sure have a chance.”

The Lakers feel they were able to fast-track their chemistry despite this iteration of the team not being together for too long not only because of their communication off the court, but because of the moments they shared on it.

Among them were victories over the Denver Nuggets, Clippers (twice) and New York Knicks within three and a half weeks of Doncic making his Lakers debut; supporting Doncic during his return to Dallas in the April 9 road win over the Mavericks; and clinching a 50-win season and the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed with the April 11 home win over the Houston Rockets, which capped off a two-week period in which they also beat the Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder and Rockets twice.

“We did a good job trying to jell as best as we could with the little time that we had,” Dorian Finney-Smith said.

But much of the Lakers’ internal confidence in their chance to contend for a championship this year stems from Doncic, who led the Mavericks to last year’s NBA Finals before they fell to the Boston Celtics.

Doncic’s playoff scoring average of 30.9 points is the second-highest in league history behind Michael Jordan (33.45).

It was notable that when asked what stood out from the tribute video the Mavericks put together for his return to American Airlines Center last week, Doncic pointed to his game-winning shot over Minnesota center Rudy Gobert in Game 2 of last year’s Western Conference finals.

“I like big games,” Doncic said. “Playoffs (are) a fun time. Everybody plays 100%. It’s just fun to be out there.”

And in Doncic, the Lakers believe they have a player who can lead them to their ultimate goal.

“It’s exciting,” Finney-Smith said. “I already know he’s going to come with the juice. He loves the moment. Knowing him, probably gotta calm him down too because he’s going to be barking. It’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be exciting.”