The Los Angeles Lakers came flying into the month of March after going 9-2 over February and proving to the NBA that they were one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. They were achieving this defensive success while integrating Luka Doncic into the roster, something which has continued as Doncic has settled into the roster.
Fingers were being pointed at Doncic again after a recent Lakers’ slump has seen their defense look porous once again. While fans were quick to blame Doncic’s prevalence in rotations as the key factor, the statistics show that Doncic is leading the Lakers in defensive rating for March, as one fan pointed out.
Doncic’s individual defensive rating of 112.9 comes over 12 appearances this month, also leading the Lakers in steals (1.8 per game) over this stretch. The next closest to him is Jarred Vanderbilt (113.8).
The worst defender to have played in 10 more games is Gabe Vincent (121.8) while Rui Hachimura (136.2) holds the throne for overall worst through four appearances, including the Lakers’ last three losses.
The whole table of their players’ defensive rating this month is very interesting.
There’s no disputing that Doncic has a weakness as a perimeter defensive option, especially against other guards. However, the Lakers have put him in protected defensive situations with the guard picking his spots effectively to be arguably the team’s best defender this month.
His defense has been rightfully questioned at points in the past, but many Dallas Mavericks fans know that Doncic has always shown flashes of elite defensive ability. Unfortunately, his offensive burden is so great that it’s hard for him to be able to maximize his efforts on both ends of the court.
He had a sub-110 defensive rating during his time with the Mavericks this season, but his overall numbers have settled at 111.1 defensive rating for the season. He even felt like he was having the best defensive season of his career before his December calf injury, during which he was traded to the Lakers.
His March defense has still been worse than his season average, but he’s been far more usable on that front than his teammates over this situation.
Doncic has the frame to be a really strong post defender, especially against opposing power forwards. He can’t be moved from his spot easily and is big enough to compete against most fours in the NBA right now.
As a result, he has been put in similar situations in LA and rarely tasked with being the POA option on the opposing team’s best player.
Luka is averaging 27.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 7.8 assists in 18 games since joining the Lakers. After the Mavericks made comments about Doncic’s poor defense and immature habits, it’s clear they motivated the Slovenian star into taking his body as seriously as possible.
Even if it doesn’t result in a championship in the next season or two, Doncic will have lifelong motivation to dominate in the NBA because of how the Mavs traded him.
