Luka Dončić said after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 124-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday that the team’s defense has room to improve, despite a six-game winning streak. Speaking with reporters in Atlanta, Dončić pointed to the Lakers’ ranking of 21st in defensive efficiency entering the game, a number he said did not match the roster’s ceiling.
“I think we can be way better than 21st,” Dončić said, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I think we have the potential for that.”
Dončić backed the comment with his own performance. He finished with 32 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, adding five steals and two blocks in his return from a one-game absence for lower back tightness.
The Lakers forced 19 Atlanta turnovers and recorded 16 steals and six blocks as a team. Atlanta still shot 17-of-44 from three-point range and got 36 bench points from CJ McCollum and Aaron Wiggins.
Los Angeles led by 20 in the second quarter before the margin closed to 10 at the final buzzer, with the Hawks scoring 35 in the second quarter and 33 in the third. The Lakers improved to 10-2, the best record in the Western Conference, with the win coming without Austin Reaves, who was out with an illness, and Quentin Grimes, who had a right finger sprain.
A Star Flagging His Own Defense Is Different Than a Coach Doing It
Dončić has drawn criticism for his own defense in the past, which is part of why the comment carries weight: he is naming the problem rather than waiting for someone else to raise it.
The box score shows both halves of what he is describing. The Lakers can generate takeaways in bursts — 16 steals, 19 forced turnovers — but the same game saw Atlanta hit 17 threes and cut a 20-point lead to 10, which is the distance between forcing mistakes and sustaining stops for 48 minutes.
That split is what a defense ranked 21st looks like from the inside, and it is the specific thing Dončić said has to change for a 10-2 start to mean more in the spring. He set no timetable; the marker is simply whether the ranking moves as the sample grows past 12 games.
Source: Dave McMenamin of ESPN
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