The last time Luka Doncic scored 40 or more and faced the Miami Heat on the second night of a back-to-back, he dropped 60. Clearly, Erik Spoelstra wants to avoid it against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday. But stopping the 6x All-Star who is leading the league in scoring won’t be an easy feat.
“The one thing we can take from it has to be a whole lot more efforts and focus and discipline,” Spoelstra said after Monday’s morning shootaround at UCLA (via The Heat Realm on X). “And even if you do that, you have to have great mental and emotional stability because Doncic can still make shots if you’re there, but you can’t just let him walk into his comfort zone. You have to put yourself out there as a competitor. Make it tough; it’s gotta be five guys against the ball and then if he’s making tough shots, you’ve got to have the mental toughness to continue to be there that next possession and not let the shot-making collapse your spirit or your effort.
“There’s not going to be two defenders on him, or even three (not relying on the team’s best defender against Luka Doncic). You’re pretty much going to go through your entire roster of different looks. You have to have fresh bodies; you have to have multiple guys wanting to step up to the challenge and having that mental and emotional toughness to stay the course. Like I said, they’ve been putting up points relatively easily. They’re a great shot-making team, but you can’t let that affect your effort and focus.”
Kaynak: EssentiallySports