“You Guys Ask Me This Every Night”: Luka Doncic Irked By Question About Him, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves’ Lakers Lineup

It’s a given that head coach JJ Redick would always be keen to have his best players — LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves — start as many games together as possible. So far this season, the three stars have appeared in 17 games together, with a 11-6 record. Now that’s a good stat by all means. Just that, the wins they have had together have come against easier opponents.

When we analyse deeper, it also comes out that the James-Doncic-Reaves trio hasn’t played in that dominant a fashion. In the 297 minutes Redick has seen fit to put them in together, the Lakers have outscored opponents by only three points. LA has scored only 109.2 points per 100 possessions all season when all three of them are on the court together.

Earlier last week, NBA analyst BrianWindhorst had even claimed that when any two of the trio play together, the Lakers look like a dangerous team. That danger quotient significantly drops when all three share the same space.

According to Windhorst, it’s primarily because all of them pretty much do the same thing on the court: They work best with the ball in their hands. So, not only does their defense suffer, but their offense also becomes one-dimensional when Doncic, James, and Reaves are playing together.

Naturally, theLakers are asked this question about the winning efficiency when their stars play together. Just thatDoncic has had enough of it. “You guys going to ask me this question every night? Every night,” he said, before describing how the synergy is building within the team.

“But you know, I think just what everybody sees, you know, we obviously won three in a row. We [have been] playing together since [the] All-Star break, everybody, obviously the chemistry is going to keep building, every day, every game we play,” Doncic added with a frustrated shrug.

At this point, it’s rather obvious that the Lakers are not championship contenders this season, despite whatShaquille O’Neal might have to say. They are 6th in the West with 37 wins and 24 losses. More than their position on the table, the concerning part is that they have been inconsistent.

Just a quarter of the season remains for them to figure out their best team and tactics on the court. That task becomes all the more difficult when both Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura are a no-go with the big 3 on the court. Also, despite their zone defense miraculously holding up since the All-Star weekend, it remains a bit iffy still.

Making the playoffs would be the priority for the Lakers right now. In the meantime, Redick will be hoping to figure out the many things that are bogging down his team.

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