In his first Opening Night with the Los Angeles Lakers, Luka Doncic dominated. Yet by the time the third period wrapped up, the Golden State Warriors were up by 11 points. That’s the reality Doncic may have to get used to, especially while [LeBron James is sidelined](https://lakeshowlife.com/lebron-james-injury-lakers-next-move-painfully-obvious).
Austin Reaves looked solid, getting his buckets efficiently, but for most of the game, the rest of the roster looked absent, particularly on the offensive end of the court. They just couldn’t keep up with the points the Warriors were putting up. Until the Lakers learn how to gel, Doncic may unfortunately have to deal with these types of games.
That’s not great for LA. And in Game 1, the Warriors took advantage of that reality.
**Luka Doncic will have to carry a lot for Lakers to win**
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Throughout the course of his NBA career thus far, Doncic has taken on some very heavy lifting, especially with his early days Dallas Mavericks squads. The Lakers should be looking to eliminate those issues.
Unfortunately, in the first game of the 2025-26 season, the problem was clear as day: The Lakers don’t have enough support around Doncic when James is out.
Now, that may sound a bit silly—of course the Lakers are going to have some issues when they are missing their second-best player. A guy who takes up a huge chunk of their salary cap.
But still. This was the reality the Lakers should have seen coming. James is 40 years old. He was always going to have to miss some time. Planning out the rest of the roster has never been more important.
Deandre Ayton is a decent player, but he’s in a prove-it year for a reason. Rui Hachimura can make shots, but he’s very much an off-ball guy. Gabe Vincent can get hot, but not on a consistent basis. Outside of Doncic, it’s just Reaves. That’s not enough.
It took a Herculean effort from Doncic for the Lakers to stay in the game on Opening Night, and even with how well he played, they were down by double digits for most of the fourth quarter.
A late surge brought them back into the game, but by that point, it was too late for the Lakers to overcome the lead that the Warriors had built up in the third quarter.
Doncic is one of the best players in the NBA. That much is obvious. He was probably the best player on the court on Wednesday night. But it didn’t matter. Because the Warriors had better depth.
If the rest of the Lakers don’t step up around Doncic, it could be a long, long year, at least while James is out.