Luka on pace to lead the playoffs in Total PTS/REB/AST

[Andri]

He should, he has the ball 20 sec of every 24 seconds in their ball possessions. It was more impressive when Jokic last years playoffs since he averages half of the minutes on the ball compared to Luka.

He is a great offensive player but I don't like their iso heavy playing style, not to mention his horrible defence, it looks too much like James Harden prime when he should be more like Lebron. Lebron wasn't horrible defender in his prime.

Luka is 2nd in time of possession, but 4th in touches and 5th in usage during these PO's. Joker is 11th in time, 1st in touches (by far) and 8th in usage.

Do you know who are with these 2 up in those stats? Brunson, SGA, Mitchell, Maxey, Antman. No surprise, if you don't have the luxury of a great assembled and overall talented team, you are going to rely a lot on your superstars. Specially during PO's.

At least, out of all of them, Luka has made the finals

[HotRocks34]

In this clip from Game 1, Tatum seeks out the switch to isolate Luka on defense and Luka gets a solid contest to force the miss.

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[HotRocks34]

Luka defending Jaylen Brown in Game 2.

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[HotRocks34]

One of the best qualities about Luka as a defender is he recovers well after being beaten by the initial action.

In this play from Game 2, Brown beats Luka on a backdoor cut but Luka recovers, reads the play and gets the steal as Brown tries to kick out to Tatum.

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[HotRocks34]

Another failed Celtics attempt to isolate Luka on defense.

Brown vs Doncic in Game 2.

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[HotRocks34]

This is as good as it gets in one on one defense.

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[KGtabake]

Lmao at Jokic being that high still when his team hasn’t played in a month. Truly was a one man show this year.

As great as Luka is, it's still hard for me to put him over Jokic as the best player in the game. Maybe 1A and 1B.

It's not just hard. It's blasphemy.
Until he becomes passable in defense, he will remain a top 5 player for his offense alone.
Jokic is significantly better in defense, just like the other 3 players who are better than Doncic.
Alexander, Giannis, Embiid.

[Uncle Mxy]

Will Luka be the second player on a losing team to win Finals MVP? That's when this thread could get interesting.

[FlatearthZorro]

Luka is a genius on offense, but I have absolutely zero idea, how so many fans are turning a blind eye to the fact that he can't play a lick of defense and puts no effort into it... add to that that he's constantly whining.......

[FlatearthZorro]

Will Luka be the second player on a losing team to win Finals MVP? That's when this thread could get interesting.

Not really and people getting around him like he's a road sign wont help his case.

[Jcity08]

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I love Luka but that is so atrocious. I know he's banged up though which can have an effect.

[HotRocks34]

Lmao at Jokic being that high still when his team hasn’t played in a month. Truly was a one man show this year.

As great as Luka is, it's still hard for me to put him over Jokic as the best player in the game. Maybe 1A and 1B.

It's not just hard. It's blasphemy.
Until he becomes passable in defense, he will remain a top 5 player for his offense alone.
Jokic is significantly better in defense, just like the other 3 players who are better than Doncic.
Alexander, Giannis, Embiid.

Nah. Luka is #2, at worst.

33/9/9 and leading his team to the Finals at 25 years old.

The "Luka can't play defense" thing is long gone. This is playoff RAPTOR. The second column is defense.


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Luka also was positive (good) in the regular season.

If you want to say Giannis is better, ok. I can see that even though I don't agree. Giannis is a dominant player and deserves his props.

Jokic is Jokic. He's the top dog IMO.

Embiid is constantly injured and doesn't get it done in the playoffs. I can't put him over Luka right now.

Shai is great but he doesn't have the top gear Luka does. Shai is a nova and Luka is a supernova. Shai is steadier than Luka but Luka's ceiling is higher.

So, at worst, Luka is #3 for me. Best guard in the league and only now really refining his game with the right roster, coach and front office.

Flowers to Kidd. He's done a better job than I thought he would.

[HotRocks34]

Something else with Shai is that his On/Off in the playoffs has been a bit meh. Not sure why that is. I'm certain that will get fixed moving forward. He's too good for it not to be.

