The LA Lakers lost their first game with LeBron James out of the lineup to the Brooklyn Nets.
Playing without the 40-year-old, they seemed to struggle to find their way and endured a 111-108 loss at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets.
Despite a triple-double from Luka Doncic, the Purple and Gold failed to get over the line and fell to fourth seed in the Western Conference.
The Doncic-James duo were looking splendid for the Lakers, but the latter’s injury means the Slovenian guard will have to take charge of the team’s push for a high seeding in the West.
Since getting traded to the Lakers, Doncic has put up some terrific performances alongside James.
This has propelled a former NBA player to believe the duo could wreak havoc in a seven game series against any side.
Gordon Hayward retired from the NBA after a fourteen year NBA career.
Since then he has made a few appearances on TV and in his most recent one on ‘Run It Back,’ he stated no team would want to face the Luka-LeBron duo in a seven game series.
“If LeBron and Luka can stay healthy, I don’t think anyone wants to see them in a seven game series, especially in the playoffs when the game slows down,” said Hayward.
He also added: “Those two are arguably some of, if not the best players in the world in half-court with the ball in their hands and in the playoffs to, that’s a different deal.”
Brown also showed love to his former teammates Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum and opined the championship could be decided on the fact that which team remains healthy.
“JT and JB just won last year and they’ve certainly been through the experiences that they’ve had even when going back to when I was on the team.
“You can’t teach the experiences that you gain losing in the playoffs, being in those moments, being in those situations.
“A lot of it, is going to go down to health, can you make it through that gruelling two months after the season to get to the finals,” said Hayward.
The James-Doncic duo have shown the world what they are capable of doing together as teammates.
They have a 8-3 record as a duo and the Lakers even went on a seven game winning streak with the two in the lineup.
Doncic certainly has lifted, James’ game as the 40-year-old averages 25.9 pts, 10 rebounds and over 6 assists with the six-time All-Star on the team.
With James out, Doncic will have the added pressure of performing, but he has led a side before.
The Lakers will be hoping James picks up from where he left off and continue his elite level of basketball when he returns to the lineup.
Led by the duo, the Lakers will be a tough side to breakdown as not only do they have the ability to score, but their defensive ability has come to play recently, courtesy of their coach JJ Reddick.
