Luka Doncic recently stunned the NBA by dropping 73 points against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. Draining 25 of 33 shot attempts from the floor, Doncic became the highest scorer in the Dallas Mavericks franchise history and the highest-scoring European in the history of the NBA with his 70-piece on January 26. After that night, Doncic now finds himself in the company of an elite list of players to achieve a similar feat, such as Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant. However, the performance was apparently not as easy as Luka made it look.
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Luka Doncic recently appeared on JJ Redick’s The Old Man and the Three podcast to discuss this incredible achievement with his former Mavs teammate. Redick has always appreciated Luka for his basketball prowess and he seemed even more proud after the Slovenian’s dominant showing this season.
Doncic had always reiterated how playing in the NBA felt easier to him than playing in Europe. On that note, Redick asked the Mavericks guard, “Did that 73 feel easy?” In response, Luka said, “Oh no, no. Definitely not.” The 24-year-old has always been the player to assess every pressure situation minutely and make the best out of it by performing at the highest level.
Speaking of how many people termed Doncic’s 70+ point game as an easy win, the Mavs star replied, “It’s not easy. Trust me…But when I said [it’s easy to score in the NBA compared to Europe], a lot of people did not agree with me, two to three years ago. But I think now they are starting to agree with me more and more. I always say it’s because of the rules…But no it wasn’t easy scoring 73.”
After briefly discussing the difference between NBA and EuroLeague rules, Redick went back to Luka’s 73-point game. He wanted to know whether Doncic practices his hesitation de-escalation in the paint to let the defense blow by. However, the Mavs superstar made him jealous by claiming that it all comes naturally to him.
While some analysts have dismissed Luka’s 73-point game as the result of poor defense, Redick brought up how the Hawks tend to blitz players to stop them from scoring. However, then he asked the Mavs superstar about his approach when the Hawks didn’t blitz. “If they switch, I always try to go downhill…I just stagger a little bit on the three and the step backs...”
Doncic had the most efficient game imaginable against Atlanta for such a high score. He scored 75.8% from the field and 61.5% from three. Even though the Atlanta Hawks have a defensive rating of 120, Doncic explained to Redick that running those plays at such a high efficiency was not a walk in the park.
JJ Redick has complimented Luka Doncic multiple times previously
Former LA Clippers star JJ Redick has always been a fan of Luka Doncic and is no stranger to showering the Slovenian with praises. The two shared the floor together when Redick briefly played the last few games of his career as a Dallas Mavericks player.
In a previous podcast episode, Redick claimed Doncic to be the most confident player he has ever played with. Describing his experience with Doncic, Redick said, “[He is] never afraid of any moment. Never gonna back down. There’s no agenda other than trying to win the moment.”
Reflecting on Redick’s statements, we can hold them to be quite solid when describing Doncic. The Mavs star currently stands sixth in the race for the MVP and might as well have a solid chance in winning the award for the first time this season.
