Skip Bayless: Lakers are 'a little better' without Luka Doncic

[ASFN Admin]

The Los Angeles Lakers have surprised just about everyone by jumping out to a 2-0 series lead over the Houston Rockets, even without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Doncic and Reaves continue to be sidelined with hamstring and oblique strains, respectively, and the Lakers have been missing lots of offense without them for roughly the last three weeks.

But without them, Los Angeles has played gritty and smart defense that has held Houston to under 100 points in both of the first two games. Offensively, L.A. has been patient on offense, looking to fast-break off its defense and moving the ball around in its halfcourt offense. It has been hot from 3-point range, and several players have stepped things up in terms of scoring.

Fox Sports 1 personality Skip Bayless has been a vocal critic of both Doncic and LeBron James. He made an appearance on "The Arena" and made a bold statement by saying that he feels the Lakers are better without Doncic (h/t Heavy Sports).

“I just think they’re a little better basketball team on both ends of the floor without Luka,” Bayless said.

“... Last night and obviously in Game 1, I saw a team with LeBron orchestrating. LeBron has far less ego than Luka does. Luka has to be the whole show, and obviously, he can be a defensive liability.”

It is true that Doncic can control the ball a lot and slow down the pace of the game, but that can also be said of other ball-dominant superstars, including James. When someone like that is out of action, it forces everyone to step things up in multiple categories, and in the short-term, it can result in better, quicker ball movement and better defense. Without Doncic, who won his second scoring title this season, his teammates know they cannot rely on their offense to defeat a quality team such as the Rockets.

Bayless took things a step further and threw some significant shade at Doncic.

“Luka is the most inefficient player in the league,” Bayless continued. “He is obviously an offensive scoring genius, but he led the league in shots attempted per game. He led the league in three-point attempts per game. He led the league in free-throw attempts per game, and he led the league in turnovers.

“He also led the league in scoring, but he’s the Showtime Laker singular where the whole show, the whole world revolves around Luka. [In Game 2], especially on defense, I saw connection. I saw trust, positivity, and momentum on defense that fed the offense.”

Make no mistake: If the Lakers are going to do more than get past a flawed Rockets team in the first round of the playoffs, they will need Doncic and Reaves to safely return from their injuries, even if Doncic is as inefficient as Bayless claims.

Neither has a firm timetable for a return to game action. But according to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Lakers feel Reaves is further along in his recovery than Doncic is. Both recently returned to practice, albeit in a very limited capacity, and both were given a rough, estimated timetable of four to six weeks after they suffered their injuries on April 2.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Skip Bayless: Lakers are 'a little better' without Luka Doncic

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