[Highlight] Clippers target Luka Dončić on defense to seal a clutch win over the Lakers
This dude is never in a defensive stance he’s too prideful
If you look like you’re not trying it’s not embarrassing when you get beat.
*grade 5 kid that gives no effort and costs the team wins: taps head*
This kid was everywhere growing up. Shoots every shot. Ball hog. Never plays D. Gets mad if you take a shot and miss.
Is he just straight up not interested in defense? Surely he can move quicker than that.
A lot of times he doesn’t even look interested in offense if he doesn’t have the ball in his hands.
I think it’s possible confusion mixed with boredom and a healthy dose of dgaf anything basketball related that doesn’t involve him touching the ball. It’s like his brain goes from basketball savant to they-lower-the-rim-for-kids-my-age as soon as someone else has the ball
It has to be an effort thing, because Luka has too high of a BBIQ to be this dumb given the situation.
LAC is clearly trying to run a Harden screen to get him the ball with Luka on him. Smart is just flat out denying this to prevent the switch, and literally all Luka has to do is play low on Dunn who is not at all a confident shooter. Dunn resets, realizes that Luka is doing literally nothing, and basically just walks to the paint where Zu is too deep to really allow any rotation to fix this.
End of the day, all Luka has to do is prevent Dunn from walking into the paint, and he can’t even do that slightly well.
Not good for the clicks. He’s aura farming there
its his recovery timing that is concerning. dude loses his man, another player helps, but he doesnt recover to the other person fast enough. It looks lazy and its for sure demoralizing.
He looks lost
He started to recover to the corner expecting Lebron to help on the dunker. The problem was the blow by I think the right recovery was made.
I don’t think Lebron reasonably had enough time to get to Zubac though, it’s not on Bron. Luka just gotta stick on Harden
“Started to” yeah and never ended up guarding anyone. Moves with no sense of urgency at all
If that pass was made to the corner he literally would have been there lol
At that point, it would be on the PG for making a stupid pass.
Zu was in too deep of position that he either had a free lob or this pass/dunk. Sending the ball to the corner would have 1) risked a live ball turn over if LeBron reads it right or 2) either Bron or Luka can close out.
So basically, sure, Luka was in an acceptable position of Dunn had 0 ability to read a defense lol
Those two plays has nothing to do with recovery. He just does the wrong thing, especially in first play. Second play, I don’t know what he was supposed to do, because we don’t know their gameplan.
He does look lost. The thing is this happens a lot on the Lakers. Players looking lost or doing the wrong thing. Effort could be better, but no effort helps if you don’t know what to do.
When Kris Dunn be blowing by you - you know you’re in trouble
Yeah I was wondering why Kawhi was so bald and shorter than usual. Luka got beat by Kris Dunn in 2026.
Kris Dunn is Luka Doncic father
Bro aren’t you a mavs fan?
Kris Dunn/Devin Booker fanfics incoming
It’d be somewhat hilarious if “Nico was right” (the defense aspect) becomes like “Thanos was right” as things play out. Obviously, that is more than likely to not be true, and technically Luka already went bezerk offensively leading the Mavs to the Finals. Granted it wasn’t a close Finals at all. But damn ever since the Lakers trade, maybe it’s just because I’m seeing him more he legitimately is a terrible defender and that’s when he is actually trying. Like it’s in the final minute of a close game and he’s standing straight up. Lol
He can still be right about Luka but still make the worst trade of all time.
It’s funny. If Luka went for an absolute haul (another star + 2-3 picks or some good young players + 4-5 picks), then we’d probably all be eating crow right now.
if we include #1 is it still the worst trade though
It’s because the lakers still aren’t built around luka
Ayton and smart were only stopgaps for what they need around him (dudes that can make up for him on D while he goes off for 30/8/8 on the regular)
This offseason they’ll need to shit or get off the pot with lebron, decide if Reaves + luka is the duo they want going into the future. Only after that will they have a clean-iah slate/cap to get the longer defenders (especially a mistake-erasing rim protector) that will let luka play the way he does
With all that said, even with a bunch of injuries, the lakers were 4th(?) In the west like a month ago, they’re still fine
*sorry and forgot my most important point, that they’ll have 5+ years to figure it out with luka, while the mavs are still trying to figure out what the demand for AD is the next 5 months
This is what’s worst. He gets cooked and blown by like 37 year old bum role players who can only 3nD routinely
These are some nbatalk level takes. This was what’s known as a “screen”, not a blow by.
