How difficult is it for the Lakers to blackout Doncic at the start of the game? Ayton performed fourth best on the team, but all the bench was holding him back

When James was determined to miss the start of the season due to injury, everyone knew that Doncic was under a lot of pressure and almost dragged the Lakers forward. But no one expected Doncic to be so brave. The Lakers are still being beaten by the Warriors, and their teammates around them are basically unable to provide help. It seems that with the Lakers' lineup, even if James is in good shape after his comeback, it will be good to make the playoffs.

Even if you look at the technical statistics, you can see that even if the Lakers lost, Doncic gave his best. Despite the injury, Doncic made 17 of 27 shots, scored 43 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals. In addition to his average outside touch, Doncic only made 2 of 10 three-pointers.

So how difficult is it for Doncic if the Lakers get off to a bad start? After the game, everyone criticized Ayton, but in fact, his performance was already the fourth best on the team. In addition to Doncic, the Lakers only had Reeves and Rui Hachimura, and their overall performance was acceptable. Reeves, as the temporary second team leader, scored 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists. But he still has the same problem. Once Reeves is tightly guarded, his offensive efficiency plummets, and he also suffers on the defensive end. Therefore, Reeves had 5 turnovers and fouls in this game, and his plus-minus value was also relatively low. Hachimura scored 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. His efficiency was actually good. He hit 3 goals in 6 shots from beyond the three-point line. However, when Hachimura entered the paint area, his presence was not high enough in both offense and defense. It can only be said that he did not waste many opportunities.

Ayton's performance in this game is simply a microcosm of his entire career. According to the statistics, he scored 10 points and 6 rebounds. However, Ayton did not have that much possession of the ball, but he made 4 turnovers, which is really a bit tricky. Moreover, Ayton has no height and size. His defense and frame protection at the basket can be said to be useless. Even if the Warriors have aging veterans like Dream Green and Al Horford inside, Ayton still cannot take advantage and even falls into passivity.

However, Ayton like this is not the worst of the Lakers, especially the entire bench is holding back. The Lakers' second lineup only scored 18 points in total in this game. Among them, Smart, who had the best statistics, also scored 9 points, but made 3 turnovers and 4 fouls, and his state declined very obviously. The overall output of Laravia and Hayes was also very limited. Of course, the most outrageous thing was Vanderbilt. He only grabbed 3 rebounds and made 2 turnovers.