Luka Doncic 33/8/11 on 76% (+18) TS against Mavericks.
Lakers get a clutch win against Mavs
https://www.espn.com/nba/game/\_/gameId/401810503/lakers-mavericks
2 way demon
Guy locked in on defense with the boys in the 4th.
In the 4Q Luka was targeted on 6 consecutive possessions that resulted in 0 points for Dallas.
Funny to see this thread have so few comments from fans of other teams. Even they accepted that tonight they can’t manufacture a basis for attacking and insulting him. Pretty funny.
Some teams focus on targeting Luka rather than running their offense. It’s like they saw the Celtics do it and now think that’s actually a sustainable offensive strategy
It worked for the Celtics because Luka was banged up and playing injured through the whole playoffs and just couldn’t keep up anymore.
Hardest I’ve seen him try on defense in a long time
Without Luka this would have been 40 point game for the Mavs in the third quarter. At least Smart and Bron showed up in the last quarter
Their Luka-less minutes are always terrible everytime I watch them play. It’s almost as if he is their best player!
They can be manageable minutes if Bron is on his day, when he isn’t it’s miserable. One of the reasons we really need AR back
LeAlternateDays
and Bron sucked for the first 3 quarters tonight, but glad he played well in the 4th
Also when Ayton feels like it, Luka-Hayes and Bron-Ayton seems to be better matches, and when Ayton is like 10-12 with 15 rebounds, they probably do ok in those lineups
LeBron is 40 man should be playing vet minutes not being the number 2
Get him some help
Depends it fluctuates in a lot of game the bron led units are good and in other games the luka led units work but if there’s one thing that’s usually consistent is that Ayton is prone to letting you down
The role players on this team are so volatile that +/- stats between Luka and LeBron really should not hold any weight for people.
It’s so dependent on who happens to be working that night
Yep this part
Ayton was flourishing with AR. I think Austin getting him involved early at the elbow got his confidence going. Ayton just isn’t that lob threat that thrives with Luka
I miss the Luka-Gafford/Lively lineups
DeterminAytion
Ayton was horrendous, was much better beginning of the season.
He was more consistent tbf it wasn’t till about end of December/January where he just started having stinkers man
My cope is Ayton’s play dropped off when AR went down. Felt like those 2 have good chemistry. Hoping Ayton bounces back when AR comes back.
That is true they did AR coming back soon too my piece is already pulsating
He’ll bounce back
Since Jan 1, Lakers with Luka on and Bron off are -10 while Lakers with Bron on and Luka off are +8
I did say everytime I watch them play!
I will say that a lot of our defensive comebacks come to start the 4th when Luka sits. It’s usually a perfect storm of defensive intensity, and then Luka comes in to devastate offensively.
4-0 against Dallas
What an accomplishment
Do you even enjoy basketball or are you just a crybaby bandwagon Thunder fan?
Says this while being a part of the most bandwagoned fanbase in the league
Downvoted for speaking the truth, I’m worried we played this close against the hospital Mavs.
think for a second why it’s worth mentioning
Downvoted for having a hate boner
It wasn’t supposed to be some accomplishments comment, it was simply that since Dallas traded him, he’s put belt to ass.
They looked completely lost as a team when he was sitting
To me this is what an MVP is, carrying a weak roster, not putting up numbers on a 1 seed stacked team that wins with or without you
Love my Luka. But also okc are losing games and sga is putting up crazy numbers. Like 47pts. They are absolutely not winning the chip (or many games/going above .500) without sga
Good thing you don’t get any say in mvp ahahahah back to back for shai
Luka might never win mvp he better pray wemby is too injured
why are okc fans so weird
Most of them started watching ball in the past 2 years and are Gen Z
First time winning is the reason why maybe ?
You ever been to Oklahoma City? Try living there and being normal
What else to do in Oklahoma
What is this comment lol
Legit a top 5 Laker defender
Lol like that says anything impressive whatsoever
Do you have negative IQ?
Do you?
The lakers have a horrible defensive rating. Him being only the fifth or third best defender does not say much about him
That’s exactly what OP’s comment is saying. It’s criticizing our defense, not praising Luka’s defeense, that’s why you have “Negative IQ”
i love efficient luka
My FT merchant, I love you so much
He’s nearly out of the league.. can he turn things around?
This was a better game than he’s played in a while
He literally had 38/13/10 on 72.3% ts earlier this week in a 16 point comeback win against the Nuggets.
He had a slump recently and all the haters come out the woodwork and muh defence
What a wild place to include the +/-
It’s relative TS%, not +/-
Could be 76%, could be 94%, who am I to say?