Nah that was on Marcus Dumb. He was more interested in bear hugging Harden instead of switching to Dunn. The pretty much made the entire defense collapse not so much Luka.
The whole point of the scheme and bear hugging was to not have Luka switch onto Harden and to deny Harden the ball. They’d much rather have Dunn driving and getting defended by the low man Rui. Luka immediately heads to cover the corner like he’s supposed to but LBJ loses track of Zu.
Anyway these “gotcha” clips to support narratives are not even highlighting what they’re supposed to any more. Just karma farming a title with random clips.
Lakers fans really want this guy and AR as their defensive backcourt for the next 5 years. All while tying up all their cap room to them.
Mark my words, a Luka-AR backcourt is NEVER sniffing a championship.
I’ve been saying this all year. Luka and AR on a 35+ mill contract is a first round exit for many years to come
bUt tHeY sCoRe soOoOoO mAny pOinTs 🥴
that said AR actually tries and is not bad at defense
Austin Reeves is bad at defense. He does try though
disagree. i think a lot of scorers go at him cause he was terrible in his early years but lately he’s not a sieve. i think he’s closer to average nowadays
I mostly watch Spurs games and I can say among all the guards the Spurs has played against, he’s certainly bottom 5 in terms of defense. He has no strength, length or speed. And it’s not so-so bad. It’s real bad.
He tries though. Thats sth. I tend to believe you have confused effort with results.
i definitely disagree, bottom 5 means you’re straight up terrible. but it’s about matchups and maybe the spurs guards cook reaves on a consistent basis or something
like just comparing reaves to someone like brunson, i’d much prefer reaves as a defensive player, for example
Luka fan and watched like 30 Lakers games this season, I swear people do not watch the games at all. AR+Luka are not a great fit. Not a bad fit but not balanced at all. Come playoffs they would lose against any proper team
Luka would thrive with a duo like Siakam instead. Lakers should just shop everyone, Mavs ironically had the blueprint on how to build a team around Luka and they did a great job, that team + another big player like Randle or some shit would have been perfect.
They also thought Ayton was an awesome addition to the team 3 months ago :D
For 8 million it’s pretty awesome
He is for the price
You get it. It’s funny how people were giving Westbrook such a hard time the last couple of years. He’s the best value in the league. Plays hard on a min contract. An x factor that can win you a playoff game, thats hard to find.
No way, they’re going to re-commit to defense! Trust the process and give them the biggest of contracts!
Honestly should trade Luka for Giannis and shorten the window
I love that idea personally
It’s insane how so many lakers fans adamantly think AR will never get traded. Yall have maybe one pick to give- how exactly are you gonna trade for 3&D guys that you have to have with Luka?
Luka isn’t a “backcourt” player defensively. As part of a balanced lineup he’d be guarding a forward.
Doesn’t matter who he is guarding, in the playoffs he is still going to be brought into every action and picked on by the other teams offense. Same goes for AR.
Doesn’t matter who you “guard”, the other teams can still easily target you in a myriad of ways.
AR isn’t as bad as Luka tbf
AR tries hard as hell on defense, he just doesnt have the tools
Not much better.
He is
He’s still very much a negative defender. Is he THE worst along w Luka? Maybe not. But the point is a godawful def PG shouldn’t be paired with another small negative defender.
Edit: ask me how I know
No he grades out modtly as a neutral . He’s more like Steph of kyrie . His third season he was bad bud he’s stronger this year and he’s 6,5 high motor hustle n smart - he got play time year 1 for defence lol. You don’t know what you say he’s not Dame Luka lvl bad
Lol AR is worse
He was the reason they lost to the Wolves last playoffs, got bullied off the ball or invisible every play.
Got to trade Luka. That’s pretty much the best option
Definitely not what the Lakers want to do, but I do think if a really good offer for Luka came their way the FO should seriously consider. His weaknesses on defense and off-ball offense can limit his team’s ceiling.
