Luka's 52 Was Incredible. His Defense Was a Crime Scene

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The Lakers went into Salt Lake City on a Sunday afternoon expecting an easy one, and instead the Jazz pounded the offensive glass and built a big lead. It took 52 points from Luka Doncic to drag them back and over the finish line. We broke the whole thing down.

Start with the shot profile. Luka takes well over half his shots from three and has always been around league average out there, and the reason is rhythm. He missed five in a row to open the game and then hit four straight when the Lakers needed it most. We sync two nearly identical step backs to the right foot plant to figure out why one went in and one did not, and it comes down to alignment rather than release speed or arc. Then we look at the frame count between the foot plant and the knees extending, and why 6 or 7 frames produces an effortless shot while 12 frames of deep knee bend leaves it short by a foot.

Inside the arc he was 9 for 12 and unstoppable. The pin away that forces the switch, the over-the-right-shoulder Dirk leg fade, the Spain wrinkle out of HORNS that he rejects to get downhill, and the footwork on the gather that creates the space. Plus the bank shot timing, a rare Luka fast break, and why there was nothing to complain about on the drive where Keyonte George got his hand.

We also get into the step through that looks illegal and is not, the Jaxson Hayes trash talk that went badly, the end of quarter shot where he stepped on a defender's foot and recovered, and the clock management down the stretch that quietly decided the game.

Then the part Luka fans may want to skip. He was responsible for seven baskets in the first quarter alone. Bad closeouts, going the wrong way on a back screen, and not boxing out. The scoring was spectacular, and it had to be.
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