Luka Returns: Lakers-Mavericks Observations

Luka’s best game as a Laker—plus some actual basketball takes

Photo by Sam Hodde / Getty Images

Let’s get this over with. For a Slovenian, for someone who’s followed and covered Luka throughout his entire NBA career, seeing him have such a special night was awesome. And yet, the overwhelming feeling I had while watching was sadness.

Luka in tears after an awkward tribute video that somehow made the trade look even more ridiculous. The Luka, Luka channts. A standing ovation after he dropped 45. Followed by the loudest Fire Nico chants yet. Nico Harrison spent the night in the tunnel. No sight of Patrick Dumont. Dirk in the building for the first time since the trade, showing strong support for Luka once again.

As I wrote yesterday, this wasn’t supposed to happen. It was a highly emotional night, but one that almost no one in the arena truly deserved.

Yesterday I was writing about closure, and I truly believe that some form of it, a reset of sorts, needs to happen for the great fans who showed up last night. In my trade analysis, I used the phrase ego is the enemy when describing Harrison’s motives. I still believe that. At this point, ego—more specifically, the inability to suck it up and admit a mistake—is the only thing standing in the way of ownership pulling the plug and starting the reset.

Personally, I’d much rather write about actual basketball, and despite all the emotions, this was a fun game. So for everyone who cares about that, here are my observations.

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Today’s notes:

1. No surprise? Or just a Kidd surprise: Luka’s best game as a Laker (🎞️VIDEO)

2. A clash of styles: bigs and size vs. wings and playmaking (🎞️VIDEO)

3. Attacking in waves, but with a different Luka partner

4. Luka and Doe Doe: new jerseys, same connection (🎞️VIDEO)

5. Mavericks' offensive trend is concerning

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1-No surprise? Or just a Kidd surprise: Luka’s best game as a Laker (🎞️VIDEO)

Going into the game, I was almost certain Jason Kidd would run back the same “everyone but Luka” strategy he used in their first matchup in LA, when the Mavericks doubled and sometimes even triple teamed Dončić for most of the night.

This time around, Kidd went with a switching strategy, letting his big man Dereck Lively II and Anthony Davis try to stay in front of Dončić without help. Maybe the hope was that Dončić wouldn’t be able to deliver after such an emotional roller coaster of a night. However he did and his coach, J.J. Redick, called Dončić’s ability to stay composed and put on that kind of performance in that environment “superhuman.”

When Dončić knocked down his first couple of threes over Lively—who he and LeBron torched all night—and Davis, you could already tell it was going to be a long night for the Mavs. They had watched him torch opposing bigs for six and a half years, and he had just done the same thing a few nights ago against the best defensive team in the NBA.

Eventually, it forced Jason Kidd to scrap the two-center lineup and play Davis as the lone big more in the second half, especially down the stretch.

Kind of ironic that the player Harrison traded away to get bigger and more defensive-minded was the one who played that size off the floor in this game.

2-A clash of styles: bigs and size vs. wings and playmaking (🎞️VIDEO)

My loyal readers know how much this Mavericks shift in strategy—playing bigger, using Davis as a power forward—has intrigued me. I’ve written extensively about it and compared both teams’ strategies over the last two months, and yesterday gave us another clear example of that approach clashing with a very different style.

If Dončić had his best game, dropping 45 points against his former team, Davis on the other end struggled to make an impact, scoring just 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting. To be fair to Davis, and to the Mavericks' two-big experiment, it’s hard to evaluate it properly without any real playmaking to create better opportunities for the bigs. Then again, they did sacrifice one of the best, if not the best, playmaker in the league to go this route.

The Lakers doubled Davis on nearly every catch, making it difficult for him to get any clean looks at the basket. Apart from Naji Marshall, who had an excellent game, Dallas lacked anyone capable of making a proper entry pass when Davis did manage to seal closer to the rim. The lack of a true point guard was most evident in the Mavericks’ 19 turnovers, which ultimately proved to be their downfall.

When AD got doubled, the Mavericks lacked the ball-handling and decision-making needed to punish the defense in a 4-on-3 setup. These two consecutive possessions in key moments of the fourth quarter highlight the stark contrast to how the Lakers responded when Dončić was doubled late in the game.

Davis isn’t the passer Dončić is, so finding an open Caleb Martin in the corner becomes a much tougher ask. Even if he could make that pass, the setup—with both Davis and Lively inside the arc—shrinks the space and makes the Lakers’ closeouts and rotations much easier. On the other end, the floor is spread, and once Dončić extends the double, the Lakers' two additional ball-handlers, Reaves and LeBron, punish the Mavericks in the 4-on-3 situation.

3-Attacking in waves, but with a different Luka partner