We Watched It So You Didn’t Have To: Luka Doncic Visits LeBron’s Lakers

Los Angeles escaped Halloween 114–113 with a ghastly Wes Matthews mistake in the final seconds. Here’s what you missed…

We’re already almost ten games into this young NBA season, and the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks are two of the most interesting teams in the league, both in the top four of my and serge’s NBA League Pass rankings. Almost NBA game is fun — even Detroit and Brooklyn were interesting last night!— but the Lakers and Mavs are especially fun because of their shiny new toys.

The Lakers controlled from the tip, pushing the pace and overwhelming Dallas’s lackadaisical defensive efforts. They quickly opened up a double-digit lead they held until the final three minutes before the Mavs stormed back to tie it with seven seconds left. And then Wes Matthews fouled LeBron James with two seconds left, and James hit a free throw to save the win. It was a J.R. Smith moment for Matthews, who either forgot the score or thought Dallas had a foul to give, but it didn’t mar an otherwise very interesting game.

Life is busy, and there’s not time to watch every game. That’s why I started this series last year: We Watched It So You Didn’t Have To. I watch a full game like an NBA scout and report on what I saw. Every game is a data point, and this early in the season, each data point tells us quite a bit. Let’s dig in…

1. This game featured not one but two generational offensive savant passers in LeBron and Doncic

LeBron was magnificent early. Remember O.G. Cleveland LeBron, when he spent the first part of the game getting his teammates going? That was first-quarter LeBron. James was outstanding from the tip, with inch-perfect passes shredding an oblivious Dallas defense. He led the Lakers to a quick 8–0 start setting up easy buckets for Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma, providing an early cushion while getting his young teammates some early confidence.

LeBron had five first-quarter assists, and it should’ve been even more. He hit seven guys in the first eight minutes in wide open spots, but several passes were fumbled by his teammates. We’ve seen this before. It takes awhile to get used to playing with maybe the greatest offensive mind to ever step onto a basketball court. Soon enough LeBron’s teammates will learn they must always look for the ball because he can and will get it to them.

James led the Lakers on a 15–0 run late in the first quarter, again spurred on by LeBron picking apart a poorly organized defense with his mind and his passing. Somehow James finished with only six assists, but the first quarter was a reminder of just how easy this game is for LeBron.

The game did not come so easy for rookie Luka Doncic, who was scoreless in the first half. Plenty has been said about Luka’s presumed lack of athleticism. Doncic is not a bad athlete, but he’s also not a superfreak athlete like many men he shares the court with. He doesn’t get much separation with or without the ball and rarely gets to the rim. He’ll learn to use his mind to make up for the lack of an athletic advantage soon, but it limits what he can do for now.

Doncic didn’t score until the game’s final 15 minutes and wasn’t making a big impact, but his fourth quarter showed what he can do. I wondered why Dallas didn’t move Doncic around a bit. Why not put him in Wes Matthews’s spot, who was shooting open jumpers all day like it was practice? Or why not play him with J.J. Barea who was creating so well for others? Dallas finally played Doncic with Barea late in the third, and sure enough that’s when Doncic got going. Luka’s scoring offense right now is mostly the jumper. He loves the step-back J. That gives him space to get off his slow release, though Brandon Ingram’s length bothered him. It’s a confident deep shot and adds off-ball spot-up value, something point forwards like LeBron and Ben Simmons haven’t had.

Doncic did well enough defensively, and it didn’t seem like any perceived lack of athleticism was hurting him there. He’s helped by playing as a forward, where there’s not a quickness disadvantage. Doncic guarded LeBron in the post and was strong enough but will need to learn to play more physical. He got pushed around a bit. But he’s staying with guys on defense and not getting blown by, and he uses his mind to his advantage. On one play he switched onto JaVale McGee and had his back to the ball handler but sensed the alley oop pass coming, so he got his hands up like an NFL defensive back and deflected the ball away. He may not be an elite defender, but he’ll be fine.

But it was late in the game when Luka’s offensive mind really started to impress. Doncic can make almost any pass. He already has that cross-court pass to the opposite corner three that maybe five guys in the league (LeBron, Harden, Wall…?) can make. His recognition is outstanding, not just for a second-week rookie for but any player. He’s so comfortable in pick-and-roll reads and makes the right decision almost every time.

Down the stretch, Doncic led the Dallas comeback. Down four with 30 seconds left, he got the step on Ingram, who was atrocious on defense all game. As Doncic neared the rim, LeBron rotated to help and Luka immediately found the open man Harrison Barnes for an open corner three to cut the lead to one. On the next play with seven seconds left, he recognized the smaller Josh Hart on him and drove into the paint for a game-tying bucket. Even as the Mavs gave the game away, it was Doncic the rookie who knew the game situation in the final seconds, not the veteran Matthews.

