Black Hole Hoops Week 1: Luka Doncic

Nothing known to man can escape a black hole. Once something crosses its event horizon, there is no hope. Not even light can manage to break away. Similarly, there are times when basketball players become inescapable forces of nature, their will dominating a single game. These moments deserve to be cataloged and remembered. So, allow me to introduce you to Black Hole Hoops, a segment dedicated to highlighting the best performance from across the NBA from week to week. How fitting it is that the first subject of this segment be none other than the Dallas Mavericks’ own Luka Doncic, a man who has gravity similar to a black hole. On October 27th, he led the Mavs to a come from behind victory with 49 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, all while shooting 64% from the floor. Oh, and he hit the most clutch shot in the young season. Let’s take a look at how he did it.

Luka started the game by hitting back to back threes, then adding a third shortly after. No matter who the opposing team is, that is a bad omen. The three ball is what gives Luka some of his basketball superpowers, providing spacing and forcing defenders to play him honestly from behind the arc. If he hits those shots, opponents have to focus on getting him off the three point line, and forcing Luka to handle the ball in traffic and operate out of drives is not exactly a winning strategy.

Because if you are content with forcing Luka Doncic into drives, you prompt possessions like this one.

Note the physicality in that bump. Luka brought physicality all night, and it managed to get him 10 free throws (seven of which he hit). When he’s locked in behind the arc AND making physical drives, he’s essentially unstoppable. He’s also one of those guys teams cannot afford to double due to his vision and passing ability. He had a steady diet of the looks he likes. The addition of rookie Derek Lively II in the starting line-up gave Luka a nice lob threat, and I think head coach Jason Kidd will cook up some schemes to get them more involved in pick-and-roll to really put pressure on the back end of defenses.

But Luka’s favorite target of the night was Tim Hardaway Jr. Let’s look at the first find.

Let’s break down this defense really quickly. At that point in the game, Luka had nine points on five shots from the field. During the above possession, former Mavs teammate Dorian Finney-Smith was trying to force Luka into a drive. As Luka beat DFS and got into the paint, notice how Brooklyn got bodies into the lane to stop any easy attempts. Not only did it deter Luka from getting to the rim, it also stopped a potential lob to Lively. The problem is that once Luka picked up his dribble and stepped through, Thomas fell asleep and did not attempt to make it back to his man in the corner. From there, Luka threw his famous skip pass and Hardaway did the rest against a closing Thomas. Of course, the Nets took away that skip to the corner later on but…

In the third quarter, the Mavs ran a stagger screen for Luka that forced Ben Simmons to switch off of him in favor of the smaller Cam Thomas. Luka used his size to bully Thomas before recognizing that the defense had left the corner vacant again. Spencer Dinwiddie’s closeout was hampered by Josh Green and he couldn’t quite make it back in time to help.

But the best things came in the fourth quarter, where Luka made all four of his attempts. His first shot was a step back on the right wing to make it a one possession game with three minutes left to play. A clutch shot to keep his squad within striking distance late in the game.

Almost a minute of game time later, the Mavs ran a set for Luka to get the ball on the same wing. With Maxi Kleber as the facilitator, Luka set a pindown for Kyrie Irving in the paint. Hard to say for certain, but it appeared as if a Nets miscommunication caused a defensive breakdown. Simmons switched off Luka to take Kyrie, and based on Mikal Bridges’ reaction, it looked as if that was not the plan. Bridges and Dinwiddie then fail to communicate on the pindown for Luka, leaving Dinwiddie in an awkward closeout situation. Luka gave him a jab step that bought him just enough time to connect on another three ball.

Then the Mavs got the ball back. 1:32 left to play and they were down two. Luka called his own number in isolation and hit the following shot to put them up one point.

But the moment of truth arrived right at the end. Just watch this insanity.

If that isn’t basketball magic, I don’t know what is. That shot is hands down the most clutch of the season thus far, and it proved too much for the Nets to overcome. The whole night for Luka was spectacular. It felt like he got whatever look he wanted all night, and if he wasn’t shooting, he was making the right read. The most impressive stat in such a heliocentric game is his zero turnovers. Not once did he give the ball up to the other team. If the season ended today, Luka Doncic would be the MVP hands down. Through three games, he is averaging 39.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 9.7 assists per game. Absolute insanity. It is with great pleasure that I award him the Black Hole Hoops title this week, and if the rest of his performances are anything to go by, I’m sure this will not be the last time he gets the nod this season.