Luka has been more efficient lately
Better playmaking too.
Facts not just bailouts recently ayton could have got luka like 7 assists alone
Think he just had a slump after the incredibly crazy start, his 3 is also hit or miss always has been but its been back to hit more then miss lately. People don’t realize how crazy it was for him to be shooting 39% on 10 att in 2023-24 until the shot isnt falling and you see how crazy his 3pt shot diet really is. The fact that hes around 35% for his career when hes been shooting these 3s for his whole career is wild
Well at least for the next few hours the people who constantly tell you that Luka is bad at basketball, will be quiet tonight and probably won’t post on Reddit about how bad Luka is.
Not even a top 5 player anymore. This sub I stg
If this sub would watch the games they would understand that no player gets doubled more lmao. Lakers get to play 4 vs 3 basketball at all times and only Reaves knows how to take advantage of it consistently. If teams played Luka straight up the splits would be insane
Luka is 5
Doesnt matter the disrespect this guy gets is insane people were putting him in Tier 2 convos
Nah thats just insane ngl, but he was definitely having a horrible stretch for a while efficency wise. Looks like hes back to normal ish
You are a hardcore Luka hater why should anyone care about your rankings? Go watch your tanking Warriors don’t worry about where Luka’s ranked
Actually no im not i have luka props many times in other comments sections today. nobody likes you dude look at your post history, Deadass get upset over any criticism against another grown man.
I’ve seen you in Lakers threads hating on Luka when you are supposed Warriors fan
He’s 2
Lol
Who is 4?
this is the correct placement
Jokic, SGA, Giannis, Wemby, Luka?
If so that’s not really a defensible take. Jokic is the clear #1, ahead of the rest by a large margin. Giannis, SGA, and Luka are all interchangeable. You can argue any of them is 2 depending on what you value. Wemby rn isn’t up there. He’s clearly 5.
SGA gotta be #2 and closer to Jokic ngl. Dudes greatest asset is his efficiency, despite being in a poor offensive team like OKC
Jokic is not the clear #1 lol, he’s 1A or 1B, interchangeable with Shai. I get you’re a Jokic fan but try being a little objective
Damn warriors fans really know ball.
Shai is having one of the greatest guard peaks in history rn
Yeah them saying “SGA, Giannis and Luka are all interchangeable” was crazy disrepect as if SGA is undisputedly a full tier below Jokic right now. Wild.
Agreed
Jokic is the clear #1, ahead of the rest by a large margin.
Dude come on
Wemby is the greatest defender in the nba while also putting up one of the highest points per minute. Dont let 25 ppg fool you hes averaging 25 per 26 minutes last 10 games thats just insane man. But his defensive presence alone puts him up there much less the rest.
SGA is closer to Jokic than Luka is to SGA, idk what more he needs to do for you guys to understand this lol
Jokic, SGA, Giannis, Wemby, Steph
Steph is not better than Luka
Steph lol
Steph? Lol
Steph 💀
Are worse thanks for playing. Enjoy watching your top 5 pick go to the Hawks
Dpoy
MVP because he plays with the least margin for error of all mvp candidates and still keeps his team competitive. More than half the lakers role players wouldn’t see minutes for other contenders (OKC, Nuggets, Knicks, Celtics, etc)
that’s why it’s so tough for me to think best player on best team is a main qualifier for MVP. gimme a MVP who’s team would be a bottom 5 seed without him.
Yup but obviously record should be factored in to a certain extent, maybe any team 6 seed or above.
Lakers don’t have athleticism, shooting, or rim protection which is unheard of in the modern nba era lol. Most of their wins are on the back of Luka’s heroics and they win by a small margin regardless of the quality of opponent.
Lmao 100%. Imagine the Nuggets or Thunder playing Gabe Vincent…
Isn’t Shai has the least margin of error?
He’s not MVP as of now, though I agree that factoring in his supporting cast it’s a closer race than people admit.
Still needs to be better to catch SGA and Jokic. He has time to do it.
Great game was also dishing it out as well
Idk man I was told that he puts up empty stats and does not impact winning.
He was insane this game
Luka the GOAT getting our tank back on track. Thanks!
Only could a true Leader of men inspire fLakers to defeat the strength of the 11th seeded Mavs
Luka is everything wrong with the NBA. I used to be a big fan, but man, that was a hard game to watch with all the phantom fouls, and the funniest thing is he gets away with real fouls on D. He’s worse than SGA about foul baiting and the refs lick it all up. Can’t stand watching his game nowadays.