The Los Angeles Lakers picked up their first win of the season on Friday, taking down the Minnesota Timberwolves 131-122 behind another Luka Doncic masterpiece. Doncic dropped 49 points, marking his second straight 40-point outing and leading Los Angeles past the team that eliminated them from last year’s playoffs.
It was the Lakers’ first glimpse of balance in the young season. Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura both added 20-plus points, while Deandre Ayton chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds. This victory provided a much-needed lift for a team still adjusting to life without LeBron James, who’s expected to miss around 15 games due to a sciatica injury.
### How Long Can the Lakers Survive Without LeBron?
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, James is targeting a mid-November return, leaving the Lakers to navigate one of the NBA’s toughest stretches without their leader and the league’s all-time leading scorer. That leaves Doncic as the sole engine, and so far, he’s been everything Los Angeles hoped for—and more.
But around the league, there’s growing skepticism about whether this level of dependence can last. “Luka is going to have to do what he did every night just to give them a chance,” an assistant coach told ESPN.
The Lakers’ offense has lived and died on Doncic’s creation through the first two games. He dropped 43 points in the opener against the Golden State Warriors, nearly posting a triple-double in the process. However, outside of Reaves’ 26 points in that game, no other player cracked 15.
### Scouts Aren’t Sold on the Supporting Cast
While Doncic has been spectacular, scouts around the league see a troubling trend behind his brilliance.
“Luka is awesome,” one scout said. “And the rest of the team is who we thought they were.”
He added that Reaves “was good until he ran out of gas because he had to do so much,” and admitted, “outside of them I couldn’t tell you who their third-best player was.”
That assessment came after the Lakers’ season-opening loss to the Warriors—a game where Doncic poured in 43 points but received little help beyond Reaves.
It’s a blunt but fair evaluation. The Lakers’ depth has looked inconsistent at best, and without James, it’s unclear where the secondary playmaking and defensive leadership will come from.
“They have a chance because Luka doing that isn’t a one-off performance,” another scout told ESPN. “They need some of these other guys to step up. You look at their roster, and it’s 1-2-3 and 2 is out then a huge gap.”
### Can the Lakers Hold On in the West?
The Lakers have enough talent to compete, but the margin for error is small. Every night feels like a test of endurance, with Doncic forced to shoulder both the scoring and the playmaking load.
Reaves has taken on a bigger offensive role, and Hachimura’s consistency will be key, but until LeBron returns, this team will live in a fragile balance between brilliance and burnout.
If anyone can keep them afloat, it’s Doncic—but even for a player of his magnitude, 45 points a night isn’t sustainable forever.
### The Bigger Picture for the Lakers
The Western Conference won’t wait for Los Angeles to catch up. Every win matters, and every misstep could come back in April.
For now, Doncic is doing everything possible to keep the Lakers above water, but the strain is visible. The weight of expectation, the nightly double teams, and the grind of carrying a roster built for two stars instead of one—it’s all part of the early-season storm.
The Lakers may have found their first win, but they’ve also found their reality: until James is back, Doncic has to be everything, everywhere, all at once.
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