A thrilling first half didn’t foreshadow the nightmare second half that was loading for the Los Angeles Lakers.
LeBron James injured his groin, Luka Doncic struggled under intense defensive pressure and the Boston Celtics pulled away from L.A. in a fantastic rivalry win that ended with a 10-point margin but felt like more.
It’s one of those games that could be looked back upon as a turning point in a promising season.
James’ injury will still take time to develop into a fully formed plan moving forward, but early reports from ESPN suggest he might miss weeks, not days.
Doncic was stripped cleanly of the ball on multiple occasions by Jaylen Brown, and although he finished with 34 points, he was a team-worst negative-19 in plus-minus, due in part to five turnovers and also due to Boston repeatedly targeting him with their best offensive players.
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The Lakers entered Saturday night on an eight-game winning streak. They were on the kind of roll that was bound to come after the jolt of picking up a generational talent like Doncic before the trade deadline.
Stars and role players alike were playing well during this stretch, and Los Angeles ascended all the way up to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
But if James misses time, and if Doncic is forced to do more with less against the league’s best perimeter defenders, the promise might be short-lived for L.A.
Don’t get it wrong – the future is still very bright, because Doncic should be one of the NBA’s best players for years and years to come.
But all of a sudden, the Lakers had moved into top-five odds in sportsbooks to win this year’s NBA title. That’s all in a bit of jeopardy now.
Lakers fans just need to hope that the seemingly immortal James makes a quick and healthy recovery and that Doncic continues to sharpen up in a new system. There’s still time for a special late-season run, if all the pieces are at full strength to do so.
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