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The Los Angeles Lakers fanbase can be pretty intense—and if Luka Doncic checked Twitter/X after last night’s game, he’d definitely know that. The Lakers suffered a 123-116 loss to the Golden State Warriors, and fans weren’t shy about pointing fingers—most of them aimed straight at Luka.
The Lakers found themselves in a deep hole for most of the game, trailing by double digits at multiple points. But to their credit, they didn’t roll over. LeBron James and Austin Reaves led a strong push in the second half, doing everything they could to bring the team back. LeBron dropped 33 points, while Reaves added 31, hitting a whopping nine three-pointers.
Still, their efforts weren’t quite enough to erase the gap, and the Lakers’ rally fell short.
What really stung fans was Doncic’s off-night. Statistically, he ended up with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists—which doesn’t sound too bad on paper. But the deeper story is in the details: he shot just 6-of-17 from the field, struggled to find rhythm early, and didn’t really come alive until the third quarter.
In the court of public opinion, that’s all it took to put Doncic in the hot seat.
But instead of dodging blame, Luka stepped up and owned it. Speaking to reporters after the game, he didn’t sugarcoat his performance:
“That performance from me is unacceptable,” Doncic said. “When I play like that, it’s hard to win so [I] gotta figure it out.”
To be fair, this wasn’t just a regular-season hiccup—it might’ve been a playoff preview. Both the Lakers and Warriors are sitting in the middle of the Western Conference standings, and if the postseason started today, these two would face off in the first round. Each team made bold moves at the trade deadline, and both have looked like legit contenders since.
So if the Lakers want to win a real series against the Warriors when it counts, they’ll need much more from Doncic, and probably everyone else, too.
The message from last night is clear: if you wear purple and gold, the expectations never go away.