[BrooklynDynasty]

Will Luka be the second player on a losing team to win Finals MVP? That's when this thread could get interesting.

if this soft as charmin baby s**t league gives the finals mvp to a player who got swept or only wins one game then just shut down the league, party's over, there will never be a bigger joke than that

[brackdan70]

Yay

[KG Leonard]

He should, he has the ball 20 sec of every 24 seconds in their ball possessions. It was more impressive when Jokic last years playoffs since he averages half of the minutes on the ball compared to Luka.

He is a great offensive player but I don't like their iso heavy playing style, not to mention his horrible defence, it looks too much like James Harden prime when he should be more like Lebron. Lebron wasn't horrible defender in his prime.

Luka is 2nd in time of possession, but 4th in touches and 5th in usage during these PO's. Joker is 11th in time, 1st in touches (by far) and 8th in usage.

Do you know who are with these 2 up in those stats? Brunson, SGA, Mitchell, Maxey, Antman. No surprise, if you don't have the luxury of a great assembled and overall talented team, you are going to rely a lot on your superstars. Specially during PO's.

At least, out of all of them, Luka has made the finals

I was talking about regular season where Ringer podcast gave the stats where he was dominating touches, times of possession. Yeah Luka should be better than all those players they are all stars not superstars, not counting Jokic, SGA of course.

They are in the final because he has Kyrie and the best team defence since February, that's why teams like Knicks, Minnesota aren't in the final. Average teams like Philly, Cavs never had chance to be on Celtics, Bucks level in the East. Let's not go overboard none of those teams was on Mavs current level. Minnesota is hardly a powerhouse with their two series wins in 20 years...

[JustBuzzin]

Luka is also on pace to be the worst defender in playoffs history.

[KG Leonard]

Lmao at Jokic being that high still when his team hasn’t played in a month. Truly was a one man show this year.

As great as Luka is, it's still hard for me to put him over Jokic as the best player in the game. Maybe 1A and 1B.

It's not just hard. It's blasphemy.
Until he becomes passable in defense, he will remain a top 5 player for his offense alone.
Jokic is significantly better in defense, just like the other 3 players who are better than Doncic.
Alexander, Giannis, Embiid.

Your points are why I can't even believe the comparison to Jokic for Luka. It is crazy recency bias, nothing else!
I'm sick of the hype for "one way" superstars, it is not only about scoring, offence. Defence even for the best superstars matter, specially in the playoffs. Jokic is good enough that you can't attack him anymore, also he rebounds like all-time great defensive centers.

I would take healthy Embiid before Luka too but that version doesn't exist in reality, also Embiid rarely is great in big playoffs series. For me it is like this:

Jokic
Giannis
SGA
Luka
Embiid
Tatum

[dygaction]

In this clip from Game 1, Tatum seeks out the switch to isolate Luka on defense and Luka gets a solid contest to force the miss.

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This cannot be true. Luka does not play defense as shown by all the highlights and Tatum always being at least doubled or even tripled as shown by his 31.6FG%.

[Vampirate]

As great as Luka is, it's still hard for me to put him over Jokic as the best player in the game. Maybe 1A and 1B.

It's not just hard. It's blasphemy.
Until he becomes passable in defense, he will remain a top 5 player for his offense alone.
Jokic is significantly better in defense, just like the other 3 players who are better than Doncic.
Alexander, Giannis, Embiid.

Your points are why I can't even believe the comparison to Jokic for Luka. It is crazy recency bias, nothing else!
I'm sick of the hype for "one way" superstars, it is not only about scoring, offence. Defence even for the best superstars matter, specially in the playoffs. Jokic is good enough that you can't attack him anymore, also he rebounds like all-time great defensive centers.

I would take healthy Embiid before Luka too but that version doesn't exist in reality, also Embiid rarely is great in big playoffs series. For me it is like this:

Jokic
Giannis
SGA
Luka
Embiid
Tatum

Being real with you Embiid is great, but is equally as flawed as Luka is.

Luka is not 'just a great scorer' he's also a great floor general (not illustrated in game 2 with the TO's)

There's also more to offence than just scoring as well.

Embiid's passing has always been his Achilles heel. (skill perspective)

Jokic is the best because he basically has the fewest weaknesses. He's good enough of a defender for a center, but let's be honest, he's also not known for his defence either. Jokic is known about as equally an offensive overall force as Luka is.

Giannis is a 2 way beast, but is limited but also dominant offensively, he's also not a good FT shooter, and his FT shooting is his achilles heel to go along with his range.