Fresh off a thrilling overtime victory over the Denver Nuggets, fueled by Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Los Angeles Lakers extended their win streak to six with a 100-92 win over the Houston Rockets on Monday, improving to 43-25. At the moment, the spirit within the organization is at an all-time high. Despite this, Paul Pierce is not buying it.

While discussing the playoff scenario of the Western Conference ahead of the Lakers game with the Rockets, the former Boston Celtics star got brutally honest about the Purple & Gold’s chances of winning the Larry O’Brien this year. Pierce ripped Luka Doncic and Co. into shreds, suggesting that not only will they fail to win the championship, but they will also struggle to get past the first round of the playoffs, similar to last season.

“Like, if they have to play the Timberwolves, the Nuggets, the Rockets… I don’t think the Lakers come out of the first round. No matter who they play,” Paul Pierce said during his recent appearance on the No Fouls Given podcast. “I don’t think they can beat none of these three teams. I just don’t.”

As harsh as it may sound, Paul Pierce might just be giving the Lakers Nation a reality check. After all, we’re talking about the same team that got sent packing by the Timberwolves in just five games in last year’s first round. Moreover, both Denver and Houston are much more battle-hardened and overall complete teams than the Lakers. Well, of course, that doesn’t mean Luka Doncic and Co. don’t stand a chance against these teams—100-92 win last night proves they’ve got a chance.

However, it won’t be a piece of cake. Even more so, because even apart from these three teams, Pierce and his colleagues didn’t even talk about the reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and their kryptonite this season, the San Antonio Spurs. Also, you never know, the Lakers might just use Pierce’s strong remarks as motivation and flip the odds.

They do possess one of the best backcourt duos in the league in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. That, plus having LeBron James within their ranks, even though he’s had a rollercoaster of a season and shown signs of aging, he continues to contribute massively to the team. So, they might have what it takes, after all, especially if they continue to perform as they did against the Nuggets.

Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves shine in LA’s thrilling OT win over Denver

Even though Paul Pierce might not believe in the Los Angeles Lakers, the fans do. More than ever before, after they saw their team’s undying spirit last Saturday. With the national spotlight on the heavyweight matchup, Austin purposely missed a free throw in the final seconds of the game, only to pounce on the rebound and score a desperate game-tying layup.

After this, his backcourt partner Luka Doncic buried a single-legged shot to seal the deal for the Purple & Gold. While Doncic finished the game with an impressive 30-point triple-double, Reaves led the scoring with 32 points to his name. However, it wasn’t easy as the Lakers’ shooting guard made a tough confession postgame, especially with him having to mess up his free-throw percentage for the win.

“I mean, it’s not easy. I’m just mad I had to mess up my free-throw percentage,” he joked, before revealing how things actually went down. “You see two people on the right side, one was on the left, obviously DA [Ayton] and Joker [Jokic] were on the left side. I thought if I threw it fast enough, Jokic wouldn’t have the time to get his hands up to grab the ball. So, that was kind of the thought process, and it worked.”

Indeed, it worked just fine in the end for Reaves and the Lakers. This win not only extended their streak to five but also helped improve their season record to 42-25. Now, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will be hoping to continue the success against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets, whom they will face again on Wednesday.