[Source](https://x.com/bleacherreport/status/1783181804276428984?s=46&t=hc5NrTRIWu5hhJBvuuWS9g)
[Bleacher Report] Luka told the Mavs to stop sending help defense in the 4Q so he could defend 1-on-1. The whole Clippers team only scored 5 points with Luka as the primary defender.
by AashyLarry
37 Comments
His defense has been much better this year compared to priors. And as a team that was maybe the Mavs best defensive performance yet this season.
Doesn’t surprise me, Luka definitely isn’t going to blow anyone away with his defense but he is 6’7 and 230ish. A little bit of effort paired with quick hands and he can be an okay defender. Would love to hear what Mavs fans think
this reminds me a lot of Melo defending LeBron 1v1 back in the day. If he locks in on that specific matchup he’ll defend it really well because he has the size, strength, and speed to not get backed down or blown by or easily shot over; where he tends to flail is when he’s not locked in on making rotations, where he gets forced to make reads and try to defend from a step behind due to a screen, etc.
I’m not worried about him guarding some bums 1 on 1 but when he gets tired and chucks 3s cause he had to play defense to prove something it’s gunna be ugly
Bro said let me cook
His defense is better because he’s allowed to be more physical in the playoffs. He’s big.
Ooo
I
I
dog
That boy got mad after that 3rd quarter tech
He definitely looked good on defense yesterday and was key to the Mavs great defensive performance, but Kawhi was so slow I think I could have stayed in front of him.
Was Luka defending the whole Clippers by himself? Did he had four other teammates who helped?
Such a stupid post.
There was a play half way or late in the 4th where somebody helped off Westbrook and gave up a wide open 3 and Doncic was immediately yelling at the bench and waving his hands to not send help his way. Baller shit
There’s no reason to help. If Harden gets by you, he’s just looking to drive and kick it out to a corner for 3.
Been wanting this for a while. The guy will have some pride and defend better sooner or later. Our defense was always designed to hide Luka and it was to the detriment of the team.
Lmao Clippers defense personnel coasting on rep and have been for a long ass time. Now their offensive rep is taking a hit too. I love it.
meanwhile you got AD begging for the DPOY
In the 2022 finals the Celtics tried attacking Curry on that side of the ball but they took so long getting the switch that most of the shot clock would be gone and they didn’t end up getting very efficient offense out of it.
Sometimes attacking the star offensive player that is a better defender than their reputation doesn’t work out.
Points against you as a primary defender for one quarter is such a narrow stat. And the Clippers scored 93 points, or 23 per quarter. And 4.5 per person per quarter. So scoring 5 against Luka specifically seems totally normal. Such a meaningless stat.
He should do the same for game 3
Look at me, I’m the defender now
The amount of mental gymnastics people will do to say Luka is a mediocre defender
This thread is exhibit A
He held Kahwi, PG, and Harden to 0 points when he was the primary defender
Bro really said he’d have a better chance going 1 v 5 instead of 5 v 5 🤣
Whipped out the secret weapon: Defense
BDE
He locked the whole Clippers team down solo.
Dallas in 3!!!
Luka’s evolving into a 2-way superstar
League’s fucked
My mans was stupidly locked in
Luka Decic
he played very good positional defense, but the clippers as a whole shot very poorly so i’m not sure that luka suddenly became an elite defender over night. still credit to him for putting in much better effort
i’ll also say luka is incredibly whiny and it makes it hard to appreciate his talents
My stupid armchair opinion is that team’s should just help less in general. So many wide open threes are generated off of drive and kicks that would have either been two points or potential misses.
Obviously you wanna help sometimes and you can’t just leave a defender on an island all game, but sometimes you see a team come help down on a drive from Patrick Beverley or something and it’s like…what are you doing? Let Pat Bev try to take this guy to the hole.
I am NOT a bad defender!
So it’s effort then..
Loka Downčić
League not ready for 2-way Luka.
I wonder if he gives up a little bit of the offensive responsibility to Kyrie to focus more on his defence, now he has a serious 2nd star that can close reliably.
Honestly might be the best thing for the Mavs, we haven’t seen teams built around a heliocentric offensive star have real postseason success when it comes to championships.
All the loud hot take idiots will continue to ignore that he actually plays D. And everyone will keep supporting them with their engagement. Carry on.
is there an actual article or quotes on this, or is this another clickbait B/R graphic?