Lakers fans really want this guy and AR as their defensive backcourt for the next 5 years.
Said no one ever except you lol
Lakers want the pair for their dynamic offense
You gonna sub them both out on defense?
Want them for whatever you please, they will still hold the lakers back immensely.
Good luck trying to build a roster around those two. It is awfully difficult when your two best players have massive flaws in their game that you had to build your roster around. Plus they’ll be making ~80-90m combined a year?
Usually your best players cover up your other players flaws, not the other way around.
Why would you do that?
Cause they can’t play defense to save their lives.
Why do you need to play defense when you can just out score the other team
Because then the other team outscores you.
Are you just playing dumb?
You can’t count? They are 26 and 17. They’ve outscored most teams
Their record is not the point. I’m guessing you’re a bit of a casual fan and don’t watch much basketball.
But when the playoffs come, the game will change. Effort will ramp up, defense will ramp up and teams will pick on Luka and AR’s defense relentlessly. Lakers are going to get smoked by whoever they play either first or second round.
Also, if you want to bring up their record and outscoring teams… they literally have a negative net rating. As in they are being outscored by the teams they play against. To have the record they do and have a negative net rating is ridiculous. Translation, they only beat bad teams by close margins and get destroyed by good teams.
Congrats, you can “count” but can you derive any valuable meaning from the things you’re counting? Try watching and understanding basketball too, that helps.
The Mavs made the conference finals with the “worst defensive back court of all time” in Luka and Brunson
What was their record last year when they lost in 5 to the Wolves?
Wrong
Check back in with me when Luka and AR win a title together. (It’s not happening)
I always love these online nba spaces where everyone is an expert and knows everything. Just like last year when everyone was saying the real finals were thunder and nuggets and it would maybe only go to 5.. everyone here is such an expert
Don’t need to be an expert to see how tragic a Luka-AR backcourt is (especially for the money they’ll be making).
Well they’ve done better so far than the lebron-luka pairing. Also obviously matters the players that surround them this Fakers team is just trash as a whole. Rui, smart, ayton, who else.. fuckin Gabe Vincent? All inconsistent and trash. Get them some real role players then talk
Gonna be tough to find people to make up for Luka and ARs inability to play defense when they’re making $100m combined.
And guess what, if you want to play them at the same time, no matter who you put around them they’re still 2⁄5 of your players on the floor.
Having even one of these guys on defense in the playoffs makes things very difficult. Now you’ve got two…….
Luka Kyrie backcourt would have no title chance either then right ….right?
Kyrie is a much, much, much better player than AR. Like I’m insulted you even said this.
People are crazy. Like yeah, you can kinda compare the archetype, but Kyrie is so much better that is not even funny and even then, Celtics cooked them
Tbf OP said defensive backcourt. You can’t really believe that Kyrie is that much better defensively than AR that it’s insulting, right?
Kyrie is better defensively than AR, and the offensive gap is such a big gulf that its insulting
Kyrie is a better defender and offensive player.
And youre acting like they didnt get beat convincingly in the finals
It was pretty obvious the 1st half of the first game in the Celtics Mavs finals who was gonna win it all.
In general yes, and Kyrie is my guy, but he was not playing good vs Boston in the finals. We werent winning with Kyrie averaging 14 points in TD garden
Not going to argue that.
Maybe AR would’ve been more consistent on offense but the Boston offense already dominated with just Luka to pick on. If they had AR too, itd be a sweep
Nico’s only success in the trade saga has been to change the narrative about that series. Luka was a walking ice bag and still averaged 29-9-6 with 3 steals on top. The finals were lost because Kyrie went MIA in literally every single game in Boston and their shooters going ice-cold whenever it mattered.
Yeah they got rolled over in the finals and same thing will happen to Luka and AR if by some miracle they make it there.
That is literally one of the most tragic defensive backcourts for a “contender” that you could possibly dream up. They will be picked on relentlessly.
Agree. Lakers are a good record no substance team come playoffs, which is pretty sad considering they have one of the best players of all-time and also a current top 5 talent in the league.
