Having taken a fifteen-point lead in the first quarter and facing a private team of Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes, the Mavericks should have had a much quieter evening in Toronto.
But a very aggressive defense of the Canadians hustled Luka Doncic and Company. The troops of Nick Nurse notably swallowed 17 offensive rebounds and scored 25 points on second chances. Above all, they smothered Doncic.
The Slovenian has regularly been caught in twos, which explains his 24 points and 15 shooting attempts, ten points and seven shots less than his average since the start of the season.
“He had two players on him and did the right thing,” Jason Kidd analysis for ESPN. ” It shows his maturity, he didn’t force anything. He accepted the duel. »
Forced to let go of the ball, Doncic delivered nine assists, for four lost balls. “For me, it’s not difficult to do that”he explains for the franchise websiteon the fact of making pay for the catches to two. “We have to have confidence in our shooters. When you put two or three players on my back, you also have to be more aggressive towards the circle. »
In the “money time”, the former Real Madrid had two crucial balls in his hands. The first, at 101-98, he managed to play one-on-one and score. The second, at 103-100, the two-man take is quick and he passes the ball. It circulates before being lost, after a bad pass from Dorian Finney-Smith.
Before that, the Dallas shooters had only posted a 9/35 at 3-pts (11/39 in total if we add the shots from Doncic)… The Raptors’ tactics therefore paid off. “Of the 39 3-point shots, I think you could say that 25 were open or very little contested,” notes the Mavericks coach. “It’s been like that since the start of the season: we don’t shoot well. »
| Luka Doncic | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2018-19 | DAL | 72 | 32 | 42.7 | 32.7 | 71.3 | 1.2 | 6.6 | 7.8 | 6.0 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 21.2 |
| 2019-20 | DAL | 61 | 34 | 46.3 | 31.6 | 75.8 | 1.3 | 8.1 | 9.4 | 8.8 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 0.2 | 28.8 |
| 2020-21 | DAL | 66 | 34 | 47.9 | 35.0 | 73.0 | 0.8 | 7.2 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 0.6 | 27.7 |
| 2021-22 | DAL | 65 | 35 | 45.7 | 35.3 | 74.4 | 0.9 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 8.7 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 4.5 | 0.6 | 28.4 |
| 2022-23 | DAL | 16 | 37 | 50.3 | 29.4 | 75.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 34.0 |
| Total | 280 | 34 | 46.0 | 33.5 | 73.8 | 1.0 | 7.5 | 8.6 | 8.0 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 26.8 | |
