An MVP candidate is stepping back. A former All-Star is stepping forward. And an up-and-coming squad is stepping in the right direction.
Let’s open the notebook to run through three NBA trends that have caught my eye this week.
The Dončić twitch
The Indiana Pacers survived 60 seconds until the Luka Dončić they surely dreaded arrived.
The Los Angeles Lakers have won 10 of their last 11 games, a tear that Dončić has fueled. Whatever Dončić wants right now, he’s getting. And what he wants is a stepback 3-pointer.
The Pacers knew that. So did the other four Lakers on the court. It didn’t matter.
On Los Angeles’ second possession of Wednesday’s game, Dončić received a dribble handoff from center Jaxson Hayes. He went one step to the right against Indiana pest Aaron Nesmith, then crossed over to his left hand while above the 3-point arc. Once the crossover came, Nesmith knew where to go next. But he couldn’t reach Dončić.
No one can.
Dončić nailed the 3, spurring another 40-point outburst.
He’s averaging 39.5 points over this 11-game streak, which has vaulted him into the MVP conversation. Dončić may not win the award, but he’s climbing the ladder, just as the third-place Lakers are rising up the standings.
And during this time, he’s revealed a singular focus: Get to that left hand. And once he does, fire off a stepback.
Even by Dončić’s standards, his recent reliance on fadeaway 3-pointers is the stuff of fiction. Since March 6, when this hot streak began, he is chucking 8.5 stepback 3s a game, according to Second Spectrum.
It’s an average so gargantuan that it may be impossible to properly place into context. But let’s try.
James Harden, the king of the stepback, isn’t even averaging 8.5 3-point attempts per game this season, let alone 8.5 stepback 3s. Meanwhile, Dončić isn’t popping them errantly. He’s shooting 37 percent on stepback 3s over these 11 games.
The stepback is the final type of 3-pointer a shooter will develop, behind stand-still ones, off-the-dribble pull-ups and 3s while on the move. At first, the footwork scrambles toes and heels. Lower-body strength is necessary. It’s not easy to catapult a basketball 27 feet in the opposite direction your body is falling.
But Dončić does it. He was averaging 5.9 stepback 3s a game before this stretch began, which nearly doubled the average of the second-place Harden. Now, he’s blowing that number away. And it’s causing mass anxiety for defenses.
For example, only a few minutes after Dončić nailed that jumper over Nesmith, he drove left on Pascal Siakam, the one player on a tanking team who does not seem to know he’s on a tanking team (and props to Siakam for that). After one bounce, Dončić shuffled his feed backward, ducking behind the 3-point arc. Siakam reacted the only way he could. He had no choice but to chase the stepback.
He closed out, but Dončić kept his dribble and headed to the hoop. Siakam stayed true to the scouting report. Forget about cutting off the drive. Instead, press up against Dončić’s right shoulder from his backside. It’s reminiscent of the ways teams would strategize against Harden in his prime. But that created a lane to the paint, where Dončić lofted in a floater.
Dončić is taking 13.9 3-pointers per game during this stretch, most of which are stepbacks. And even the shots that aren’t 3s are coming because defenses are so nervous about preventing Dončić from getting to his old reliable.
First steps
Darius Garland’s first step has returned, and the second one isn’t nearly as necessary.
The LA Clippers guard is driving by defenders, then basking in the glory for a fraction of a second before he gives the basketball to someone else.
Just when it seemed like injuries would turn this into a lost season, the 26-year-old is returning to All-Star form — and in a new kind of way.
Not long ago, Garland represented the Cleveland Cavaliers’ best chance to get into the paint and create from there. But a toe injury killed his comfort, even once he re-entered the lineup earlier this season. That’s when Garland stopped attacking the hoop with the same verve. His facilitation wasn’t as effective. The jump passes that were once a staple stayed grounded.
And the Cavaliers felt forced into a move they believed would help their chances in the 2026 playoffs, flipping Garland to the Clippers for Harden.
Beyond the financial element of the trade, the deal was a bet on health, one we may now get to see play out.
