The Los Angeles Lakers are off to one of the stronger starts in the league, winning four of their first six games despite being shorthanded for most of the early season.
LeBron James is yet to make his debut and Luka Doncic recently returned from a leg and finger injury. So, the team has relied heavily on role players, particularly Austin Reaves, to keep things afloat.
Doncic made his return in dominant fashion Friday night, dropping 44 points to lead the Lakers to an NBA Cup win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
After the game, the 26-year-old superstar spoke candidly about where he thinks the team stands offensively and what comes next once everyone is healthy.
I think we can be way better, Doncic said. The way Austin played when I was out, obviously today he didnt want to shoot the ball and I dont know why, I told him. But I mean, we got LeBron coming back. Obviously I dont know when, but I feel like we have a lot of improvement left in the offense. But all of this is nothing if were not gonna get stops. Like the first half today, I think we played very bad. No energy and it starts with me. So first of all, I think we gotta be better on defend to start the half and then just play like the second half.
While Doncic emphasized defense as the Lakers foundation, he also pointed to the chemistry hes building with Reaves, who kept the offense alive during the teams injury stretch.
Im happy he did. It was good to see him back out there playing, Reaves said of Doncics return. Looked good, looked like he didnt miss any time. Everybody knows how good he is. If he was trying to be me, I dont know, probably not. Hes a little better than me. But yeah, it was good to see.
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