The Los Angeles Lakers have always been a team where the narrative swings between two extremes and they’re feeling the negative side of it now.
After a two-game losing streak saw the LA Lakers relinquish second place in the West to the Denver Nuggets, the specter of LeBron James’ absence is big.
Los Angeles Lakers’ loss against Celtics was still a game they weren’t outright favourites in, but the upset loss to the Brooklyn Nets hit hard.
Luka Doncic had a brutal shooting night, going 8/26 from the field that exposed the reality of his triple double in a difficult 41 minutes of playing time.
Paul Pierce has now said that JJ Redick needs to make a difficult Doncic decision in the wake of that loss.
When LeBron James got injured and the severity was much more than first imagined, the first thought understandably went to Luka Doncic.
James was eager for Doncic to take over as “The Guy” in Los Angeles so this was the Slovenian’s chance to show his new team that he was up to it.
Two losses on the trot is not exactly what he would have envisioned in his “James-less” era at the Lakers. With his triple-double against the Nets more defiant than dominant, Pierce has called for head coach JJ Redick to take a tough decision on his new superstar.
Talking on SPEAK, Pierce said: “If I’m the Lakers, that’s what I would do. I would just rest Luka. I’ll rest him the rest of this trip. There’s a fine line right now.
“You gotta say, ‘are we gonna pay for this now or, or is it gonna bite us in the butt later? Because we’re not gonna be healthy, and we’re not.
“So I’ll take the L’s now, just so I can get healthy. We gotta get him in shape. Get healthy, and then make a run, make sure you hold on.”
While it might be unfathomable for a team fighting for the top seeds to just “give up” a few games by resting a fit Doncic, the player himself could use the rest.
Pierce said that Redick’s comments after the loss to the Nets spelled trouble for Doncic, noting them as an “indirect shot” at him.
Redick had criticised the Lakers’ execution with the ball, effectively saying that he didn’t know what his team was doing, a damning statement to make.
Pierce said: “[JJ Redick’s comments] sound like a direct shot at Luka because he controls the ball most of the time. He was indirectly talking about Luka.
“He’s in a position where he can call Luka out because, with LeBron out, everything is going to flow through him. He hasn’t been shooting particularly well. He needs to get back in shape, he’s playing himself back in shape.”
The loss to the Nets is extremely troubling for the Lakers because their schedule doesn’t get any kinder. The Milwaukee Bucks are up next before a marquee game vs the Denver Nuggets to finish off the East coast trip.
Doncic’s narrative can swing wildly from heroic to disastrous on his first rodeo without James. Welcome to the Los Angeles Lakers!