Celtics fans know this scenario well - albeit different circumstances. Some of the most fun basketball to watch was the IT year. I can’t fault him at all because he played his heart out and gave 110% at all times. Yet, in the playoffs, they had to pre-switch because they knew he was gonna get targeted. Same thing with Kemba. Love the dude, he just didn’t have the capability.Those teams won games but ultimately wern’t a huge playoff threat.
Luka actually has the size to play defense if he wants to, which is what makes it frustrating. LBJ can do it in spurts but he’s 41. I watched this game and it just felt like the Lakers were moribund and trying to stay awake.
I know you’re a suns fan so I won’t downvote you. Laker fans have been saying this exact same thing and it is embarrassing and insulting to even say this. Kyrie is a better defender than AR by a mile but when it comes to offense its not even a conversation to be had
Luka plays defense like his controller is lagging
Dude has that stick drift where you just keep running in one direction, he is feathering the defensive controls so he doesnt accidentally end up in the locker room
Clippers have been doing this to Luka since the Bubble series.
Clippers did this the entire time in the playoffs too, especially 2024.
Luka was very late on the rotation to the corner. LeBron was late on the rotation to Zubac.
Cutting to that Laker fan staring in disbelief mouthing “FUCK!” and then Julie Bowen (?) doing Jeff Hardy’s taunt was perfect
I wonder what the Lakers fan said… I think he’s having “FUN!”
Don’t ever mention this dude and MVP in the same sentence
Both of these plays were not Luka’s fault….
Thank you.
Hating on Luka’s defense is fun to do, but neither of these plays were his responsibility. One, he got screened and the guy who was supposed to switch completely effed up, and the second play was no switch, not his guy.
I don’t understand what OP is trying to show with the second clip.
There’s a lot of lakers fans. Generally they seem to act as if they are awesome just for being lakers fans, and that is annoying to everyone. So this post was made to over exaggerate their favorite player being a defensive liability to rile them up. Both lakers fans and nba fans (this sub and all team subs alike) are miserable
But I don’t understand the defensive mistake Luka supposedly made in the second clip. Was he supposed to abandon Dunn at the 3 point line? What is the defensive lapse here?
Yeah lol especially when Dunn passes out for an open 3 anyways. Like we literally see what happens if Luka decided to commit to the double team
I am just laughing at these regarded comments
We don’t really know, because we don’t know what the plan was. First one looks like his fault, based on his reaction.
The problem with watching videos like this is that we can’t really always know who made the mistake, since we don’t know what they wanted to do.
Op’s just karma farming. Lakers lost so it’s easy karma and the comments just ride with whatever the title says.
1st: Smart screens Luka (???)
2nd: screen reject, Vanderbilt blown by, Luka was covering the screener
In which play was he being targeted, or was his fault?
People don’t know how our defensive schemes work (not that it’s a good way for us to defend all the time)
Literally neither of these plays are Luka’s fault. He isn’t a great defender but these two clips prove nothing.
Yeah these lowlights posts are getting lazy
These two clips show nothing, maybe he could’ve recovered faster on the first one but that was a play to switch off Luka, his help should’ve rotated. Second clip he just totally wasn’t even in the play
2 is not luka’s fault, but in 1, luka needs to go under faster, i think you live with a kris dunn pull up 3 (although he’s shooting well this season)
#FREE NICO HARRISON
“Nico was right about everything!”
Defense DOES win championships!
Sick fake and dime by Dunn, sick reverse two-hander by Zu
Painful to watch as a Lakers fan…
Joyful to watch as lakers hater!
Err is the first one not more on Lebron for losing Zu?
EDIT: Love how yall are downvoting everyone pointing this out instead of answering
Second one he wasn’t even involved much less “targeted”. These agenda posts are so lazy nbacj had a better one.
Of course, not gonna show the multiple stops on Harden and Kawhi though huh
Agenda FC is undefeated.
Wtf is Smart doing on the first play? The second one has literally nothing to do with Luka.
