Good Offense or Bad Defense? Luka Doncic Erupts for Franchise-Record 73 Points as Mavs Defeat Hawks 148-143

The best way to describe Luka Doncic during his legendary 73-point performance Friday night vs. the Atlanta Hawks would be to say he was “on fire.” And even then, that would be a severe understatement. Leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 148-143 victory over the Hawks while setting a new career-high, a new franchise-record, scoring the most points in a game this season and tying the fourth-most points scored in a game in NBA history (all in the same night), it’s understandable why his awe-inspired teammates ultimately decided to douse him with water.

“He was hot. He was going,” said Hawks guard Trae Young, who returned to the lineup after missing two straight games earlier in the week due to a concussion. “We tried a lot of different things… It’s tough [to contain him].”

Immediately after tip-off, Doncic found himself resting in the left corner with his hands on his knees patiently waiting to get involved in the offense. Moments later, Doncic shuffled to the left wing and received a dribble hand off from Dereck Lively II. He took a couple of stationary dribbles, gradually inched forward and somehow ended up deep in the lane for an easy right-hand finish.

After his first two-points, Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins could be heard on the broadcast saying it was “way, way too easy.” And he wasn’t wrong. In all honesty, that very much described the rest of Doncic’s historic night.

Exhibiting a myriad of ‘video-game-esque’ step-backs, contested 3-pointers and off-balance fade aways, Doncic found himself scoring at will against a scrappy Hawks team with little to no resistance. He posted 18 points in the first quarter and 23 in the second, shooting a whopping 76.2% from the field. Doncic’s 41 points in the first half shattered the team’s previous record (34), which was set by Dirk Nowitzki in the second half vs. Utah on Nov. 3, 2009.

“It was like I was in a game of 2K,” said Mavericks guard Josh Green, reflecting upon Doncic’s historic performance. “Whoever was controlling [Luka] did a good job.”

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the Hawks defense.

While Doncic certainly deserves his flowers, fans can’t help but wonder what went wrong on the defensive side of the ball. After a short stoppage of play near the end of the first quarter (3:47), Doncic received a dribble hand off at the top of the key. Afterwards, he danced with the ball for approximately five seconds before he effortlessly made his way to the lane, faked a lay-up attempt, faked a close range shot and finished with his left hand at the rim.

Everyone saw it: Doncic was completely toying with his defender. At that moment, he realized not a single person on the opposing team could guard him. And while that may have been true, the sad part is no one even tried.

Doncic faced man to man coverage for most of the game up until the fourth quarter. While Atlanta did try to switch up who was defending him, most of the time a single Hawks defender was left alone ‘on an island.’ For a man who was torching their defense, at times participating in what looked like a glorified lay-up line, that’s completely unacceptable.

Currently sitting in second place in points per game at 34.4 (narrowly trailing behind Joel Embiid), Luka Doncic is a generational player with an extremely unique skillset. He has a certain smoothness to his game… A nonchalant attitude if you will, which almost makes defenders lose track of him. The most impressive thing is that he continuously plays at his own pace. At first glance, you see him and assume he can easily be contained. But after scoring a career high 73-points (his previous record was 60) on 33 attempts and joining an exclusive scorer’s club with names like Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant and David Thompson, clearly, that’s not the case.

What’s interesting is there’s no direct comparison for Luka Doncic.

He’s not like a young Dwyane Wade who earned the nickname “Flash” by being so quick and explosive in transition. In fact, Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell recently said, “Luka might have the slowest 40-yard dash in the NBA next to me.” To the naked eye, he’s not an overly athletic specimen like a prime Derrick Rose who could ferociously attack the rim and jump with the best of them. When Doncic called for an alley-oop from teammate Josh Green, the ball soared over his head. While he does have good handle for his size and the ability to split a double team, he’s not a magician with the ball like his teammate, Kyrie Irving… or even a wizard like Steph Curry. At the end of the day, he’s Luka Doncic: a prolific scorer who just gets it done.