A quiet Doncic start turned into a 14–5–6 night, and he was one Matthews play from stealing the show. He’s not LeBron James, and he never will be, but he has a truly special basketball savant mind and he’s going to be a star in this league doing things his way.

2. The defense in this game was absolutely atrocious

Both teams played like five dudes playing pickup who couldn’t bother to give any effort or help each other out. Each team got open looks all game, and neither defense communicated well. Dallas constantly lost players on cuts, though LeBron’s passing certainly doesn’t help. The Lakers are switching everything, which makes sense long-term with so much length, but they clearly don’t know when and where to switch. There was a lot of shrugging and pointing from LeBron. Isn’t there always? Three players deserve special mention for their horrible lack of defense: JaVale McGee, Wes Matthews, and Brandon Ingram.

It’s tough to call a guy bad defensively when he has two steals and five blocks, but it’s all the other stuff in between that gets you. JaVale is JaVale. He plays with high energy at all times, but the mental side of the game just isn’t a strength. His energy leads to steals and blocks, but it also has him out of position constantly, leaving an open path to the rim. McGee is great defending the rim but not a good defender in space. He was also either lazy or tired late, repeatedly costing the Lakers. On one possession he jogged up the court on defense with his man safely behind him, but J.J. Barea recognized the lack of rim protection and drove in for an easy two. A couple possessions later, he jogged back again after a make and DeAndre Jordan beat him to the rim for an easy feed from Doncic. JaVale giveth and JaVale taketh away.

Brandon Ingram looks like Andrew Wiggins on defense. He’s long and athletic but lazy out there. He is always out of position, and his lazy defending cost the Lakers all game. Ingram played a majority of his minutes at the two, and I wonder if that hurt him playing a new defensive position. He should be able to use his length to swallow up smaller guards but instead he’s always a step late, reaching while guys breeze past him. Ingram has had frequent foul trouble, and it’s largely due to his lazy defense. So often he was in the wrong spot or a step behind, always picking the wrong rotation. It’s like he’s never seen a screen. Last spring Ingram got to have the ball in his hands a lot with Lonzo out, creating and scoring, letting others do the dirty work on defense. He’s a complimentary player next to LeBron. He’s going to have to learn how to play off the ball and add to the game defensively unless he wants to keep drawing the Wiggins comparison. I lost track of how many wide open threes Wes Matthews got because Ingram just never quite figured out that his only remaining NBA skill is hitting open jumpers.

It sure isn’t defense. Matthews is slow back on defense and slow back on offense and looks washed at times. He actually led the Mavs in scoring with 21, but that was mostly because he was shooting in an empty gym much of the game. Defensively Matthews was both all over the place and nowhere all at once. He and Dennis Smith Jr. tend to guard space instead of players, which most often just leaves them guarding nothing in particular. Poor DeAndre Jordan doesn’t have much help out there. And of course there was the egregious foul in the final seconds that cost the Mavs the game, but that felt more like a mental error than a defensive one. Matthews simply provides no resistance at all. But neither did almost anyone else this game.

3. Ten more things you might have missed…

1. Sometimes, the box score lies

A quick skim at the box score and you get ho hum lines from LeBron and Doncic, JaVale McGee outplaying DeAndre Jordan, and Wes Matthews carrying the Mavs. But box scores lie.

Matthews was atrocious. He scored 21 and finished +9 but his defense cost the Mavs all game. McGee’s line flattered him too. The box score doesn’t know how to credit defense. One guy the box score barely even notices Maxi Kleber with a 4/5/1 line, but he was one of the key players for Dallas. He played with energy and was always in the right spot, hustling for a couple of surprising rim protection recovery blocks, drawing offensive fouls, and spacing the offense. You don’t get stats for any of those things, and that’s why sometimes you just have to watch the games.

2. The Lakers need to play with more Hart

L.A. started Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, LeBron, and JaVale. It’s a long lineup with a couple guys playing down a position, and it hurt their defense and their rotations. That left Josh Hart and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, natural twos, fighting for the same bench minutes. Hart finished eighth on the Lakers in minutes with 16, though he did finish the game on the court for JaVale.

Call me crazy, but it feels like the Lakers would’ve been better with Hart getting Ingram’s minutes at the two. It would’ve taken away at least five open Wes Matthews jumpers, and his energy and spacing would’ve given Matthews problems all game. It feels like Josh Hart should be starting on this team.

3. The DeAndre Jordan vs JaVale McGee matchup highlighted the lack of value at center

DeAndre Jordan counts for $22,897,200 against the cap, over 15 times the cost of JaVale McGee. The Lakers are a poor rebounding team without a true big man. This is a game a $23-million center needs to dominate. The problem is Jordan doesn’t really have a “dominate” setting. He played well enough on defense and finished with 10 points and 12 boards, but he didn’t do anything that should account for a fifth of a team’s cap.

