The Mavericks defeated the Lakers on Christmas Day (124-115) behind 32 points from Luka Doncic. The Slovenian superstar also had 9 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals.
After the game Lakers head coach Darvin Ham talked about defending against Doncic and what threats he poses for his team.
“If you’re playing him straight up, he’s such a good player, he’s so crafty,” he said. “And his size, again, I can’t emphasize enough people don’t understand how big he is in stature. He puts a lot of pressure on a single defender to try to contain him without fouling.
“Now you could say ‘Allow him to post up and stay home,’ but he’s going to figure out a way to get fouls, get to the rim, he can score at all three levels. Now you’re in a situation now they have everything, they’re in the bonus. You’re trying to react to him, again, putting pressure on the single defender. You’re overreacting, now they’re kicking out threes.
“The biggest thing is just to try to mix up your coverages and try to keep him off balance as best as you can. And have multiple efforts. Getting out and contest shots.
“He is who he is for a reason. He showed that tonight. He’s methodical, he takes his time. doesn’t let to speed him up. We did a good job of sort of speeding him up in the first half, but he adjusted, they adjusted. Give him credit. It was hell of a game.”
This season Doncic is averaging 32.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists in 36.6 minutes per game.
