Lakers hurting for Luka Doncic as offensive slump continues in Game 1
CITY OF OKLAHOMA — The answer to the Lakers’ collapsing offense was hunched over a chair in the corner of the Paycom Center visitors’ locker room. Luka Doncic, dressed in a black T-shirt and pants, was scrolling on his phone, cornered by a wall of reporters all facing LeBron James looking for the reasons behind a playoff drought.
“We have a guy who averages 37 years old [points] a game [out]” said James. “Thirty-three and a half. …Therein lies the problem.
Since Doncic suffered a grade 2 left hamstring strain in this arena on April 2, the Lakers have used James’ heroics, suddenly hot shooting and solid defense to mask the absence of their leading scorer. But Tuesday’s 108-90 loss in Game 1 to the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder showed how much the Lakers miss Doncic.
On a night where they held Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a season-low 18 points and a season-high seven turnovers, the Lakers still never got closer than 11 points in the fourth quarter. The reigning Most Valuable Player scored fewer than 20 points in a game for the first time since May 24, 2025.
The Lakers fought their way through a defensive battle against the Houston Rockets in the first round, but their offense began to fall behind midway through the series. They have scored fewer than 100 points in four straight games, including three losses. The team that shot with a league-leading 50.2 percent success rate during the regular season dropped to 46.5 percent. Their 99.6 points per game in the playoffs are the lowest of any team still playing in the conference semifinals.
“When you’re playing against a great defense, you’ve got to have guys that can draw multiple defenders on the court at any given time,” said James, who led the Lakers with 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting. “I feel like we made some great shots. We made some great shots tonight, we missed them.”
The Lakers shot 10 of 30 from three-point range. In the first round, the Lakers shot better than 40% from three in their four wins, compared to no better than 25.9% in their two losses.
The Thunder allowed the seventh-most three-pointers per game during the regular season. Hoping to exploit this weakness, the Lakers made 30 three-pointers, a relative improvement from their average of 25.5 per game in the first round.
But forward Rui Hachimura, who shot 3 of 6 from three, said the team could afford to shoot even more.
Luke Kennard, who burst into the playoffs with 50 combined points in Games 1 and 2 against the Houston Rockets, shot just 1 of 3 from three. Lakers coach JJ Redick lamented that the NBA’s best three-point shooter missed some good shots.
The Lakers have struggled to generate three-point shots following injuries to Doncic and Austin Reaves. Reaves’ return hasn’t completely revived the offense as the guard finds his rhythm after a left oblique strain sidelined him for four weeks.
Reaves was 0 for five from three in his third game back. He’s two of 17 on shots from distance in the playoffs and had just eight points on three of 16 shots on Tuesday.
Injured Lakers star Luka Doncic greets teammate Dalton Knecht during the second half of Game 1 Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.
(Kyle Phillips/Associated Press)
“I was able to get my spot a few times and just missed a few easy shots,” Reaves said. “But for the most part, you have to limit the turnovers. They pressure the ball very well, they just have to give us the opportunity to shoot on goal on every possession.”
The Lakers committed 18 turnovers that led to 20 Oklahoma City points, including 15 in the second half. Redick identified turnovers as the Lakers’ top priority against the league’s most disruptive defense, especially after the Lakers averaged 17.7 turnovers per game during the first round of the playoffs.
The Lakers miss Doncic’s 33.5 points per game, but against such an aggressive defense, they also suffer from his ball handling which could take pressure off Reaves (four turnovers), Smart (two) and James (two).
“We decided we would make do with what we have,” Hachimura said. “But I think this kind of thing [Doncic does] – the game, especially against a team like these guys, they put pressure on the ball – Luka, with his size and his ball handling, everything, he could have been a good playmaker, for sure.
Doncic has recently increased some of his work on the court by incorporating movement into his shots, but had not progressed to live contact by the time the series began. He posted a photo of himself lifting weights on his Instagram Story on Monday, but Redick gave no update on the star guard’s status.
In the locker room after Tuesday’s game, teammates sat with their feet submerged in buckets of ice and ice packs wrapped around their joints. In his corner between James and Reaves’ lockers, Doncic turned sideways as reporters passed.
