Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick said on March 20 that Luka Doncic has been central to the team’s recent success, following a stretch of eight consecutive wins and nine victories in their last ten games. Doncic’s latest performance included a 60-point game against the Miami Heat, which came on the second night of back-to-back matches.
Redick described Doncic’s effort as “a superhero performance” and highlighted his ability to keep the team competitive early in the game. “It was great. He made big shots, he made tough shots, made a lot of right reads. When he gets it going like that, some of it is you just kind of like let him go. His teammates felt that, they saw that… You just go down the list, the shotmaking was unreal tonight,” Redick said during an interview with Spectrum SportsNet.
The coach also addressed Doncic’s role in keeping the Lakers near the top of league standings despite injuries to key players throughout the season. “It’s a special run that he’s on,” Redick said. “We’ve seen all-time greats like him go on these runs, and you just kind of gotta embrace it and enjoy the moment. Whatever we are, 20 games over .500, and obviously he’s missed time, AR’s missed time, LeBron’s missed time. To the MVP point, we would not be anywhere near the position we’re in without him having the season that he’s having. Particularly of late, he’s dominating right now.”
When asked why Doncic has not received more recognition in Most Valuable Player discussions this season, Redick replied: “Because he complains to the refs. I don’t know.” The Lakers have recently defeated several playoff-bound teams with late-game performances from Doncic helping secure those wins.
In addition to his scoring achievements, Doncic broke D’Angelo Russell’s franchise record for most three-pointers in a single season during his performance against Miami. With twelve regular-season games remaining, observers will be watching to see how much further Doncic can extend his record.