Luka Doncic's shooting woes are becoming a problem for Mavs
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic.
As productive as Luka Doncic has been in his young NBA career, he’s often been criticized for his proclivity to settle for contested stepback threes.
Many analysts have urged the Mavericks star to drive to the basket and take advantage of mismatches instead of settling for hail-mary shots that look pretty when they fall but cost his team dearly when they don’t.
In the Game 1 loss to the Thunder, for example, Doncic’s missed threes created several fast-break opportunities that the home team capitalized on.
Doncic went 1-of-8 from deep, and the only three he made was a 27-foot stepback shot early in the first quarter when he still had his legs under him.
As the game progressed and Doncic encountered the harassing defense of Luguentz Dort, his efficiency kept dropping. Doncic went 6-of-19 for the game and was a -19 on the floor.
The Slovenian’s shooting woes have followed him the entire playoffs thus far. Over his last five games, he has shot a paltry 38.3 percent from the field and 16.3 percent from deep.
Sure, the averages of 26.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 10.2 assists sound MVP-esque, but his inefficiency isn’t reflected in those stats.
After Tuesday’s loss, Doncic was asked about his persisting shooting woes.
“Who cares? We lost. We just have to move on to the next one,” Doncic told reporters. “I got to be better. We got to be better. They’re a great defensive team, so it’s not going to be easy at all. We got to play very focused basketball for 48 minutes.”
It’s fair to state that Kyrie Irving has bailed out Doncic in the postseason thus far, especially with his electrifying performances in Game 3 and Game 6 against the Clippers. Irving is averaging 25.6 points while shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 47.2 percent from three.
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