Luka Doncic’s defense emerged during the Mavs’ playoff run

Luka Doncic has provided steady defense for Dallas in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

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Luka Doncic has a well-deserved reputation as one of the NBA’s most gifted offensive players – an elite shot maker, maker and playmaker who earned his first scoring title (33.9 ppg) this season.

Luka’s reputation in defense has grown steadily since March, when the Mavs ranked second in defensive rating (107.3) among teams and Luka ranked first (102.5) among players (min. 750 possessions, 142 players) over the last month of the regular season.

Dallas’ Game 2 win Tuesday gave us a lot of traditional Luka Magic – 32 points, nine dimes, five threes, including a pair of momentum-swinging step-back threes in the fourth quarter.

But there were also a few new elements, while playing tough ball defense against Paul George (0-of-1 shooting against Luka), Kawhi Leonard (1-4) and James Harden (2-6) – who combined for just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting against Luka.

• 🗣️Mavs coach Jason Kidd: “If he plays at that level, (his teammates) have to step up as well. They understand the responsibility of their leader. If he’s going to play defense and compete, they should be able to do the same.”

The play above shows Luka staying with PG step by step, but Derrick Jones Jr. comes over to help Harden. That led to George getting the ball to Harden, forcing Dallas into rotation and leading to a Westbrook 3.

• When the ball fell through the net, Luka waved his arms to signal to his teammates and coaches that they should not send help to him – that he could handle the match alone

On LA’s next possession, they got back into the PG-Luka matchup. This time the Mavs didn’t send help and Luka continued to follow George and contest his 3-point miss.

Luka completed Game 2 sticking his matchups to 6-of-24 (25%) shooting (2-9 from 3). For the series, Luka’s defense held up against Kawhi and George (1 of 4 each), Norman Powell (0-4) and Harden (4-11).

Can the Mavs maintain this level? of defensive intensity in tonight’s crucial Game 3 in Dallas?