Luka Dončić shouldered the blame for Deandre Ayton only getting seven field-goal attempts in the Los Angeles Lakers' 119-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.

While LeBron James is out, it has become painfully clear that Luka Doncic is going to have to play out of this world for the Lakers to have a chance.

Jimmy Butler scored 31 points, Stephen Curry added 23 and the Warriors overcame Luka Doncic’s 43-point night to beat the Lakers 119-109 on Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Lakers are set to begin their 2025-26 NBA campaign in just a few hours. For the first time, the season will begin with Luka Doncic leading the charge. Enough time has passed for people to have made their peace with the blockbuster trade last season,

On Tuesday night at Crypto Arena, the Warriors’ team-centric approach to scoring the ball prevailed over the Lakers’ all-Luka Doncic, all the time tactics in a 119-109 victory. With sciatica relegating LeBron James to a spectator, Doncic was unstoppable as a scorer and put up 43 points.

Doncic falls one assist short of a triple-double, but Jimmy Butler scores 31 points, Steph Curry adds 23 and Golden State makes 17 3-pointers to hand the LeBron-less Lakers a 119-109 defeat.

For what it’s worth, Nowitzki was not alone in his take. Fellow Mavs legend Steve Nash also named Doncic when asked about his MVP prediction, while sports reporter Taylor Rooks had the same thoughts and mentioned how she was impressed by the Slovenian star’s conditioning during the offseason.

Luka Doncic ’s trade to the Los Angeles Lakers shook the entire NBA, with the longtime Dallas Mavericks hero arriving in LA back in February this year. The Lakers acquired Dončić (plus Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris), while Dallas received Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick.