Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick said on March 14 that Luka Doncic’s recent performances are not being talked about enough, following a standout game against the Chicago Bulls. Doncic scored a season-high 51 points, along with 10 rebounds, nine assists, and three steals in the Lakers’ fourth consecutive win.
Redick highlighted Doncic’s improved shooting and overall impact on the team. “I think his stretch is longer now. I think going back to January 1st, I think he shot a little under 40 [percent]. He’s been high volume, high efficiency for about two-and-a-half months now,” Redick said. “It is so important because it just sets up the rest of his game when he’s making threes, and it obviously gives us life. It can be a kill shot some nights, it can be a run stop some nights.”
Redick also described how Doncic set the tone early in the game: “You know, he got off to a little bit of like a slow start for him shooting the ball. But that stretch there in the first half where he scored three or four possessions in a row… That got us going a little bit when we had basically stopped playing defense for nine possessions. He was phenomenal all night. He made great reads out of the pick and roll, he got DA [Deandre Ayton] going. He had some great spray-out paint touch looks for us.” Redick added that an early offensive play involving LeBron James and Austin Reaves helped establish momentum: “That play really set the tone for us offensively. I wish there was something I can say to praise our defense, but I don’t think I’ll be able to.”
Doncic has been shooting 48.9% from the field and 40.4% from three-point range over his last 30 games since January, averaging nearly 35 points per game in March alone. Redick said, “He’s playing as well as anybody in the NBA right now… It’s probably not being talked about enough, but I’m gonna talk about it.”
Doncic credited part of his performance against Chicago to trash talk from Bulls guard Matas Buzelis.
With these achievements this season, Doncic appears likely to earn another All-NBA First Team selection.