11-30-2021, 10:41 AM
Couple of quotes:
Cleveland took Luka serious and no one else. They clearly viewed him and him alone as being capable of beating them; they harried and pestered him on the perimeter, crowded him whenever he stepped foot inside the 3-point line. They often ignored his teammates to achieve this.
Cleveland left the Mavericks’ shooters open constantly, and they shot 1-of-16 from 3-point range in the first half. Most egregiously, Kevin Love essentially stopped guarding Dorian Finney Smith in the second quarter to double-team Doncic. (He made one 3 and missed another.) Cleveland’s defense even left open lob dunks, which made up four of Doncic’s 10 assists on Sunday. They maximized guarding Doncic at the expense of his teammates, and it worked.
The Mavericks haven’t given Luka Doncic enough help to be taken seriously. Just ask their opponents – The Athletic
Cleveland took Luka serious and no one else. They clearly viewed him and him alone as being capable of beating them; they harried and pestered him on the perimeter, crowded him whenever he stepped foot inside the 3-point line. They often ignored his teammates to achieve this.
Cleveland left the Mavericks’ shooters open constantly, and they shot 1-of-16 from 3-point range in the first half. Most egregiously, Kevin Love essentially stopped guarding Dorian Finney Smith in the second quarter to double-team Doncic. (He made one 3 and missed another.) Cleveland’s defense even left open lob dunks, which made up four of Doncic’s 10 assists on Sunday. They maximized guarding Doncic at the expense of his teammates, and it worked.
The Mavericks haven’t given Luka Doncic enough help to be taken seriously. Just ask their opponents – The Athletic