The Los Angeles Lakers and superstars Luka Doncic and LeBron James are on the brink of elimination from the NBA playoffs. Heading into Game 5 on Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, they face a must-win scenario, trailing in the series 3-1.
All series long, the Lakers have struggled to slow down the Timberwolves. Their defense has not been good, which has led to the deficit they currently face.
One of the culprits of the lack of defense has been Doncic himself.
Throughout his entire career, Doncic has struggled on the defensive end of the court. Those struggles were one of the reasons Nico Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks opted to trade the generational superstar to begin with.
Offensively, Doncic has been great throughout the series against Minnesota. He has averaged 30.8 points per game to go along with 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the four games thus far, shooting 46.5% from the floor and 36.8% from the three-point line.
His defense has been the problem.
Due to his struggles on the defensive end of the court, one NBA insider has spoken out with some brutal criticism for Doncic.
Zach Lowe did not hold back his words when talking about Doncic on defense.
“He is so bad defensively that it’s laughable,” Lowe said.
In order to keep the season alive, Doncic and Los Angeles will need to lock in defensively. Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves are tough to defend, but the Lakers have to put up some kind of fight.
Moving ahead into the future, Doncic will have to continue working on his defense. If he can’t improve, he’ll be an offensive superstar who is a complete liability on defense. At just 26 years old, there is still hope that he can continue developing and improving his defensive skills.
All of that being said, the stage has been set. The Lakers have just one more chance to win. If they can win in Game 5, they will also have to win Game 6 and Game 7 to advance.
Fans are sure to be watching closely to see what kind of defensive performance Doncic can provide in Game 5. Should he struggle once again, a lot more noise will begin surrounding Doncic.
