Not even a month into his tenure with the Lakers and Luka Doncic has to face off against his old team the Mavericks.
But Doncic’s teammates and head coach JJ Redick think he is more than up to challenge of going up against the team that shipped him off with no warning.
“I think he’ll be fine,” Redick said. “Every day that he’s been with us, it’s becoming just a little bit more normal. I’ve been there. The first time you play your old team, particularly this close in time duration, it’s going to be weird. But he’ll be able to handle it.”
Luka declined to speak to reporters Monday after Lakers’ practice, but he ended the session on a good note after making a half-court shot, following a three-point drill with Dorian Finney-Smith, who just so happens to be his former teammate in Dallas.
“I think he’s going to be excited, but everybody in the locker room is excited,” Finney-Smith said of the game against his old team. “We’ve got his back. It’s going to be a hard-fought game. I know [Dallas head coach Jason] Kidd is going to have them ready to come in here and compete, so we’ve just got to match their intensity.”
The whispers about Luka’s conditioning and weight continued to swirl in his first three games for the Lakers, but the Doncic everyone knows and loves came to life in his fourth game – with a 32 point, ten rebound, seven assist and four steal outing against the Nuggets over the weekend.
“I knew it was going to come,” Finney-Smith said. “Luka, I shoot with him all the time, so I knew there was nothing wrong with his shot. He just hadn’t played for a while. He ain’t played since Christmas, and guys want him to come back and be 30, 10 and 10, but it takes time for him. I’m just happy he’s finding his rhythm.”
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