The game would eventually resume, and Doncic would dominate. 33
points were scored, 13 boards (three offensive) were grabbed and 15
dimes were dished in the Mavericks' 107-98 victory over the
Philadelphia 76ers.
If I were to pinpoint one thing from Doncic's night, it's how he
made the opposite corner his personal playground in pick-and-roll.
Good pick-and-roll playmakers read what's in front of them; guys
like Doncic read the third player, the unlucky fella tasked with
providing help on the main action.
It's hard out here for a weakside defender, especially when
toggling help responsibilities from a single side. Cheat inside too
early, and you risk having a pass tossed behind you for a three.
Stick to your guy too long, and your center is shooting you angry
looks for not helping him on a lob.
Put another way: being in two places at once is really
freaking difficult.
The delay got most of the early attention, and Doncic's play
afterwards (and the Sixers completely melting against a zone at the
end) got the attention late. What if I told you that a broken
possession was a precursor to Doncic's big night?
What's easy to see: Matisse Thybulle showing you why he's one of
the best defenders in the sport. It's not easy to stick with
Doncic, and it definitely isn't easy to guess what he wants to
do and time it correctly. Thybulle does all
three, sensing the lob to Dwight Powell coming (Joel Embiid is a
smidge too high) and getting the deflection.
What's key to this possession is Tobias Harris. While the ball
screen is happening, Harris fully commits to tagging/providing
relief on the roll, though a half-beat late. Dorian Finney-Smith
lifts from the corner to the wing at the same time Doncic is
working himself downhill. That lift is designed to put helpers in
pick-your-poison situations.
So as Doncic recovers the ball and does his dance — a pump-fake
to get Embiid and Thybulle in the air, then a gather to force
Embiid and Harris to commit to him and Powell respectively —
Finney-Smith is left all alone.
And that, my friends, is the opening salvo of the corner-help
battle. With this broken-but-fruitful possession in mind, you're
able to better appreciate some late-game nastiness from Doncic with
a similar setup.
Poor Tyrese Maxey was caught between a rock and a hard place in
the fourth quarter of this one. The Mavs stashed Reggie Bullock — a
career 38.5% three-point sniper, and 43.3% marksman from the
corners — in the left pocket to put Maxey in the same dilemma that
Harris was in.
The first go around, Maxey picks Door No. 1. With the Sixers
opting to play Embiid higher against screens at this point of the
game, it was even more prudent to make sure the roll-man was
accounted for.
You can see the strain, right? Maxey is already keeping tabs on
Powell. Doncic exacerbates the issue; he doesn't just string out
the hedge from Embiid, he drives past it. Maxey has to commit at
that point, which leaves Bullock open for three.
(Also, I love the "exit screen" — set by Finney-Smith for Jalen
Brunson — thrown in to take away Harris as a helper.)
On the very next trip, Maxey picks Door No. 2. Well, kind of.
He's torn based on the last possession, and that hesitation is all
Doncic needs to fire a dart inside.
I love how early Luka pulls the kill switch on this. He doesn't
even attempt to drive past Embiid this time. He strings it out just
enough, and makes his move early once he recognizes how much much
space Powell has due to Maxey's hesitancy.
In all, the Mavericks scored a blistering 1.6 points per
possession on Luka-led ball screens featuring that corner-to-wing
lift, per Second Spectrum. It was one of the high marks of the
season, if you care about that kind of granular thing.
Beyond that, it just goes to show how difficult it is to deal
with Luka when he's rolling. He's always thinking two frames ahead.
Even if you guess right, he can still make you wrong with elite
ball placement and velocity.
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