Luka Doncic took the blame for the Los Angeles Lakers’ 125-108 upset loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday, which ended their seven-game winning streak.
The five-time NBA All-Star started hot with 20 points in the opening frame. However, Doncic turned the ball over four times in the second period, and the Phoenix Suns went on a run and never looked back. He finished with 38 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists on 15-for-26 shooting from the field, but also had a career-high nine turnovers.
“That was my fault,” Doncic said via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “No way I can have nine turnovers in a game.”
“I feel like it definitely was a different defense than other teams (play),” he added of the Phoenix Suns’ defense. “Kind of trying to let me go score instead of creating for others. So, it was kind of confusing, but like I said, just can’t have it.”
Los Angeles Lakers News: LeBron James dishes on the factors behind their loss vs. Phoenix Suns
LeBron James quickly pointed to the team’s carelessness with the ball as the reason for their defeat to the Phoenix Suns. To his point, the Los Angeles Lakers coughed the ball up 21 times (compared to 11 for Phoenix), which led to 32 points off turnovers.
“Turnovers, transition points, obviously on our home floor and against a disruptive defense like that, you can’t turn the ball over that much,” James told Daniel Starkand of Lakers Nation. “(They were) pretty much all pick-sixes. They not only turned us over, they were able to convert.”
“Listen, that happens. It’s a long NBA season, but we understand that,” he continued. “That’s a very good team over there, and they took us out of what we wanted to do and how we wanted to execute, and we have to learn from that.”
