Luka Doncic has accepted responsibility for a bad night against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, after the Los Angeles Lakers were beaten 123-116.

After hitting his first shot, things tailed off for Doncic as he finished on 19 points, having shot six for 17. He also missed all six of his 3-point attempts.

"That performance from me was unacceptable," said Doncic after the game, as quoted by ESPN. The defeat means the Lakers drop to fourth in the West with six games to go in the regular season.

"When I play like that, that makes [it] harder [for the team] to win, so just got to figure that out."

Lakers coach JJ Redick was aligned with Doncic in suggesting that his players need to look at themselves, despite an impressive defensive performance by the Warriors.

"It was not what they were doing, it was what we were doing. We showed them at half-time," he said.

"The spacing alignments [were incorrect] and having the wrong guy in the dunker spot, the wrong guy in the corner."

Following the defeat, the Lakers are now just one game ahead of the fifth-placed Warriors and half a game behind the Denver Nuggets in third.

Final pic.twitter.com/fUS27goXGh

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 4, 2025

"It obviously felt like a playoff game," said Doncic.

"Since they acquired Jimmy [Butler], they've been playing unbelievably. So it was kind of playoff game, and now we see what kind of team they are. Maybe we can meet them, maybe not, in the playoffs. So, we just need to be more ready."

"I have no idea, I can't answer that question," James said when asked how legitimate Green's claim is when it comes to Golden State's contender status. "I got to worry about us. I can't be worrying about other teams. That ain't my job."

For Jimmy Butler, meanwhile, there were fresh concerns over injury after he left the court while struggling with his forearm.

"It's part of the game," Butler said when asked about the injury, quoted in Sports Illustrated. "Got nicked up a little bit. I hope that I'm going to be alright; we'll see [on Friday]."

Buter did reappear on-court, but was clearly hampered by the injury and was asked after the game about whether he would be getting any tests done.

"Not yet. I think we all was really focused on getting this one. So, I tried to keep the main thing the main thing, and that's focus on winning this one," he added.

"Knowing why you do what you do, that's to win and go out there and compete with our guys. You see Steph [Curry] banged up, and he's going out there and doing it. Everybody's banged up at this time of year."