Before facing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals, the Los Angeles Lakers were the underdogs. The majority of it was caused by Coach JJ Redick and the team’s continued absence of Luka Doncic, their top scorer, who has been battling a hamstring ailment.
Plus, Austin Reaves, who is still trying to shake off his rust, is back. So, the Lakers Nation has 41-year-old LeBron James as the team’s only offensive engine, which he did to a certain degree against the Houston Rockets in the first round.
But to expect the same from him in the Western semifinals against defending champs, Thunder, would be unrealistic. He scored a very effective 27 points in the first game versus the Thunder but it was never going to be enough to win.
When the media asked James about the team’s offensive woes after the game, the four-time champion didn’t hesitate to point to the absence of Doncic. What is the source of the offensive issues? One of our guys was putting up 37 points a game. The problems are there. “We’re playing the No. 1 defensive team in the NBA. You also need guys who can draw multiple defenders to the floor at all times when you are playing against strong defenses. “I think we had some good looks tonight, we just missed them,” King James said.
Never an Easy Road as Doncic is Absent
James understood from a distance that the Lakers had to be at their best against a tough opponent like the Thunder. His absence was felt even more considering he had an MVP season with 33.5 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds on 47.6 percent shooting from the field.
The Thunder also had another advantage, their perfect 4-0 mark in regular season meetings with the Lakers in 2025–2026. Doncic missed two of those games so it shouldn’t come as too much of a shock that LeBron would need the Slovenian sensation to back him up in the West semifinals.
When you play against the World Champions, having a guy that averages 34-8-9, whatever the hell it is, that’s special,” veteran Lakers great said. “We just need to be better in the paint.
We know Thunder is a paint-swarming team so they need to get better at getting into the paint, not turn the ball over and then shoot with confidence. “But I feel like we got some really good looks,” James, who may have to play the rest of the series without Doncic, added.
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