NEW YORK (AP) — LeBron James sat on the end of the Lakers' bench, wearing a red baseball cap while watching his team in the first game since his groin injury.
The red on the court Monday night was in Luka Doncic's face, frustrated by his rocky play and angry with the officiating.
“It was a lot,” Doncic said. “It wasn’t fair but we’ve still got to play the game.”
The Lakers lost 111-108 to the Brooklyn Nets, dropping their second straight after winning eight in a row before falling at Boston on Saturday.
James strained his left groin in the fourth quarter of that game. The Lakers have not said how long they expect the All-Star forward to be sidelined, and coach JJ Redick said Monday that James was still being evaluated to determine the severity of the injury.
The Lakers were also without center Jaxson Hayes (right knee contusion) and forwards Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle soreness) and Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy). That put an extra burden on Doncic and fellow guard Austin Reaves, and they both struggled.
Doncic finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists but shot 8 for 26 from the field. Reaves missed his first eight shots and finished 3 for 14.
“I just thought I played incredibly bad,” said Reaves, who still managed to finish with 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
The Lakers started well and led by 15 early in the second quarter before stalling later and finishing with just 19 points in the period as the Nets used a blitzing defense to force the ball out of Doncic's hands.
“I’m comfortable with that. You see the other games, but today wasn’t a good example of me,” Doncic said. “But you can see in the other games when they blitz we’re in good spots.”
Doncic was so frustrated with the officiating that he even got a technical foul for saying something after a call that went his way and gave him free throws. The Lakers shot 19 in the game — four by Doncic — while the Nets went 19 for 30.
“I’m not going to say anything but I think everybody saw the game, so they know what happened,” Doncic said.
James stood up a number of times during the game and dribbled the ball on the court during one stoppage, so perhaps his injury isn't too bad. He said after Saturday's game he was not too concerned it would be a long absence, believing it is not as serious as the groin injury he sustained during a Christmas game in 2018 that forced him to miss the next 17 games.
With the Lakers also starting Gabe Vincent, Alex Len and Dalton Knecht, the first time this season they used that lineup, Redick said before the game that Doncic shouldn't feel pressure to do more in James' absence.
“I think Luka is Luka and we’re not asking him to do anything or be anyone that he’s not,” Redick said. “I think we’re also not asking the other guys to step up and be someone they’re not. We have enough firepower with Austin and Luka as shot creators and we’ll do our best to have shooting out there with them.”
Vincent finished with 24 points and Knecht scored 19, so the Lakers would've had enough to win if Doncic and Reaves played better.
“Not getting calls that you think you should get is frustrating and not making shots is frustrating,” Reaves said. “You’ve got to be able to flip the page from that and lock in on something else to help the team.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press