Playing wrestling
Well, if you ignore the shitshow of bear hugging and foul baiting that follow anything Harden or Smart do, the idea here was to deny Harden the ball while also not giving up the switch onto Luka. Dunn is given the drive to the right where Rui is there to help. Luka covers the corner like he’s supposed to, LBJ loses track of Zu. Shit happens.
jam the screener from making contact with luka to prevent a switch. either luka needs to close the distance and go over both smart and harden, or go under and let dunn take the 3 if he wants it
Hah Julie Bowen
Need more defense, ask Mavs and trade for AD maybe?
First play is Harden just holding Smart lol. Second play is actually a good compromise: get the ball out of Kahwi’s hands and let the other players beat you. Not really on Luka there.
Not great by Luka, but Lebron cheated on his rotation instead of trusting Luka would get the corner shooter.
What determines if you are a Lakers or Clippers fan?
When you’re growing up and Clippers tickets are more affordable, they become your team
For me, it was growing up in San Diego, which is where the Clippers used to play. I wasn’t alive for those years, but my parents were.
I fw both teams. Clippers used to come on the sports network channel that came with basic cable so im sure thats how alot of people on the west became fans (especially during the lob city era). And the Lakers ate the Lakers.
Wouldnt be surprised if alot of people on the west liked both teams
Clippers fanbase is historically from south of LA: Orange County and San Diego
there was actually a very insightful comment on /r/nba from like 12 years ago that honestly describes the fanbase very well. I’m sure our fanbase has evolved over time but at the very least it’s grown.
Edit: here’s the comment
It’s complex.
Part of it is regional: People who live in south LA, like Inglewood, Compton, basically the areas depicted in the movies “Boyz n the Hood” and “Menace to Society”, those people are usually Laker fans. People who live in Hollywood, Echo Park, El Monte, that tends to be Laker country. People who live in the Inland Empire are generally Laker fans, and the Valley is generally Laker country. That having been said, there’s a strong Clippers fanbase in the South Bay area, which encompasses Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes, etc. So, a lot of it is regional. Now, out in Riverside county, there are places that are close to San Diego, such as Temecula, Carlsbad, etc, and that tends to be Clipper country too.
The other part is that in my experience, people who have been into basketball for a really long time tend to be more into the Lakers, whereas people who have only gotten into basketball later in life tend to skew more toward the Clipps.
Part of it sex based, too. I think chicks tend to dig the Clippers more than guys, though there are still way more female Laker fans than there are female Clipper fans, but I’d say the Clipper fan base has more females in it than the Laker fan base, as a percentage.
One thing I’ve also noticed is that Clipper fans tend to be upper middle class. Poor people? Laker fans. Lower middle class, or straight middle class? Laker fans. Upper middle class, you tend to see more Clipper fans. Rich people? Laker fans. It’s almost like as you pass through the ranks of wealth, you have to spend a phase as a Clipper fan, but you eventually end up as a rich Laker fan, lol.
One other thing I’ve noticed: Smarter, more intelligent, “nerdy” types who are into basketball tend to be Clipper fans. It’s a lot more “hip” to be a Clipper fan than it is to be a Laker fan.
Also, this is getting into an uglier part of the politics of LA, but Clipper fans tend to run ALOT whiter than Laker fans. What people who don’t live in LA usually don’t realize is that LA is a melting pot on one level, in that every single race on earth seems to have a population here, but at the same time, LA is basically a large Hispanic community, with a large black community and a large white community as well. Most Laker fans in LA, therefor, are not white. Mexican and black people tend to be Laker fans, so if you told me “there’s a guy outside in a Laker jersey”, I pretty much automatically picture a Mexican dude, or a black dude. For that reason, whatever the logic is behind it, a lot of white dudes have tended to become Clipper fans. All that said, the Laker fan base is probably five or ten times bigger than the Clipper fan base, so there are still more white Laker fans overall, but the percentage of white people in the respective fan bases is way higher in Clipperland. I would say maybe 25% of Laker fans are white, where with the Clippers it’s more like 50% white people.
Anyway, those are all really broad generalizations that I’ve more or less found to be “fairly” true if you look at broad trends.
This is like a low key socio-economic study.
Depends on how fragile you are https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fslfqwpoft5fg1.jpeg
Harden to Smart was like “well if you ain’t gonna let me go then let’s just set a screen together” and Luka was no match for the 2 man screen lol
Exactly. I see this as a bigger fuck up from Smart.
