Luka Doncic started the season by putting up Michael Jordan-type stats but his efficiency seems to decline as the game goes on.
The Dallas Maverick star has one of the highest usage rates in the league and it shows. Doncic’s shooting percentage goes down every quarter, especially in the fourth, when his field goal percentage drops to a pedestrian 36 percent.
While Doncic has been putting up huge numbers, his team has been struggling to win games on a consistent basis. Despite Doncic’s best efforts, the Mavericks’ overall record stands at 6-5 through 11 games.
While it’s early in the season, head coach Jason Kidd is concerned over his high usage rate and believes that Doncic may hit a wall by Christmas if the Mavericks continue to lean on him as heavily as they have.
Luka Doncic Shooting Percentage Gets Worse By Quarter
At the age of only 23, Doncic has been putting up big numbers to begin the 2022 NBA season. He’s been averaging 33.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.9 assists while leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 6-5 record, good for seventh place in the Western Conference.
While Doncic is posting MVP numbers, opposing teams seem to figure out how to slow him down as the games go on.
According to Basketball Reference, the guard’s numbers decline significantly from the first to the fourth quarter.
In the first quarter Doncic has a 53% field goal percentage and shoots 35% from behind the arc. But by the fourth quarter, Doncic is only shooting 36 percent from the field and 17 from beyond the 3-point line.
With the Mavericks relying heavily on Doncic to create offense, it’s not entirely surprising that their star player’s efficiency is dropping throughout the game.
He currently has the third highest usage rate in the 3-point era.
Luka’s shooting gets worse the longer the game goes.
1Q — 53 FG%, 35 3P%
2Q — 53 FG%, 35 3P%
3Q — 48 FG%, 28 3P%
4Q — 36 FG%, 17 3P%He currently has the 3rd highest usage rate in the 3pt era. pic.twitter.com/HcaoaSm3eD
— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 11, 2022
Jason Kidd’s Concern Over Doncic’s Usage Rate
While Doncic is the cornerstone of the Maverick’s offense, head coach Jason Kidd is worried about him having such a high usage rate so early in the season.
Kidd fears that Doncic could burn out even if he continues to pile up numbers. He told David Aldridge that it’s a concern and Doncic may hit a physical or mental wall around Christmas if he continues at this pace.
First Quarter Luka Doncic
Luka is putting up MJ numbers to start the season 😯
(via NBA Today) pic.twitter.com/zJseGz7mui
— ESPN (@espn) November 9, 2022
Despite his high usage rate, Doncic is drawing comparisons to Michael Jordan after his impressive start to the 2022 NBA season.
According to the best NBA betting sites, Doncic trails only Giannis Antetokounmpo in the early-season MVP race.
The numbers that Doncic is putting up at age 23 is the most by any player in a season since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.
Doncic is going off every night and putting MVP numbers but the only thing he’s missing right now is more team wins, which will ultimately help solidify his case for NBA MVP.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
