Luka Doncic lives up to his bold promise in 41-point demolition of the Pelicans

Over the past week, Luka Doncic has unfairly become the punching bag for many Dallas Mavericks fans.

Doncic’s late-game defensive breakdown against the Utah Jazz combined with his shooting struggles led to fan frustration, and there was even more fan frustration when Dallas found a way to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder without him when he suffered a knee injury. contusion.

Some fans questioned whether Doncic’s style of play has held the Mavs back this season, and it’s been clear that he hasn’t been himself because of his knee. His lateral quickness was down and he hasn’t been able to get the same lift on his shots. Still, he entered Tuesday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans averaging 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. He hasn’t been the same Luka everyone is used to seeing, but he’s still playing at a high level despite battling through a few injuries.

Doncic promised after Dallas’ win against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday that he would get better physically, and that’s exactly what he showed in the win over the Pelicans. He said after the game that he felt better physically and that ultimately helped lead to a productive game.

Doncic finished with 26 points, five rebounds and five assists while shooting 10-16 from the field and 3-8 from downtown, and while those stats don’t necessarily jump off the page, the stat sheet doesn’t tell the whole story.

He moved much better laterally and in the open floor, played solid defense and didn’t force shots. Doncic let loose on his teammates when needed, and one play in particular illustrated that better than the rest.

In the second quarter, Doncic passed Jaden Hardy the ball on the wing, Hardy swung it back to him, and then Doncic gave Hardy the ball back along with a look for Hardy to attack his man. This play ended with a Hardy slam, and Doncic’s confidence in Hardy in this moment was evident.

His confidence early, while not overdoing it, was evident as he collected two steals in the first quarter, leading to two straight buckets for him at the other end. This was arguably Doncic’s best defensive game of the season, and he was active with his hands all night, helping to force more turnovers than he was given credit for. His emphasis on defense was evident as he collected three steals and blocked a shot. He was focused on doing his absolute best to stay in front of his man and bring intensity on that end, and that helped the Mavs get out to an early lead.

Doncic’s somewhat quiet but effective play helped lead the Mavs to a 132-91 victory over New Orleans and they climbed back above .500 as they are now 8-7. The Mavs had to take care of business against the Pelicans considering they were 4-10 entering the game and without several key players including Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum and Herbert Jones.

Doncic silenced all the outside noise about his performance of late in the win, and his intentionality on both ends helped lead to a smooth and simple game. His back-to-back threes in the fourth quarter were huge for him, and his jumper should slowly return to the mean as time goes on.

No one just magically falls as hard as Doncic has from downtown considering he shot 38.2 percent from three last season and was exceptional off the catch, and his 3-point numbers should rise as he becomes healthier and gets a better feel for his new self. teammates and more into the flow of the season.