Luka Doncic eager to start playing big games for Lakers, starting in playoff date with Timberwolves

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Luka Doncic has been with the Los Angeles Lakers for 2 1/2 months now, and he’s feeling fairly comfortable in his new home. He is building chemistry with his new teammates, who are getting used to his brilliant passes, prolific scoring outbursts and fiery competitiveness.

But the playoffs begin this weekend, and the Lakers know they’re about to see yet another side of their Slovenian superstar.

“I like big games,” Doncic said Thursday with his typical understatement. “The playoffs is a fun time. Everybody plays 100%. It’s just fun to be out there.”

Doncic is one of the top playoff performers of his generation, and he is just one year removed from his remarkable effort in carrying the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals despite significant injuries to his right knee, left ankle and chest.

Doncic is healthier now — and he has LeBron James on his side this spring when the third-seeded Lakers begin the first round against the surging Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 on Saturday night.

While Los Angeles drew a difficult opening-round matchup for a team still assembling an identity around its new centerpiece, the Lakers expect to see something special from Doncic.

“Oh man, it’s exciting,” said Lakers swingman Dorian Finney-Smith, Doncic’s teammate for five seasons in Dallas. “I already know bro is going to come with the juice. He loves the moment. Knowing him, probably got to calm him down, too, because he’s going to be barking. It’s going to be exciting.”

Doncic faced Minnesota in the playoffs just last season, and it was one of the finest series performances of his career. He led the Mavericks past the Timberwolves in five games in the Western Conference finals, averaging 32.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 2.2 steals while hitting 23 3-pointers.

Doncic’s entire 2024 postseason was outstanding — incredibly, he led the NBA in playoff points, rebounds and assists — but it wasn’t even his most prolific playoff performance. His 28.9 points per game over the 22-game stretch actually comprised his lowest scoring output in his four trips to the postseason.

Can he do something similar in his first trip to the playoffs with the 17-time NBA champion Lakers? Doncic isn’t guaranteeing anything, but he will be hungry and healthy after getting seven days off since the Lakers clinched the No. 3 seed by beating Houston last Friday.

“The goal is to win a championship,” Doncic said. “I think we have a great team. We have guys that are willing to go to war. Everybody is staying together. The chemistry is high, so I think we for sure have a chance.”

Doncic’s supporting cast in Hollywood is more impressive than it was in Dallas last season, when Kyrie Irving was the only other major offensive contributor. Along with the top scorer in NBA history, the Lakers also have capable third option Austin Reaves and a gallery of solid role players on a team that has gone 19-12 since Doncic arrived.

Doncic is averaging 28.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists in his 28 games with the Lakers — just 21 of those with both James and Reaves alongside him. That’s not much time to build a championship-winning dynamic, but Doncic and James both have ample experience as postseason leaders and winners.

And whatever Doncic manages to accomplish, his teammates know he’ll do it with style.

“He’s smiling on the court and off the court, talking a lot of trash on the bench or with whatever fans he’s picking out that’s yelling at him, and it’s exciting,” Finney-Smith said. “He brings an excitement to the game. He makes unbelievable passes. That last (regular-season) game, the Houston game, I cut, thinking he wasn’t going to throw the ball to me. He threw it my direction, and he was like, ‘What, you think I didn’t see you?’”

*Associated Press