The LA Lakers are swinging from their pain-filled loss of 119-117 to the Chicago Bulls.
Josh Giddyday’s buzzer beater led to the LA Lakers’ fourth loss in five games, putting pressure on them by sitting in fourth west on the same record as the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Lakers’ performance attracted a lot of criticism from experts as problems were discovered in the team’s defensive structure.
LeBron James’ return has not helped the team continue the great run they were running before the injury. This is what the Lakers need to do to get the season done well.
Luka Doncic scored well, but there were questionable marks about his efficiency, with the latest being Skip Bayless.
The veteran journalist put out a video on his social media channels and called out Don Sic with his poor three-point shooting this season.
The Slovenian shot 36.4% from across the arc in his time as a Laker, but made 9.8 attempts per game.
He states: “I’m recording a warning to Lakernation. Luka Donsic has one fatal flaw that proves to be fatal for the Lakers in the playoffs.
“Luke shoots too many three ways, he has a lot of LeBron in him.
“You can’t score as good as Luka in the lane. You can’t score on the rims more than LeBron, but both get hooked on three firings. LeBron retreated a bit and came to his senses.
“But there’s no more Luca than LeBron jacking three at a dangerous pace.”
Bayless has historically been a major critic of James and has continued to draw Donsey’s comparisons with his teammates.
“He’s like LeBron. In fact, he’s a pathetic three-point shooter by superstar standards.
“Lucas is a mathematical disaster waiting for a 2-10 event in a critical playoff game,” Bayles added.
Doncic is undoubtedly one of the league’s most talented and offensive players.
However, since he was drafted, there have been many questions about his ability to contribute on the defense.
Last season he improved his defense with the Dallas Mavericks’ run to the NBA Finals, but the young guards didn’t have the consistent stretch that proved he could contribute to the other end of the floor.
In the Lakers’ recent games, Donsic has been found to be passive on the defensive side, and many have called out to him for that.
With just nine games left, the Lakers need him to increase his defense as he can’t afford Don Sic to keep his targets.