Last night Luka Doncic played probably his best game in his career, finishing with a haul that has been seen very few times in the NBA: 73 points, only two players in history have done better (Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant). But the Slovenian’s game was a continuous domination, with the Atlanta Hawks not finding a solution to the rebus-Luka. Doncic shot 25/33 from the field, an unreal 75.8 percent that rises to 91% if we take True Shooting % into account., a statistic that gives more “weight” to three-point shots (8/13 against the Hawks). All this while adding 10 rebounds and 7 assists. In short, a contest that will remain in the NBA history books and extolled by all, starting with colleagues such as Draymond Green. But not from Paul Pierce, who posted a bitter comment on X.
“Damn, I miss defense in the NBA…” wrote Pierce, thus wanting to emphasize how these scoring exploits (a few days ago Joel Embiid also scored 70 points and last night Devin Booker instead put up 62 against Indiana) are in his opinion due to the demerits of defenses.
Damn I miss Defense in the NBA
– Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) January 27, 2024
The one introduced by Pierce is a topic that is always talked about a lot. Compared to even just 10 years ago, what is certain is that the pace of the game has picked up so much, thus generating higher scores for both end results and individual performance. To this there is surely to be added the greater impact of 3-point shooting and a protection of the forwards by the referees (yesterday Doncic shot 15/16 at the free), but the debate about defenses is bound to remain open for a long time to come.
Milan, Italy. A graduate in Labor Management and Communication for Organizations from Catholic University, I founded BasketUniverso in 2011. Yes, I root for Orlando Magic and do my best not to hide it.