Dallas won the trade when you consider everything
TIL, Claire Dunphy is still a hottie. 00:34.
luka oncic
You know what that’s it. Ima say it. LUKA IS TRASH. I don’t care about his offense.
That lady at the end, and her goofy celebration, are oddly attractive
Clutch minutes lock down defense!
You do everything in your power to keep Nunn in front of you. Luka has to be aware that going under that screen and not switching is the only defensive move
It reminds me of Russ when he was on that run of triple doubles, and his off ball defense was poor, and was only focused on rebounds.
It’s like Luca just wants to get the ‘defensive’ part of the possession over with so he can go and score
So, he doesn’t like great on either of these, but both plays are someone else’s fault.
On the first play, he gets screened, and the dude guarding the screener is tangled up and too out of position to switch.
On the second play, his guy is the screener, but the offensive player goes away from the screen so there’s no switch.
Doncic looks lost and not ready on both of these, but give credit where it’s due.
One day y’all will admit Nico was right all along lol
It’s funny how he became one of the most hated on players in the league once he went to the Lakers.
Its absolutely insane how he’s allowed to do that posession after posession, night after night and look at the audacity, he always blames someone else in the end. He never takes accountability or says my bad. Playing with a guy like this must be demoralizing.
I do this same fake upset head back foot stamp too when I let my kids score on me in nerf hoop. I’m not gonna play for the Lakers though so don’t ask.
Has he ever tried going over a screen?
Lebron got his ass bust on that Trey ball…😂😂😂😭😭
Cheats the game
The Lakers defense was smothering to bring them back until they brought Luka back in and all their momentum was stopped. Luka is such a massive negative on defense it’s crazy.
He really really needs to work on his conditioning though. He is gassed out by the work he does on offence and ends up coasting on defence.
Folks like Curry who are traditionally considered bad defenders due to their size end up having way more effort on D despite doing way more cardiovascular work on the offensive end.
It is completely bad endurance and conditioning and he needs to work on it if he wants you to have any sort of impact going forward.
Ofc Julie Bowen is a clippers fan
If the Lakers fans really hate him so much just trade him back to Dallas I’m sure they’d love him
I threw my phone when I saw this.
It do be like that.
Holy shit he got redirected to the valet parking area
Nico fleeced
And that’s why he needs a good defensive bigs behind him.
Again, most of you don’t watch the games. Is he slow, yes, co he do better on defense, sure. But outside Bron he plays with bum’s. He gets doubled 90% of the game, he has to do so much on the offense that the Lakers have even a slight chance to win, naturally he is completely drained. I don’t think I will get better be before it gets worse. This team needs a lot of change, but sure it’s easy to shit on him.
Nike, Niko, Nico
Nice
lmao these laker fans who try to defend luka
Why tf was he guarding dunn anyway. Plus he missed that defensive rebound while talking to the Laker bench in crunchtime.
He played great defense last night (for him) but casuals will clip 1 or 2 plays, like always
There’s obviously been games here and there where it’s bad but it’s mostly an overblown narrative
Luka steph or harden whos the worse at these
Luka. Steph or Harden would at least try to poke the ball out once they get beat
It’s not really a conversation
Steph actually gives effort, Harden might poke the ball away. Luka does this.
Steph is just an average defender and has reasonable physical limitations. He works hard to mitigate it becoming a liability.
Luka and Harden are both stout as hell and have the raw physical potential to be plus defenders, and just fuck off most of the time. Harden has actually focused and tried at times and been a downright good defender, which just makes it even more indefensible when he phones it in.
This is disrespect to Steph. Yea he’s not the best defender, but he’s not as bad as people think. And at least he’s in a defensive stance.
Luka and Harden are upright and don’t even look like they’re trying.
On paper, Harden has a worse Defensive Rating (118.9) vs Steph and Luka, who are pretty much neck-and-neck with Luka (115.4) being slightly better than Steph (116). From the eye test, though? Luka is the worst by far. He has his moments (as does everyone), but his defensive effort is frustratingly, virtually non-existent.
defensive rating is a terrible stat for individual defense.
