NBA analyst says Lakers 'don't scare a soul' amid Luka Doncic injury
The heavy loss to the Thunder brought the Lakers back to earth.
NBA analyst says Lakers 'don't scare a soul' amid Luka Doncic injury originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Entering Thursday night's blockbuster showdown against the Oklahoma City Thunder , the Los Angeles Lakers had won 16 of their past 18 games and reached the 50-win mark in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2011.
Luka Doncic was playing like an MVP frontrunner, and head coach JJ Redick had found a workable formula for his talented yet volatile team that had risen to third in the Western Conference. The Lakers remain third on Friday morning. But the vibes are a little bit worse after Doncic suffered a left hamstring strain in a 139-96 loss in Oklahoma City -- the Lakers' worst defeat of the season.
MORE: Austin Reaves confronts Thunder fan for heckling injured Luka Doncic: 'Have some respect' The 44-point beatdown at Paycom Center was all the ammunition that Kendrick Perkins needed Friday to make a scathing assessment of the Lakers' playoff chances. In short: he isn't particularly high on them, now or in the future. "When I look at the Lakers, they’re a second-round exit, that’s their ceiling," Perkins said on ESPN's "First Take" show.
" The Lakers don’t scare a soul, even on Halloween. " Kendrick Perkins GOES IN on the Lakers 😬 “When I look at the Lakers, they’re a 2nd round exit, that’s their ceiling…. The Lakers don’t scare a soul.