LOS ANGELES — The very early stages of the Lakers’ Luka Doncic era kicked off with expected unfamiliarity.
Even though the 26-year-old Slovenian star was a known commodity after his 6½ seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, being named All-NBA first team for five consecutive seasons (2020-25), it’s one thing to game-plan against a star a few times a season versus being teammates.
So there were hiccups: Doncic’s teammates bobbling or dropping passes; Doncic throwing passes his teammates weren’t expecting; the Lakers’ spacing not being ideal as they adjusted to how their opponents defend them when Doncic operates as a ball-handler in pick-and-rolls.
“There’s a non-cadence to the way Luka plays, if that makes sense,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after Tuesday’s home win against the New Orleans Pelicans. “A lot of offensive players have pre-programmed reads. He just does [expletive] that you’re like, ‘What, why did you do that?’
“There was a blitz against our bench in the second half. Could have made one read, could have made another read, made the read that I would have picked last and we ended up getting the layup on it.”
But over the past few games, the growing comfort between Doncic and his teammates has been evident.
Examples are the Gortat screen (an off-ball screen in which an offensive player seals his own defender to open a driving lane for the ball handler) that two-way contract center Trey Jemison set for Doncic late in the third quarter, leading to a Doncic layup that gave the Lakers a 94-74 lead over the Pelicans on Tuesday.
Dorian Finney-Smith, a teammate of Doncic’s with the Mavericks from 2018-23, made a similar play during the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ Feb. 25 home win against the Mavericks.
“It’s getting better and better,” Doncic said of the growing chemistry. “You saw the Gortat screen. I told [Jemison] last game, ‘If you do that, it’s going to be an open layup for me.’ So he was unselfish and did that.”
There was also the baseline cut that Jarred Vanderbilt made after Doncic drove into the paint out of a pick-and-roll with Jemison, leading to Doncic assisting Vanderbilt on an alley-oop that gave the Lakers a 92-74 lead in the third.
“Vando and I talked about cutting the baseline,” Doncic said. “And it’s just, it’s about talking about things, what things I like, what things they like, and what’s going to make it easier to win.”
That growing comfort is yielding success.
The Lakers have had an offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) of 122.8 in their last three games after having an offensive rating of 116 in their previous three games with Doncic.
“Our guys are starting to get into a groove and a rhythm, even with the non-cadence of how he plays,” Redick said.
And it’s not just the role playing benefitting from playing alongside Doncic.
Fellow star LeBron James is averaging a team-high 27.2 points, to go with 9.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists, in his last 10 games since Doncic made his debut in the Feb. 10 home against over the Utah Jazz.
He’s shot 53.4% from the field and 40.5% from 3-point range during that span, including taking four catch-and-shoot 3s per game (52.5% accuracy) compared to the 2.7 catch-and-shoot 3s he took in his first 46 games.
“In order for us to be the team ultimately we need to be, the ball needs to be in Luka’s hands,” James said. “And then when Luka sits down, the ball can be in my hands or be [Austin Reaves’] hands when he gets back.
“But I’m very comfortable playing off the ball and finding my spots, running the floor, getting the outlet pass from Luka, being on the backside of the defense if he’s either being blitzed in pick-and-rolls or switched in pick-and-rolls. He attracts so many eyes and bodies. I’ve been very blessed to be able to be adaptable to whatever team I’ve been on throughout my career, to be able to change. And this is another instance and I’m looking forward to that.”
KNICKS AT LAKERS
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/radio: TNT/710 AM