Doncic pointed the finger at himself following his team's 112-104 defeat against the crosstown rival Clippers on Thursday night.
The Los Angeles Lakers dropped another game at the Intuit Dome on Thursday, falling 112-104 to the Los Angeles Clippers in a contest that featured plenty of twists and turns.
Despite a strong effort from the Lakers, poor late-game execution doomed them as the Clippers closed out the win behind Kawhi Leonard's 24-point performance.
Luka Doncic Accepts Responsibility
After the game, star guard Luka Doncic was honest about his role in the outcome and didn't make any excuses for the loss.
"I think the energy was there, obviously," Doncic told reporters in his postgame interview. "I didn't help the team enough to win this game, but I think the energy from everybody was there. Just keep them together."
The admission was surprising given that Doncic still finished with a solid stat line of 32 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists on the night, but the league's leading scorer felt he could have done more when it mattered most.
A Rollercoaster Finish Falls Short
The Lakers found themselves in a major hole after the Clippers built a 26-point lead in the third quarter, the largest advantage of the game.
Los Angeles responded with a 19-7 run to close the period and kept fighting in the fourth, trimming the deficit to just two points after a 19-7 surge capped by a Doncic three-pointer.
James Harden answered with a three of his own and the Clippers rattled off 10 straight points to push the lead back to 103-91.
The Lakers still had one more push left in them as LeBron James helped spark an 11-2 run that cut the lead to three, but Ivica Zubac's reverse dunk and John Collins' triple gave the Clippers enough breathing room to close out the victory.
Harden sealed the game from the free-throw line, finishing with 18 points and 10 assists while Zubac added 18 points and 19 rebounds.
Where Both Teams Stand
The loss drops the Lakers to 26-17 on the season and marks their sixth defeat in their last 11 games, a rough stretch that has tested the team's depth with Austin Reaves still sidelined.
Meanwhile, the Clippers improved to 20-24 and have now won 14 of their last 17 games after starting the season with a brutal 6-21 record.
Doncic is averaging 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game this season, while Leonard has been on fire during the Clippers' recent surge, posting 28.2 points per game on 49.7 percent shooting from the field.
The Lakers now head to Dallas on Saturday where Doncic will make his second return to face his former team.