I agree, that’s why I added “from the eye test”. Statistically, Luka is on par with (or better than) than Steph, but actually watching game will tell you that while Steph is at least moving, Luka is an actual cone on defense 9 times out of 10, and I’m saying that as a Luka fan.
Weirdly luka has the highest drapm out of the 3. However when you look at the contest data opponents are shooting 3% better on all of his contests which is the worst of his career. It matches up with the eye test for how bad his contests are.
Steph is moving and putting in effort yes, but Luka is also 6’7. That matters a lot more than it seems. Luka can’t really be bullied in the paint the same way.
By nearly every stat, Luka is an average defender. He has clearly weaknesses as a POA/pnr defender, but all in all his impact is not horrifically bad compared to other nba players.
It’s far harder to plan your defense around a 5’11 small guard than it is to plan around a mediocre 6’7 player.
Not really. Over the course of the season if you have the lowest DRating on your team it’s very telling.
defensive rating is a team stat
It’s a lineup stat
Jesus Christ someone pull all the clips instead of cherry picking. He had some really good stretches this game and some bad stretches not what this sub painting it out as.
It’s the final 90 seconds in a close game. There is no excuse if he can’t be bothered to play defense in that scenario.
His defense late in the game was egregious after his teammates fought to make the game close with him on the bench. If u can’t show effort in these moments of the game what do u even say to a guy like that. We should’ve known he was this type of player after the defensive effort against the Celtics in the finals
Ya the deciding possessions are more important than a 2 min stretch in first quarter. Crazy I know.
Nah I watched the defense turn up in the third when down 26 to start storming back.
He was actually REALLLY bad defensively in the first quarter. You’d probably actually find the most clips to hate from that quarter. I know when he was bad and good from watching the game.
Luka strung together a ton of good defensive possessions in the 2H including multiple times shutting down Harden in an iso situation. Did you clip any of those or just choose his lone bad defensive possession to shit on him?
I know you all dislike the guy but at some point aren’t you embarrassed to be this disingenuous and obsessed with hate watching a guy who’s not even on your favorite team?
Major cope in this comment
Is it cope to call out that nobody can argue he played bad defense on the whole last night?
I am going to assume based off your flair that you threw the blinders on. His defense was terrible 80 percent of the game, and this video shows that it was terrible during a key moment in their loss. Defend him all you want, but until Luka at least attempts to play defense, you will never win a title with him as your star player. It does not translate to championship basketball.
Clippers shot 10⁄23 while guarded by Luka and he shut Harden down on a number of ISO’s in the 2nd half. You don’t actually have an argument that he was terrible defensively, you’re just saying that because it’s Luka and it’s fashionable to shit on his defense regardless of what happened in the game.
And if Luka can’t win a title, please explain how he come 3 wins from doing so at 25 years old on a team cobbled together 3 months earlier at the trade deadline. Without home court advantage in any series and without needing a game 7 to make the Finals. Do your best mental gymnastics to make that argument work.
I will make that argument work. It’s pretty simple, the Celtics exposed his crap defensive effort.
Our whole team played bad against the Celtics. Our whole team played bad against the Celtics. Our whole team played bad against the Celtics.
Luka played bad defense. Luka played bad defense. Luka played Bad defense, Luka played bad defense
Luka coulda been DPOY we still would’ve lost. We had a myriad of issues vs Boston. Kyrie shat himself every game in TD garden, PJ forgot how to shoot. We had to stick our rookie center on Porzingis who was playing the most efficient ball of his life. It was not Luka vs the Celtics it was the Mavs vs the Celtics. The team as a whole did not have the answers.
But he is good enough to make the Finals and win a game in the Finals, but not win 3 more games in the Finals? And we know this based on his Finals appearance at 25 years old with a team thrown together at the deadline that he never even got to run it back with?
To me that isn’t a serious argument.
The mavs lost because Luka refused to play actual defense and whined to the refs the entire time.
Is it his fault he faced the best team in this decade at that time? If the mavs faced the 23 Heat or any other East teams that went to the Finals, they would’ve already won. Not his fault they just faced a juggernaut in the Finals.