Game 1 was ugly for the Mavericks, but they got some revenge in Game 2 to steal home-court advantage from the Clippers.
To no surprise, it was Luka Doncic who led Dallas to victory. He missed 15 of his 26 field goal attempts, but the MVP finalist finished with a team-high 32 points to go along with nine assists, six rebounds, one steal, and one block.
In addition to doing a bit of everything offensively, Doncic helped the Mavericks limit the Clippers to 93 points, tied for LA’s second-lowest scoring game of the season. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon called it “maybe the best defensive performance of [Doncic’s] career.”
How much of a defensive impact did Doncic actually make? Let’s take a closer look.
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The Clippers shot a combined 6-for-24 (25.0 percent) when Doncic was the primary defender in Game 2, according to the NBA’s matchup data. Doncic spent the most time guarding Terance Mann, but he held James Harden to 2-for-6 shooting and Kawhi Leonard to 1-for-4 shooting.
Here’s the full matchup data:
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Doncic isn’t known for his defense.
While Doncic’s athleticism hasn’t held him back from being an all-time scorer, he lacks the speed and mobility to keep up with quicker guards off the dribble. (Doncic was the slowest defender in the league this season, per the NBA’s tracking data.) He doesn’t have the highest motor, either. He’s often slow to get back in transition, and he isn’t someone who consistently flies around the court making multiple rotations.
Teams like the Clippers target Doncic on that end of the court, not only in an attempt to wear him down, knowing how big of a load he carries offensively, but also because there are parts of his game that can be exploited.
Doncic has improved defensively over the past few years, though. He lacks the vertical pop to be a deterrent around the rim, but he’s a big guard at 6-7 and 230 pounds, which helps him switch onto bigger players and battle in the post. His size is a factor on the glass, helping him average 8.7 rebounds per game for his career, and he generates a decent amount of steals and deflections. He’s also a good communicator.
Doncic says he takes pride in his defense. When he’s locked in, he’s capable of making an impact on that end of the floor, as he showed in Game 2 against the Clippers.
This possession against Leonard, a six-time All-Star who averaged 23.7 points per game on 52.5 percent shooting this season, was particularly impressive:
Doncic also had some good closeouts on Harden and came up with a late stop on Paul George.
He seemed pretty pumped about that one.
“That’s fine. I accept it,” Doncic said when asked about the Clippers attacking him defensively. “Gets me going on defensive end, so they want to attack me, that’s fine. I think I played good defense today, so gotta stay locked in.”
The key for Doncic is maintaining that effort for the rest of this series, not just for one game. If he can, it’s not hard to imagine the Mavericks making a deep run in these playoffs.
