For the first time this preseason, Luka Doncic took the court for the Los Angeles Lakers and he was excellent against the Phoenix Suns finishing with 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists in just 22 minutes. One thing many were also curious about was how he looked alongside new big man Deandre Ayton, who finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and three blocks in the contest.
Doncic operating out of the pick-and-roll is what he does best and Ayton gives him the ideal partner as a strong roller who can finish at the rim. While Ayton has played with other excellent creators, Luka is a different kind of player and the center took notice of a number of different things in their first action together, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“How our pick-and-roll is getting our shooters open in the corners. How much more attention Luka draws just being on the floor with us and the different schemes teams throw at us when he’s on the floor. Him being communicative as well, telling us what he wants and what he sees out there. And just really picking up the pace on the offensive end as well and giving people different good looks. A few times he was just throwing the ball up, kick aheads whether or not we was getting turnovers, but it was just a good chance to really see how fast he starts the offense.”
Doncic will always draw a ton of attention from the opposition, which is why his teammates always have to be ready. As Ayton noted, their pick-and-roll combination can generate so many open looks for the Lakers’ shooters which can take this offense to an extremely high level.
Many are also expecting a lot of lobs from Doncic to Ayton, but the big man is still getting used to how Luka operates with those as well:
“I’m starting to realize that, I’m so used to lobs where you see the opening and you throw it, but Luka’s different. He’s damn near drawing a foul at the same time and throwing a late lob and just I have to be patient and just really reading his eyes. Just being patient with him, but rolling fast at the same time, putting pressure on that big so he can be honest in the pick-and-roll. He’s truly a generational player when it comes to that pick-and-roll I feel like he’s got eyes in the back of his head. He was finding guys in the weakside corners and I thought the pass was for me, but I’m ducking my head for the pass to get to the corner. So that was really fun seeing how he starts to do his ‘Luka Magic’ in those situations.”
Doncic operates at his own speed and it will take some time to adjust, but the duo will figure it out as time goes on. Building that chemistry is important to the success of this Lakers team and these two are building the foundation that will carry them throughout the season.
Luka Doncic happy to be back on the court for the Lakers
Luka Doncic is someone who truly loves the game of basketball and just being on the court playing. As such the Lakers superstar was happy to finally make his preseason debut and felt better than expected in his first action.
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