Luka Doncic had himself a day vs. the LA Clippers on Saturday.
In the Mavericks Game 1 win over the LA Clippers, Mavericks Guard Luka Doncic scored 31 points, grabbed ten rebounds, served up 11 assists, stole the basketball, and rejected two shots.
His dominating presence was felt early and often, as the Clippers had no response to his all-around outstanding play.
If the Clippers want to win Game 2 and later secure the series victory, they need to make adjustments.
When Ivica Zubac was guarding Doncic, Doncic scored 16 of his 31 points. Most frequently in the game, Doncic was guarded by Nicolas Batum, who played 32 minutes off of the bench. Batum played well overall in the game, but no matter what Clippers Head Coach Ty Lue drew up, nothing was stopping Doncic on Saturday.
Kawhi Leonard, who has won multiple Defensive Player of the Year Awards, wasn’t on Doncic very much. In fact, he was only on him for 7.2 partial possessions. In those possessions, Doncic didn’t attempt neither a free throw or a foul shot.
“He has to carry a lot of the load offensively, and we have three or four guys that we can put on and mix it up,” said Lue.
As far as what can be expected in the future concerning Leonard guarding Doncic, Lue does want to make that adjustment.
“But, I think you’ll get what you’re asking for come Tuesday,” said Lue.
Something that possibly could have discouraged Lue from calling for Leonard to defend Doncic was Doncic’s strong post game early on. He used it to draw two fouls within the first few minutes of the contest. It could have been that Lue was worried about Leonard getting in foul trouble.
Those two fouls were on Patrick Beverley, who is six inches shorter and 45 pounds lighter than the 6’7,” 225 pound Kawhi.
Doncic is 6’7″ himself, and weighs 230 pounds. Putting somebody on Doncic who is his size should help prevent mismatches. It’s not even just that the Clippers shouldn’t be putting somebody six inches shorter on Doncic. It’s that it didn’t work out so well when they tried having a 7’0″ Zubac on him either.
Doncic kept shooting over Zubac, and had success.
In one of the regular season games between the Clips and Mavericks, Zubac was called upon to guard Doncic as well. In that game, Doncic notably struggled at the rim, shooting just 2 of 8 in the paint. Doncic clearly learned from the experience, which is why he was so daring to take outside jumpers.
He took 11 threes, nailing five of them.
What the Clippers can build off of is how they guarded Doncic in the fourth. Doncic only had one point in the fourth quarter, missed a free throw, and went 0 for 5.
He couldn’t knock down those threes he had been hitting all game, shooting 0 for 3 from that range in the fourth quarter.
In Game 2, Lue should let Leonard make his money, and do what he does best. Leonard is the same size as Doncic, and has placed on the All-Defensive Team six times. He’s their best bet, and his defensive resume is one of the main reasons he is a top five player in this league.
After Game 1, Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard said that Luka is the better player than Leonard.
I disagree with that, but Lue needs to put Leonard in the best situation possible so he can prove himself. Leonard needs to be assigned the task of taking on Doncic throughout Game 2.