Luka Doncic cancels out LA Lakers' biggest problem: 'Anthony Davis couldn't match'

Last weekend's contest was a dream come true for Los Angeles Lakers' fans as the organization finally dominated the Denver Nuggets.

It was the Luka Doncic show for the Purple and Gold, who had his first big game for his new franchise and the timing couldn't have been better.

The Lakers led for all 48 minutes with four players scoring 20+ points in the 123-100 win over the Nuggets. Doncic was the scoring leader with 32 points, he also added 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

After seeing the newlook Lakers against the Nuggets, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas made a huge statement about Doncic essentially being the Nikola Jokic equalizer.

“He brings the equalizer to Jokic. Jokic, against the Lakers, is putting up about 50-60 total. Anthony Davis couldn’t match that because he was just a rebounder, scorer, and didn’t have assists," Arenas said. "If Luka could cancel out Jokic, then [the Lakers] don’t have that 20-point spread on them. That means LeBron vs. Murray, he wins that matchup. Then you have Austin [Reaves] against MPJ, he wins that one."

As Arenas mentioned, as good as Anthony Davis was for the Lakers, he could never eradicate Jokic's impact on the court. Even during the 2024 NBA playoffs, the Lakers led the series for the most time, but when it mattered the most, the Joker took over games with his playmaking.

Now, the Lakers have a somewhat similar star in Doncic, and he's only starting to settle with his new teammates. So come playoff time, if the two sides face each other, the Lakers will certainly have the upper hand, thanks to Doncic.

Luka Doncic cancels out LA Lakers' biggest problem vs. Nuggets, 'Anthony Davis couldn't match that'

By Aikansh Chaudhary | 2:24 PM EST