The Lakers took a rough loss on their home floor against the Celtics on Sunday, falling by a score of 111-89 in a game in which they were outmatched physically by Boston and shot just 39.1% from the field. It was their second-worst offensive output of the 2025-26 season, and was the cause of some alarm because it was a loss that came despite the full health of Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves, the three Lakers stars who have suffered staggered injuries that limited them to a dozen games together heading into the weekend.
James started the season, of course, out with sciatica, missing the first 14 games of the year. Reaves then went out for all but two games from December 14 through February 1 with a calf injury. Then, in early February, it was a hamstring for Doncic, who returned after the All-Star break.
The net result is that the Lakers are facing the stretch run of the NBA season with very little chemistry on the floor among their star players. Considering how disjointed the Lakers were offensively on Sunday, there’s plenty of reason to worry.
Luka Doncic: ‘We’re Not There Yet’
Doncic himself acknowledged that after the game, when he pointed out that the Lakers’ trio is not getting the most of their talent. With less than seven weeks remaining on the Lakers’ schedule, there is not that much time to pull things together.
The trio of James, Reaves and Doncic has only started 10 games together, with the Lakers now 6-4 in those 10 games.
Said Doncic, who had 25 points on 9-for-22 shooting on Sunday: “I think you see, you know, that we’re not there yet, Like I said, we’re working on it. But there should be, like, big potential about us three playing together.”
Physicality Bothers Lakers
One of the big issues Doncic said the Lakers have run into is their willingness to be physical when other teams are being physical. While the chemistry problem the team has with Doncic, Reaves and James is something that has a chance to be ironed out in the coming weeks, the issue of physicality might be more difficult–neither Doncic, Reaves nor James at this phase of his career wants to be particularly physical.
Said Doncic: “I think we need to look at how teams like Boston play, especially on the defensive end. They’re very aggressive. Grab and hold. The referees are letting us play for sure. We need to look at that and play physically, on both ends.”
Lakers Need to Get Better on Both Sides
The wider problem there is that most of the better teams in the NBA are teams that play physical, and that the referees allow to play physical. The Lakers are just 11-14 against teams over .500 this season, and only 2-8 against the top four teams in each conference.
James said on Sunday, “I don’t think we’re there right now, I think we got some games to be played. Obviously, it is the sprint for us now, we gotta figure it out. It’s not just me, AR and Luka. We got the ball in our hands the majority of times but we’ve got to make sure we keep guys, other guys into it, in the flow. The offense is five guys, not just three or two or one. It has to be five guys and being able to play as one.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Lakers’ Luka Doncic Makes Concerning Statement on Team’s Stars appeared first on Heavy Sports.