The Los Angeles Lakers looked to continue their impressive performances on Monday night as they hosted the 13-9 Phoenix Suns. However, Dillon Brooks and Phoenix showed up and outplayed the No. 2 team in the Western Conference.
Brooks finished with 33 points on 15-of-26 shooting, while teammate Collin Gillespie had 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting. All-Star guard Devin Booker had a quiet night with just 11 points in the 125-108 win.
On the opposing side, Luka Doncic continued to do Luka things, as he scored 38 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out five assists. However, a glaring issue arose in the turnover department, where Luka had nine of them.
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During his postgame press conference, Luka didn’t hesitate to take responsibility for the issues that led to his team’s home loss.
“Yeah, that was my fault. No way I can have nine turnovers in the game. So in that second quarter, instead of just getting the shots or shooting the ball, I feel like I was just trying to get involved, but there’s no way I should have nine turnovers,” Luka told reporters.
“I feel like definitely it was different defense than other teams. You know, kind of trying to let me go score instead of creating for others,” he said, adding, “But like I said, just can’t have [those turnovers].”
In addition to Luka’s nine turnovers, his teammates Austin Reaves and LeBron James added another eight, giving the trio 17 of the team’s 21.
The Lakers are now embarking on a road trip against tougher competition than they’ve played this season. Among their upcoming games are visits to play the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics, and an NBA Cup Quarter-final game against the San Antonio Spurs.
According to Luka in his press conference, they’ll need to take better care of the ball and “play more physical” in their upcoming games if they want a stronger chance of winning. That begins Thursday night against Toronto, a team that Luka couldn’t say what stood out about them this season, so he will need to study up on them before hitting the hardwood.
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