Luka Doncic has seen every version of a double-team a defense can throw at him. And after the Lakers’ win, Luka explained how he turns the pressure to his advantage and helps his team. His answer felt someone who has faced double teams throughout his career and has learned to adapt his game around it.
“I just try to read the game. We got some amazing looks. We missed a lot of open shots, but that’s how we’re gonna play. If they double me, I accept it. I like the double. Makes you play four-on-three, a lot of space. Honestly, I think today we could have scored 150 points. If you’re open, you take the shot. But at the end of the day, we won the game.”
This is the version of Luka the Lakers have built their offense around. Even when he has an off night, the offense still flows through him. Head coach JJ Redick emphasized how the Lakers need to get Luka in cleaner postions, as he is always guarded by top defenders, but he didn’t sound worried. Everything they run starts with Luka seeing the floor, drawing two defenders, and deciding where the possession goes next.
And his numbers don’t lie, Luka is averaging 33.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 9.2 assists, shooting 46.9% from the field and 31.3% from 3-point range. Teams have been blitzing him nonstop from the start of the season. Guard him one-on-one and he scores. Send the double, and he sprays the ball around.
It’s lifting the guys around him, too. Austin Reaves just hung 31 on the Pelicans. Deandre Ayton had one of his most efficient outings with 20 points and 16 rebounds on 10-11 shooting from the field. And it was because Luka kept dropping the ball right into his hands at the rim. Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, and the rest of the rotation are getting cleaner looks simply because defenders panic the second Luka turns the corner.
This is why the Lakers feel like a top offense even with a few injuries. Everything Luka does against pressure creates space somewhere else, and he reads that space quicker than almost anyone in the league.
And when LeBron James returns, those double-teams get even riskier. Defenses will have to pick between trapping Luka or leaving LeBron in single coverage. Either way, someone gets burned.
For now, Luka’s message is pretty simple. If teams want to double him, he’s fine with it. It’s where he feels most comfortable. It’s where the Lakers become their most dangerous.
