily, the Lakers have been playing some pretty good defense of their own, which is why they’ve continued to ascend the standings since Luka Doncic arrived. They’re now 11-5 when Luka plays, a record that includes two wins over the Nuggets, the team that has knocked them out of the playoffs each of the last two years.
At the end of the day, turnovers are simply part of the game for the highest-usage players in the league. Luka and LeBron turn it over more than most, but they make more than enough plays to make up for it, and they’ve gotten a ton of help from Austin Reaves, who Sharpe said is “immensely better” this year than he used to be.
If the Lakers can continue to defend at a high level and get big contributions from their top three players, they’ll be just fine.
