Luka Doncic is back on the court on Saturday for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena and his head coach JJ Redick has given him some specific instructions. Redick revealed in his pre-game press conference that he told Doncic to have a ‘blackout episode’ against the Nuggets.
“I told him this morning that I want at least one ‘blackout episode,’ where he’s screaming indiscriminately at no one in particular because he’s excited,” Redick said. “That means he’s back, that’s the Luka I know – the killer.”
We haven’t really seen that killer in Doncic show up since he was traded to the Lakers. That might be down to the 25-year-old still coming to terms mentally with the fact that the Dallas Mavericks traded him and also because he missed over a month with a calf injury.
Redick wants Doncic, who is averaging just 14.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game as a Laker, to get back to playing with joy on the court and hopes to see that killer against the Nuggets. The Lakers certainly will need him at his best, as they’re going up against their nemesis here.
The Nuggets eliminated the Lakers in the 2023 and 2024 playoffs, and are currently on a five-game win streak in this matchup in the regular season. They blew out the Lakers 127-102 when the teams met at Crypto.com Arena on Nov. 23, 2024, and come into this contest on an impressive nine-game winning run.
Safe to say, this will be the toughest challenge in a while for the Lakers. They snapped a two-game losing streak with a 110-102 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday to improve to 33-21 and will have to be at their absolute best to get another one here.
JJ Redick Believes Luka Doncic Is Finally Over The Shock From Getting Traded
There might be a good reason why Redick felt comfortable giving Doncic that challenge before this game against the Nuggets. The 40-year-old stated after the clash against the Trail Blazers that the five-time All-Star is over the shock of getting traded.
“Speaking with him Tuesday night after practice, we sat down together. He’s all in,” Redick said. “He’s [over] the mental part of the shock and everything, he’s in a really good place. And now we’ve got to get him physically where he needs to be to be Luka.”
His mind might well be in a good place now but the question is what about the body? Redick had revealed Doncic would no longer be on a minutes restriction after the All-Star break which suggests his physical condition has improved significantly since he arrived.
It will be interesting to see which version of Doncic shows up against the Nuggets. Redick stated in his press conference that the Slovenian will have the ball a lot in this game and, hopefully, we get to witness some Luka Magic.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
