I swear, if Luka Doncic was playing, this second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder would be going differently.
The Lakers wouldn’t be losing …
… second halves by so much.
But if his hamstring allowed their offensive engine to drive, the offense might not be humming. But the Lakers could probably keep it running.
They might not be keeping pace, but with the league’s leading scorer contributing, the gap wouldn’t be a year wide by every game’s end.
The Lakers really miss Doncic. Duh.
But it’s not only because, without him, they’re stuck reliving a recurring nightmare; in all three games, the Lakers have played Oklahoma City tough in the first half, including taking the lead into halftime in Games 2 and 3, only for it to be yanked away.
It’s also because they’re also losing data points on the scoreboard going into a pivotal offseason.
This whole Western Conference semifinal series against these defending champions has been a lose-lose proposition for the Lakers, who are now down 3-0 and staring into the elimination abyss in Game 4 on Monday.
But throw in the 33.5 points per game Doncic averaged this season, and the Lakers don’t get outscored by a combined 54 points after halftime.
Calculate for Doncic’s career 30.9 points per playoff game, and let’s assume their high-water mark would surely eclipse Saturday’s tally in their 131-108 Game 3 loss at Crypto.com Arena.
For whatever that’s worth.
Which is little compared to what else the Lakers miss with Doncic on the bench, nursing the Grade 2 hamstring strain he suffered on April 2 in Oklahoma City.
For the Lakers, this end-of-the-road series is most valuable as an evaluation period for next season. It’s a barometer reading: You are here. The Thunder are there.
The goal now is to build a team around Doncic that could conceivably keep pace with Oklahoma City, and so they’re evaluating who will help do that if they come along for the ride next year.
But the Lakers are doing these playoff measurements without Doncic on the court. They’re test-driving the wrong car toward vacation.
Doncic can expect a postcard in the mail: Wish you were there.
So does he, of course.
“It’s very frustrating,” Doncic said between Games 1 and 2, standing with his hands in his pockets, pained to report that he wasn’t close to returning, five weeks into his eight-week return-to-work timeline.
“I don’t think people understand how frustrating it is. All I wanna do is play basketball, especially this time. It’s the best time to play basketball. It’s very frustrating seeing what my team is doing. I’m very proud of them. It’s been very tough, to, just to sit and watch them play.”
He got to see the Lakers upset the Houston Rockets in a six-game, first-round series without him and, for four games, Austin Reaves — who is averaging 18.7 points and shooting 40% from the floor and 25% from three-point range this series, having become a higher priority of the Thunder’s physical defense without having to deal with Doncic.
On Saturday, Doncic had to watch another lead — and with it, another opportunity to steal a game — disappear as if by a cruel magic trick. As time wore down, Doncic sat on the bench next to Reaves, staring blankly, hands folded in his lap, like so many Lakers fans at the arena.
The Lakers’ latest deflating loss could have used Doncic’s energy,his showmanship, his fire. He’s among the league-leaders in that, too.
“Look, yeah, when you have the league’s leading scorer out there – if he was – it definitely changes the dynamic of a team,” said guard Luke Kennard, who scored 13 of his series-high 18 points in the first half Saturday.
“Obviously, we miss him. And we know he’s working his butt off right now [to return to play] … but yeah, I mean, he would definitely change it for us. But right now, he’s not.”
Kennard is right, of course. Things would be different if Doncic was out there dealing.
Not that different.
But the Lakers at least wouldn’t be running out of gas so far from getting home every game, and they’d also have a better idea of how much farther they have to go.
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