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Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win's basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here's Mike Sykes
Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you've had a great week and have a great weekend ahead of you.
Watching LeBron James and Stephen Curry go at it again on Thursday night was an absolute treat. Those dudes are two of the greatest we've ever seen. While we don't know how many more games we'll get like this between the two of them, there's a solid chance we'll see a playoff series between the two this spring. So there's a real chance we might get more of this.
JA MORANT IS SO FUNNY: He's got to be the most hilarious player in the NBA at this point
The show that the two of them put on for us was obviously the main story for Thursday night. But the secondary story that I don't really see as many people talking about is Luka Doncic. Or, at least not in the way I think most people should.
There've been conversations about how poorly Doncic shot. And, yes, he was terrible. He only scored 19 points and shot 6-of-17 from the field. That's a rare poor shooting night from him. He says he'll take accountability for it. But, to me, that wasn't even the biggest problem of the night for Doncic.
Instead, it was this.
The Warriors targeted Doncic throughout the game. The game plan was clearly to attack him offensively and that's precisely what they did. The Warriors attempted 21 of their 82 field goal attempts with Doncic as the primary defender, according to NBA.com's advanced box score. They scored 30 points directly off of those shots. You can see a lot of those points scored in the video above.
This isn't the first time this has happened. The Indiana Pacers attacked Doncic in their nearly completed comeback against LA. Even the lowly Charlotte Hornets pulled it off. This is very clearly a problem and will only be magnified in the playoffs.
After a strong start in February, the Lakers' defense has come back down to earth. Since Doncic's first game as a Laker on February 11, LA has the No. 17 defense in the league. That's solid, but it certainly doesn't seem to be the championship-level defense the team aspires to.
The same problems the Lakers are experiencing with Doncic now are the problems the Mavericks had with him in the Finals last season. The Celtics targeted him and he couldn't get stops.
Dallas was silly for trading Doncic — we've made that very clear here. The Mavs got fleeced. But this is why Dallas did it. That doesn't make it right, but it does put some of the issues Nico Harrison and the Mavericks highlighted out in the open.
If the Lakers want to be a serious championship threat, this has to be cleaned up.
It's been a few years since she last played WNBA basketball, but Elena Delle Donne has officially announced her retirement.
She announced the news via a post on Instagram.
Man. This is one of those retirements that just hits you in the chest. We'd been watching EDD dominate for so long. Then, suddenly, she was just gone.
You kind of feel robbed when you really think about it. As she mentioned in her post, injuries took so much time away from her career. Despite all she did, it feels like she had so much more to give.
Blake Schuster perfectly breaks it down here:
What a career. What a player. The Mystics need to retire her number ASAP. I will be there no matter what.
— Bryan Kalbrosky posted his latest NBA mock draft. Cooper Flagg is No. 1, but we do have a new entry into the top 5.
— Robert Zeglinski talks more about Steve Kerr's very correct stance that today's NBA players are somehow underappreciated.
— Charles Curtis feels like Ja Morant needed to be suspended for his gun celebrations.
— Marcus Morris on TV is unhinged. Andrew Joseph has details
That's a wrap, folks. Enjoy your weekend. Peace.
-Sykes
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Luka Doncic is the Lakers' greatest strength and biggest problem
Continue reading...
Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you've had a great week and have a great weekend ahead of you.
Watching LeBron James and Stephen Curry go at it again on Thursday night was an absolute treat. Those dudes are two of the greatest we've ever seen. While we don't know how many more games we'll get like this between the two of them, there's a solid chance we'll see a playoff series between the two this spring. So there's a real chance we might get more of this.
JA MORANT IS SO FUNNY: He's got to be the most hilarious player in the NBA at this point
The show that the two of them put on for us was obviously the main story for Thursday night. But the secondary story that I don't really see as many people talking about is Luka Doncic. Or, at least not in the way I think most people should.
There've been conversations about how poorly Doncic shot. And, yes, he was terrible. He only scored 19 points and shot 6-of-17 from the field. That's a rare poor shooting night from him. He says he'll take accountability for it. But, to me, that wasn't even the biggest problem of the night for Doncic.
Instead, it was this.
The Warriors targeted Doncic throughout the game. The game plan was clearly to attack him offensively and that's precisely what they did. The Warriors attempted 21 of their 82 field goal attempts with Doncic as the primary defender, according to NBA.com's advanced box score. They scored 30 points directly off of those shots. You can see a lot of those points scored in the video above.
This isn't the first time this has happened. The Indiana Pacers attacked Doncic in their nearly completed comeback against LA. Even the lowly Charlotte Hornets pulled it off. This is very clearly a problem and will only be magnified in the playoffs.
After a strong start in February, the Lakers' defense has come back down to earth. Since Doncic's first game as a Laker on February 11, LA has the No. 17 defense in the league. That's solid, but it certainly doesn't seem to be the championship-level defense the team aspires to.
The same problems the Lakers are experiencing with Doncic now are the problems the Mavericks had with him in the Finals last season. The Celtics targeted him and he couldn't get stops.
Dallas was silly for trading Doncic — we've made that very clear here. The Mavs got fleeced. But this is why Dallas did it. That doesn't make it right, but it does put some of the issues Nico Harrison and the Mavericks highlighted out in the open.
If the Lakers want to be a serious championship threat, this has to be cleaned up.
Happy trails, Elena Delle Donne
It's been a few years since she last played WNBA basketball, but Elena Delle Donne has officially announced her retirement.
She announced the news via a post on Instagram.
Man. This is one of those retirements that just hits you in the chest. We'd been watching EDD dominate for so long. Then, suddenly, she was just gone.
You kind of feel robbed when you really think about it. As she mentioned in her post, injuries took so much time away from her career. Despite all she did, it feels like she had so much more to give.
Blake Schuster perfectly breaks it down here:
What a career. What a player. The Mystics need to retire her number ASAP. I will be there no matter what.
Shootaround
— Bryan Kalbrosky posted his latest NBA mock draft. Cooper Flagg is No. 1, but we do have a new entry into the top 5.
— Robert Zeglinski talks more about Steve Kerr's very correct stance that today's NBA players are somehow underappreciated.
— Charles Curtis feels like Ja Morant needed to be suspended for his gun celebrations.
— Marcus Morris on TV is unhinged. Andrew Joseph has details
That's a wrap, folks. Enjoy your weekend. Peace.
-Sykes
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Luka Doncic is the Lakers' greatest strength and biggest problem
Continue reading...