JaVale is a bundle of energy. His five blocks fired up the crowd and often started fast breaks, and he added offensive rebounding chances and tip ins and steals. He also gave a ton back defensively, and DJ was the better player in the balance. But was he 15 times better? Not even close. Center is just too fungible a position in the NBA these days.

4. Lonzo Ball looks far ahead of Dennis Smith Jr. for now

Neither sophomore was featured much, but Lonzo played a role well while DSJ was mostly just terrible. The Lakers won the opening tip and immediately used Lonzo’s passing ability to run a quick alley oop to a streaking JaVale. Later in the quarter Ball got a hockey assist, pushing the ball forward off a rebound to LeBron where LeBron got the assist in a 3-on-2. These are little subtle things that play to Ball’s strengths. His shot also looks much improved. He was 3-for-3 behind the arc and took all three confidently with a nice looking stroke. Just hitting that open J adds a lot of value.

Dennis Smith doesn’t look like he’s improved in any noticable way. He showed repeatedly that he can penetrate and get into the lane, but he still has no real plan once he gets there. He still can’t finish well at the rim, so he ends up driving out of control into defenders and turning it over or firing off a bad shot. Smith finished 1-for-8 on twos. That’s just not good enough. He was clearly deterred by JaVale McGee, but this is the NBA, opponents have big men. The signs are not encouraging for DSJ’s sophomore year. Smith finished a game-worst -29 while backup point guard J.J. Barea was +28 in a game the Mavs lost by one. Speaking of which…

5. The J.J. Barea pick-and-roll game is timeless

J.J. Barea is still shredding NBA defenses at age 34. I’m 35 and I got tired just staying up late to watch this game. Barea is a master of the pick-and-roll. He racked up 10 assists off the bench, repeatedly breaking down L.A.’s terrible defense to find the open man. The Lakers almost never followed the screener to the rim, and Barea always found him. He’s so good at killing a defense that is sleeping, and boy was the Lakers defense sleeping. Can we get Barea 15 bench minutes on a playoff team this spring? Pretty please?

6. Both benches are rough

Lance was Lance, playing air guitar after a corner three, driving out of control to hit a jumper from behind the backboard, attempting a ridiculous alley oop pass that never had a chance. KCP came off the bench late and played mostly out of position. Dallas’s first bench option was Dorian Finney-Smith. Jalen Brunson played most of his minutes out of position at the two.

These bench units are going to get killed by real teams. Dallas’s terrible bench actually was the only thing that kept them in the game, with Barea and Kleber leading a 13–0 second quarter run and playing well again in the fourth quarter against the LeBron meme team bench unit. L.A. will never do it, but I might consider bringing Ingram off the bench. He could handle and score against worse defenses there, and it would even out their attack and give Hart an elevated spot in the rotation.

7. Lakers fouls are a problem

The Lakers have been the second worst-fouling teams in the league, which is bound to happen when half the team is young and the other half is guys like Lance and JaVale. It was a sloppy game all around, with 43 turnovers and 51 fouls combined. Ingram, Kuzma, and McGee fouls especially stood out. McGee had two loose ball fouls when he was out of position on rebounds plus a moving screen. Ingram and Kuzma each had a pair of offensive fouls. The Lakers had six offensive fouls, which of course contribute to the turnover problem. It feels like Ingram and Kuzma are pressing a bit, not quite used to a smaller role on a LeBron team yet. Their fouls came trying to iso their way to the rim to make a shot for themselves. They need to let the game come to them and put more of that energy into defense. The Mavs were in the bonus with eight minutes left in the final period, and it almost cost L.A. the game.

8. Dallas has a team-building problem

Harrison Barnes and DeAndre Jordan are eating up $24 and $23 million in cap space this year, both near max deals. They’re not max players. They may not even be above average starters. When you pay non-max guys max money, you get left out of the playoffs. Add in $19 million to Wes Matthews and that’s two-thirds of the cap for three players that don’t move the needle. All three are in a contract year, though Barnes has a player option, so a clean cap is coming. Unfortunately that also means Dallas has basically nothing to build around, just Doncic and a hope for DSJ to turn things around. Remember, they don’t have their pick this year either. Doncic looks like the real deal but it’s going to take awhile.

9. Three is still greater than two

The Lakers made 10-of-17 threes for a sparkling 59%, many of which were wide open looks all game. Dallas made only 45% of theirs but shot 12 more. L.A. was the much better team in almost every facet, but 3>2 kept Dallas in the game until the final seconds.

10. The DeAndre Jordan free throw thing is real

Jordan went to the line only once tonight, confidently stroking a pair of clutch free throws in the game’s final minute. He’s now made 28 of 34 free throws this season, a sparkling 82% up from his career 44.6% average. The odds of a 44.6% shooter randomly making 28 of 34 free throws is approximately 1-in-142,000. DJ stepped to the line like a player who knew he was going to hit his free throws — because he was.

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