Luka Doncic is the second-leading scorer in the NBA playoffs, is currently abusing Kawhi Leonard, and one of its worst players when it matters the most.
Hard to conceive Luka Doncic is your random choke artist.
But by the time the fourth quarter rolls around, the man is gassed having carried the team the previous three quarters.
Never was that more evident than the fourth quarter of the Mavericks’ 105-100 win over the LA Clippers in Game 5 of their first-round series on Wednesday night.
Luka’s final line reads 42 points with 14 assists and eight rebounds. He scored 19 of those points in the first quarter.
What you don’t want to look at is his fourth quarter.
He entered the game a bit earlier than the norm in the fourth quarter, and in those final 9:41, Luka made only one of eight shots — two points, one rebound, two assists and one turnover.
It wasn’t the neck.
The Mavericks still won, so it’s not a problem.
But this is a concern.
This line is keeping in with the trend that his second halves, and fourth quarters, are terrible compared to his historic first halves.
In the five fourth quarters of this series, Luka is averaging 3.4 points on 22.2 percent shooting, 1.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 turnovers.
This is not exactly a new phenomenon. There was a drop in Luka’s fourth-quarter production during the regular season as well, but no where near as steep what we are seeing in these playoffs.
Now, that’s not to say that he did not also hit some buzzer-beating 3-pointers both in the regular season and during last year’s 2020 playoffs.
And, despite the steep drop in production, he still has either scored or assisted on 31 of the Mavs’ 37 field goals in Game 5.
It’s hard to find fault in Doncic’s game, other than his free-throw shooting, but the NBA is a fourth-quarter league. From Bird to Magic to Jordan and the rest, that’s where players are made.
Doncic is no dummy. He knows this. It’s one of the reasons he was so critical of himself after the Game 5 win.
By the time the fourth quarter is played in this series, Doncic looks a bit worn. Like a player whose legs are fried.
Many of his shots on Wednesday in the fourth quarter rimmed out, or narrowly missed. Typically that’s a result of dead legs.
Luke Doncic is the best player on the Dallas Mavericks, and one of the best players in the NBA. He has earned both distinctions.
He just needs to be better in the fourth quarter.
