Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic is one of the rare one-man offenses in the NBA as he can either score for himself or generate looks for teammates.
Because of how elite Doncic is at both scoring and playmaking, some teams have no choice but to send extra defensive attention his way. However, he is smart enough to keep the basketball moving so opponents have to pick their poison when it comes guarding the Lakers star.
When Doncic gets into a rhythm early, it often means good things are coming the Lakers’ way and that was exactly the case in the team’s win against the Wizards. Doncic dictated terms offensively, picking apart whatever coverage Washington threw at him.
Doncic managed to record a triple-double in the first half, the first in Lakers history in the play-by-play era and he attributed it to simply reading the Wizards defense, as seen in an interview with Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet:
“Just playing basketball. Just playing my game. Whatever the defense gives me. Just trying to get back into the rhythm.”
When it comes to decision making on the floor, Doncic compared it to chess as he was reacting to whatever they presented him:
“Like I said, it’s a little bit like chess to me, just trying to read the defense. Sometimes they’re in a blitz to start the game then they switch to fire, so it’s just trying to read the defense, share the ball. I think we did a great job today.”
Doncic makes it look easy to diagnose defensive coverages in real time, but it’s much harder than it looks because of how fast the game can move. Luka has an uncanny ability to get past a defender and into the painted area, at which point the defense is basically at his mercy.
Doncic’s size, basketball IQ and creativity give him the perfect tools to execute any sort of shot or pass he wants. There isn’t much teams can do other than trying to force the basketball out of his hands and Los Angeles knows that they’ll need to do their part to keep defenses honest.
In the win over the Wizards, he led the way with 37 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists and three steals in just 31 minutes of action. Doncic had 26 points and the triple-double secured before the halftime break.
The Lakers star is currently in the MVP mix and if he continues to play this efficiently offensively then he could very well claim his first award.
Big men across NBA want to play with Luka Doncic
Doncic is at his best when he’s got a rim running center next to him as he can throw lobs with ease. Because of the easy shots Doncic generates, big men across the NBA reportedly want to play next to him.
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