LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were able to get back on the winning horse after snapping a season-worst four-game skid against the Portland Trail Blazers, riding the momentum to take down Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. The Lakers limited Luka Doncic to 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting, giving him plenty of headaches with a defense that adjusted to his every reaction.
“I think we're just on a string,” said James, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “We understood at the point of attack that Luka [Doncic] creates so much pressure on your defense with his scoring, with his ability to play-make, get into the cracks of the defense and make plays. We just tried to make it tough on him, but make it tough on other guys as well.
James gave not only Doncic, but the Mavs' bench their due props for how they've performed this season, noting his Lakers had to do more than stop the reigning Rookie of the Year to pull out a 108-95 win.
“We know not only the season that Luka's having but they [Dallas] have been successful because of their bench as well,” said James. “Their bench gives them so much of a push when Luka comes out, when KP [Kristaps Porzingis] comes out, when those starters come out, their bench always kind of rises to the occasion so we keyed in on those guys and we executed our defensive plan and it was the ingredients for us getting the win.”
The Lakers have already been surprised by the Mavs once this season, resulting in one of their seven losses — but they seem to have learned their lessons in getting to Doncic early and often after he posted a 27-9-10 line in their second meeting this season.
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