Luka Doncic established himself as arguably one of the biggest Playoff risers in the NBA with a shocking 4-3 series win over the No. 1 seed Phoenix Suns in 2022 on the Dallas Mavericks. That virtually ended that era of Suns basketball, as they haven’t come close to replicating that success or their 2021 Finals visit. It was a hard-fought series with plenty of aggressive moments between Luka and his opponents on the Suns.
Luka still treats the Suns with disdain as a Los Angeles Laker. This was evident in his first matchup against Phoenix today when he led LA to a 107-96 win and trash-talked the Suns and Kevin Durant.
Durant to Luka: “You’re not getting that in the playoffs, you know that.”
Luka later on the bench: “I’ve never been open so much in my life.”
KD to Luka: "You're not getting that in the playoffs, you know that."
Luka later on the bench: "I've never been open so much in my life."
These mic'd up moments 😂 pic.twitter.com/mS7oUDVVQL
— ESPN (@espn) March 16, 2025
Doncic led all scorers in the win with 33 points (8-20 FG), 11 rebounds, and eight assists. He might have been really open a lot, but his shot continues to miss the mark with another shooting performance under 50% from the field. However, that’s forcefully looking for flaws as Doncic was clearly the best player on the court.
His continued inefficiency shows that there still might be an incredible points explosion in him sometime this season, as he’s only looked better with every passing game on the Lakers after.
He averaged a paltry 19.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists on 38.9% from the field in his first five games as a Laker, but has averaged 33.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 7.6 assists on 42.4% shooting from the field in his last five.
Now that they’ve ended their losing streak without LeBron James, Doncic and the rest will feel confident about their chances going forward this season, with James expected to return in a week.
The Suns Tried And Failed To Stop Luka Doncic
Devin Booker has been one of Doncic’s premier rivals in the NBA. Even though Booker has a 16-8 regular season record over Doncic, he’s on the receiving end of jokes about Doncic being better than him. This is primarily due to Doncic outshining Booker in bigger moments, primarily the 2022 Playoff series across the final three games.
The pair has great competitive respect for each other despite the ruthless trash talk they’ve shared. Booker discussed how the team was trying to guard Doncic, revealing they were helpless due to Luka’s ability to read and make plays.
“I think we were trying to blitz him early, but it wasn’t a full blitz. He was able to still read the backside of the defense and make plays.”
Booker put up 19 points (6-17 FG) with 11 assists tonight, failing to break down the Lakers’ top-notch defense with his scoring ability. His playmaking was extremely impactful, but Kevin Durant also had just 21 points (6-17 FG), with the Lakers defense comfortably stopping either superstar from beating them.
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