How Luka Doncic created 92 points (!) in a game

How Luka Doncic created 92 points (!) in a game

Luca donic put on a clinic on Christmas day in Phoenix becoming just the second player in NBA history to drop 50 points and 15 assists in a single game the map started this one with their bread and butter pick and roll Luca surveys the floor and all of a sudden finds Derek

Lively for a dunk and a minute later it’s the same thing he waits a beat again and then there’s Lively on the roll for two more and Phoenix tried something tricky on defense in this game having the big man switch out on Luca but then actually trapping with the

Guard after a beat donic hits Lively again and it’s another bucket and this is similar to what Frank Vogal tried when he was coaching the Lakers against James Harden in the bubble switching the pick and roll only to trap harden a second later but in this game it was

More like a late trap because Luca goes after the big man he switches out onto donic temporarily and then it’s up to the guard to linger and time up his double team on Luca donich reads it perfectly lobs it into that little window and Derek Lively ends up with

More free throws so the Suns decide to change the matchup by switching the big man off of lively and that puts a second small defender in the action that’s too easy and Luca goes through them like their warm butter with Lively on the bench Grant Williams sets the screen in

The pick and roll that brings Kevin Durant into the action he kind of delicately doubles Luca who then whips it behind the back over to Grant Williams and it’s a great look but they dodge a bullet Luca is in a behind the back giving mood for the holidays whips

It across court but that doesn’t go anywhere so he just says let me get my scoring on turns into Steph Curry and bombs it from 30 ft so the Phoenix counter now is to bring Josh aogi in the game have him pick up Luca in the back court and just disrupt this entire

Process but he gets clipped on the screen Durant again comes out to double akog is not really sure where to go and this is the Mastery of Luca he’s big enough to just string out this play and wait out the defense surveys the court and then he can pick his poison slinging

It to the corner that puts the defense in rotation and it’s another dunk Luca’s patience and Tempo is one of his superpowers so after the switch he just waits to see what the defense is going to do knowing that someone’s probably going to come double aogi does and then

Luca busts out that magic which leads to yet another Lively layup and a foul and he’s just reading this defender on the backside and instantly flips it off the dribble to that big Target Lively present so at the end of the quarter they have Devin Booker on lively to keep the big

Man out of the pick and roll so Luca says bring me Phoenix’s big man anyway he switches out onto donic way out high and now Phoenix is worried about that lob to Lively so the open man is at the top but Luca slings it to the corner for

A wideopen three and think about the hood Spa it takes to throw this pass Luca gets up in the air and looks at the top of the key anticipating that this Defender will rotate so he throws it right at him instead and there’s just no answer for that so in the second quarter

We’re back at square one Lively’s in the game the big man’s on him Luca puts him in pick and roll and they fake like they’re going to double but are trying to bait the pass to Lively Luca doesn’t bite and now this is well defended but

When they reset Luca can attack the big man right off the catch that draws the double and sets up another wideopen three so Luca realizes if we’re back in a traditional coverage then he can make more traditional reads Lively sets the screen they show two men on the ball and

Donic can pick that apart all day and Lively is such an incredible Target for him because of his size and finishing ability and donich has connected with Derek at the rim for layups more than any other player in the league thus far this season so with Luca spamming the

Rle man against the Suns the Mavs take it to the next level out of the timeout going Spain pick and roll with Tim Hardaway Jr popping out and Lucas looking for that rle man but has other ideas and goes up top to Derek Jones Jr and this is all misdirection that’s made

Possible by all these roll passes because the weak side Defender here is think thinking about whether he needs to come over and pick up the roller that lets Derrik Jones Jr slip in behind for the perfect Ali you that works so well the first time they figure why not run it again it’s

The exact same play now that weak side Defender is literally looking at Jones for the lob so pow’s free again Luca of course hits him and that’s two more in the paint now remember the reason LC has so much defensive attention like this is because of his scoring on this one no

Double team comes so he quickly gets into a step back and he can shoot right over the smaller Defender and in this game he was on a real heater even running off a screen on this out of bounds play to get a handoff and turn

And hit a three which means when he’s in isolation against a smaller Defender like this they almost have to bring a double team he actually outsmarts himself on this one one using that same head fake on Eric Gordon and throwing it right at him but an even better option

Would have been just leaving it to Powell for the dunk either way Luca gets it back misses that three but Jones is there to clean up and the reason Jones is open is because donic is on fire and that relocation movement to the perimeter pulls three Phoenix Defenders

Toward him and no one’s left to block out Jones Luca consistently found Phoenix’s weak point in whatever Frank vogle tried defensively so here they have the guard on Derek Lively to avoid the screen they swing it over to him to go to work in isolation that means the

Double is coming well Lucas in the air he’s waiting to see where this Suns Defender leans snaps a fast ball to the top and there’s no shot Blocker in the paint because Phoenix had that big man out on the perimeter Luca puppet mastered him out of the play and so

Again there isn’t much resistance left for Jones this pass is so good it confuses the entire Phoenix defense three Defenders go to the corner on this one so no one’s left on Derek Lively under the basket and that means even on a Miss Dallas ends up with free throws back in

The bubble when vogel’s Lakers tried this switch and then trap Anthony Davis’s mobility and versatility made this more effective along with LeBron james’ awareness and communication for all this swarming and rotating but the ball handler makes a difference too Harden misses a back door pass here because he doesn’t quite have Luca’s

Vision and he doesn’t have Luca’s size to handle big switches like this and then see over the top of the defense instead of manipulating this Defender like we saw earlier he just kicks it out and the whole action restarts but Luca’s specialty is jumping and hanging in the

Air and manipulating defenders in this spot by looking to the top he freezes Booker and Durant and it’s a dunk off that trap instead and he just has the size to see right over bigger Defenders and thread the needle like this and it’s almost like he’s dictating to the

Defense instead of the other way around where he’s patiently waiting for them to commit then snapping it to the wide open area for good offense and Phoenix doesn’t have great personnel and their defense really struggled in this game but a lot of that is Luca creating this

Confusion in the fourth the Suns had a one-point lead Dallas again sets the screen out high and this time the defender’s there but he has to backpedal against Luca coming downhill Durant never rotates so Lively’s free on the lob and it’s two more free throws some of this was self-inflicted from the Sons

But great players have a way of exposing your defenses and donic carved them up all night creating an unbelievable 24 opportunities like this for teammates by drawing help or double teams and then moving the ball to an open man in the hundreds of games I’ve hand tracked that

Is by far the highest number I have ever seen from a single player and it came in a game where Luca scored 50 points by himself all told Luca officially scored or created 82 points in the game on his own points and assists to his teammates but if you include these other

Opportunities where he didn’t get an assist on a putback or an extra hockey pass Luca donic scored and created an absolutely incredible 92 points in a single game on Christmas in Phoenix in what I can only describe as the true essence of a Onan offense to support this channel check out

Patreon.com thinking basketball you can check out player and team stats that update daily that we use to research our videos and podcast thanks for watching this one all the way through hope you enjoyed the Christmas slate of games and this incredible performance from Luca and of course that you are having a great

Day

Luka Doncic made history, becoming the second player in NBA history with 50 points and 15 assists in a game. How did he do it? This detailed film breakdown & scouting report explores the unique defense Phoenix tried to slow him down with, and how Luka was able to pick them apart, making adjustment after adjustment, to join James Harden in the 50-15 club on Christmas against the Suns.

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