Luka Doncic led the Los Angeles Lakers to a huge win on Saturday night, scoring 32 points and recording 10 rebounds to beat the Denver Nuggets, 123-100. Late Februrary wins rarely mean much in the NBA but this felt different for the Lakers.
The win served as a tantalizing glimpse of how good the offense can be when Doncic is clicking with LeBron James. The Nuggets have been the team's primary foil of late, having knocked L.A. out of the playoffs in two straight seasons. Such a victory is great for morale, and led to Doncic delivering a simple reminder to the rest of the NBA about the Lakers and the playoffs.
"Our goal is to win the championship," Doncic said to reporters on Saturday night, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. "That’s our only goal. And I think we have the team for that."
The championship being the goal isn't a surprise. That is the ultimate goal for every team in every season. But there's been so much talk about how the Lakers will look down the road with Doncic that it's become easy to forget the roster is entirely capable of making serious noise in the playoffs right now. Sure, there are exploitable flaws, especially defensively, that stack the odds against L.A. as far as making a serious championship run.
Nevertheless— bet against Doncic and his running mate James at their own peril. Both players tend to shine brightest under the playoff lights. No matter how many potential issues surround them on the roster Doncic and James will be mighy dangerous come postseason. Doncic's quote above just serves as a reminder to everyone else.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Luka Doncic Had Simple Reminder for NBA After Lakers' Big Win Over Nuggets.
