The Dallas Mavericks improved to 9-1 in their last 10 games with a 121-116 win over the Memphis Grizzlies tonight, securing their spot in the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup quarter-finals as the Western Conference Wild Card. Luka Doncic had a great defensive outing in this clash, pulling out four steals to seal the win after a 12-point fourth-quarter comeback.
Doncic wants everyone to give him more credit for his defense this season, claiming that he’s in the midst of arguably his best defensive season.
“Somebody’s gonna ask me about my defense! I’m trying. I think this season has been one of the best defensive seasons, I know people don’t see it but I’m trying and I’ll just get better… Just overall, little bit of everything, more energy, that’s it.”
Mavs superstar Luka Doncic on his defense:
“Somebody’s gonna ask me about my defense! I’m trying. I think this season has been one of the best defensive seasons, I know people don’t see it but I’m trying and I’ll just get better…”
Later said he is bringing “more energy” on… pic.twitter.com/UdsZcyzrct
— Noah Weber (@noahweber00) December 4, 2024
The Grizzlies game was arguably his best defensive performance of the season, but there’s a pretty rough sample size from earlier this season that shows Luka’s ineffective defense, especially on the perimeter. He’s still prone to letting guys blow past him, but the Mavericks’ interior defense has still been able to keep those possessions alive.
Defense is hard to quantify through statistics, but whatever measurable stats we have show that Luka is in fact having one of the best defensive years of his career.
He has a defensive rating of 109.2 this season, the third-best mark of his career behind 2021-22 (106.5) and his rookie season in 2018-19 (109.1). In terms of defensive win-shares, Doncic surprisingly leads the Mavericks in that category with 0.132, with the second-highest being P.J. Washington (0.129), who’s arguably been Dallas’ best defender this season.
Doncic is averaging 28.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 1.8 steals per game this season, but it’s important to note that his 1.8 steals per game is also the highest mark of his career. If you go by the numbers, you could argue that Doncic is an improved defender and that the hate he receives on that end is overdone.
I can’t fully commit to that idea yet. Doncic has to play high-level defense more consistently over the season to shed his reputation as a poor defender, similar to what Stephen Curry did with a similar reputation after 2021. Luka has the tools with his size, quick-thinking, and active hands, but it’s a question about consistency.
His best defensive season was easily in 2021-22, as he locked in entirely on that end, especially in the second half of the season to win 50 games for the first time in his career and then make the Western Conference Finals.
He will always be prone to blow-bys by athletic guards and wings because he’s a slow-footed 6’8″ perimeter player, but the things that he can control like effort will go a long way in changing his reputation as a poor defender.
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