After missing his first month with the Clippers, Garland’s jumper has caught fire. He’s made more than half his 3-pointers during 11 games with the Clips. He went for a season-high 41 points earlier this week during an overtime victory in Dallas. The assist numbers have returned; he tallied 11 against the Mavericks.
But he’s excelling at a special type of playmaking.
Garland is so quick — far speedier than he appeared when the toe injury was more obviously hobbling him — that he hasn’t needed to go all the way to the basket to convince defenders to leave shooters to swarm him. Garland’s way is to burst so quickly past the man guarding him that the help has to come before he even arrives at the free-throw line.
He’ll run a pick-and-pop with Brook Lopez, with whom he’s developed instant chemistry, then dish an overhead pass back to the 37-year-old center. The Clippers are becoming familiar with Garland’s hook passes, when he looks like he’s impersonating Kareem Abdul-Jabbar but is instead throwing a pass backwards.
Garland’s game is about reversals. He’ll curl around a screen, fly downhill, then turn around and pitch the ball to his teammate behind him. Many of these occur before he’s even near the free-throw line.
In fact, Garland has 23 assists during three games this week, and 10 of those have come before he even needed to infiltrate the 3-point arc. His feet have touched the paint on only four of those dimes.
The quick decisions and rapid movement are working. The Clippers have risen to eighth place in the West and are 14-9 since they seemed to give up on their season by trading Harden for Garland and dealing starting center Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers. That means we may get to see the Cavaliers’ bet actually play out: A productive Garland in the playoffs on one side of the bracket, with Harden on the other.
To believe or not to believe
The Atlanta Hawks won another game. But Wednesday’s victory was different.
Not because it was against the first-place Detroit Pistons, who are frisky even without All-Star guard Cade Cunningham.
Not because it was their 14th win in 15 tries.
But because they deviated from the formula.
For more than a month, the Hawks’ starting lineup (CJ McCollum, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu) had wrecked each fivesome in front of it. During that stretch, the Hawks have given up the fewest points per possession in the NBA. Closeouts have been cleaner. The Hawks have yielded far fewer wide-open 3-pointers in the past month than they did over the beginning portion of the season, according to Second Spectrum. During this 15-game run, their defense is allowing the second-least amount of airspace on 3s of any team in the NBA.
On Wednesday, when they nearly coughed up a double-digit lead before holding on for a one-point overtime victory, the product changed. The Pistons’ starters outplayed Atlanta’s. The Hawks’ first unit is plus-28 per 100 possessions over these 15 games; it was minus-10 against Detroit. The defense couldn’t stop a Cunningham-less offense.
Yet the Hawks exited the building with another win. They are fifth in the Eastern Conference as of March 27, rising from 27-31 to 41-32.
The obvious question: How real is this heater?
It’s difficult to tell, if only because of who has stood on the other side of the court. The Hawks’ last 14 wins have come against opponents with a combined winning percentage of .392.
And somehow, that stat actually oversells their strength of schedule. Seven of the 14 victories were against shameless tankers (the Brooklyn Nets twice, Washington Wizards twice, Dallas Mavericks twice and Memphis Grizzlies). Six were against middling-to-subpar teams who were missing some or all of their core (the Milwaukee Bucks twice, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Orlando Magic and Golden State Warriors).
And now, they have the one over Detroit, which, yes, did not have Cunningham, but is pacing to win 60 games for a reason. It was Atlanta’s best victory since this run began, especially because of how it held on in the fourth quarter.
McCollum’s presence has alleviated some of Daniels’ playmaking duties, allowing Daniels to be a quick decision-maker and shaker now. Okongwu is sneakily one of the league’s more improved players; I considered for my All-Surprise teams, which released earlier this week. Alexander-Walker has caught fire during the streak. The next 3-pointer he misses will be his first in what seems like a month.
So the Hawks haven’t beaten teams of note, but the wins are usually convincing. The point differential is stark. The defense looks better. The first unit developed immediate chemistry. A home stretch that includes games against the Boston Celtics, two against the Cavaliers and one against the New York Knicks might tell us more about this squad.