DETROIT — Luka Doncic’s last-second shot fell short and the Los Angeles Lakers’ nine-game win streak was snapped in a 113-110 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday. L.A., playing in the fifth game of a six-game road trip, started out sluggish against the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 team and trailed by as many as 16 points in the third quarter.
The Lakers took their first lead of the second half with two free throws from Deandre Ayton with 39.9 seconds remaining, but Detroit’s Daniss Jenkins scored six of his career-high 30 points after that to push the Pistons back on top.
Following a timeout with 9.0 seconds remaining, LeBron James ‘ inbounds pass intended for Doncic was tipped by Detroit’s Tobias Harris, who was defending James on the sideline.
Lakers backup center Maxi Kleber, who was screening two Pistons players to get Doncic open, attempted to intercept the tipped pass, but it bounced off his hand. Doncic gathered the loose ball and tried to still get a clean look at a game-tying 3-pointer, but Detroit’s 6-foot-10 All-Star center, Jalen Duren, didn’t give him much room to operate with his defense.
“We were down … and then battled our way back,” said Austin Reaves, who scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half. “We did some really good things and there are some things we need to clean up, but, you know, it’s a long trip and I liked the way we competed.”
Playing without Marcus Smart (right ankle) and Rui Hachimura (right calf), L.A. certainly matched the Pistons, who were missing Cade Cunningham (collapsed lung), in terms of competition.
But the Lakers struggled to shoot it against a Detroit team that has the No. 2 defensive rating in the league.
Doncic scored 32 points but shot 11-for-29 (3-for-13 from 3). James was 0-for-5 in the first half — just the third time in his career he had a scoreless first half — and finished 4-for-10. Luke Kennard, Saturday’s hero against the Orlando Magic, shot 1-for-5.
However, the Lakers credited playing with the requisite effort to extend the streak, even if they didn’t get the desired result.
“Just our mental toughness,” James said when asked what winning habits the team has developed. “There were a couple games where we got down; a couple games that we got up; teams made a run, took leads and we were able to stay resilient and come back. So we’re a tough-minded [group]. Even with tonight, we got down again versus a very good team on their home floor. Obviously they had probably been waiting on this matchup.”
Before the streak started on March 5, L.A. was No. 6 in the Western Conference. Now that it’s over, the Lakers are No. 3 in the West with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
“I talked about … the growth we’ve had with being able to bend but not break,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick. “And tonight was another example of that.”
Redick was asked to assess his team now that the winning streak is over.
“We’re a good basketball team,” he said. “I believe that we’re a good basketball team. I thought we could be a good basketball team the entire season. We saw flashes of it. We saw short stretches of it, but we’re a good basketball team.”
Redick said L.A. must keep its momentum going, but also prioritize getting Smart and Hachimura back, while managing the bodies of the rest of the roster.
“We need to finish the season strong, but we also need to finish the season healthy,” Redick said.
L.A. will finish its six-game road trip Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers, which beat the Magic on Monday to snap a 16-game losing streak.
“It’s the last game of the road trip,” James said. “I know everybody’s trying to get home, but we got business to take care of, so we’ll be ready.”
