Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Keys to beating the Dallas Mavericks

3.) Slow down Luka

When it comes to slowing down Luka Dončić, as the old cliché goes, “easier said than done”. The 20-year-old Slovenian superstar has elevated his game this season and thrust himself into the MVP conversation in only his 2nd NBA season. He is averaging 29.6 PPG, 9.7 RPG, and 9.0 APG, simply staggering numbers for a sophomore season. So how can the Lakers slow this guy down? Well, they’ve had differing success so far in their 3 games against him.

In the first 2 games combined, Luka scored 58 points and 25 assists, The Lakers and Mavs split those meetings. However, in the most recent game last sunday, Dončić was held to just 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting.

Avery Bradley really made life difficult for Luka, pressing him full court, and not letting him get comfortable with his dribble. This prevented Luka from getting into a rhythm, so its safe to say that whether Bradley is good to go or not will have a significant impact on the game.