Doncic: Lakers felt they could compete for NBA title after March run
The Lakers were feeling very good about themselves when they won 16 of 18 games late in the regular season.
For much of this season, the Los Angeles Lakers struggled to play up to the level they were capable of playing at. They won only half of their combined games in December, January and February, and there was talk that their star trio of Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves simply couldn't mesh. But starting in late February, the Lakers won 16 of 18 games.
Doncic was playing otherworldly basketball, and James gracefully accepted and adjusted to a new role as the third scoring option. Suddenly, there was some talk that the team had an outside shot at winning the NBA championship. Los Angeles eventually got swept in the Western Conference semifinals by the Oklahoma City Thunder after Doncic suffered a season-ending hamstring strain on April 2.
But Doncic said that the run L. A. went on late in the season gave him and his teammates lots of confidence .
“I think this season obviously didn’t end how we wanted,” Doncic said. “But I feel like the last push we made in the end of the regular season, we thought we could compete for a championship. I think we had a great team.