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Lakers guard Luka Doncic, #77, winks and points to a player after a play in the second half against the Brooklyn Nets at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles Friday, March 27, 2026.
The Los Angeles Lakers have the eighth-shortest odds to win the NBA championship, but Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki views the Luka Doncic-led team as a legitimate threat to unseat the Oklahoma City Thunder.
On Saturday’s “NBA on Prime” telecast, the 2007 NBA MVP explained why the Lakers — who’ve won 14 of their last 16 games — will be a tough team to scheme against in the playoffs due to their Big 3 of Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves.
“The Big 3 is healthy, really, for the first time. I think they’re sort of kind of finding their roles,” said the 2011 NBA Finals MVP.
“LeBron [James] has been doing a great job, kind of stepping back, letting the younger two kind of carry the offense… And he lets Austin [Reaves] and Luka do their thing.”
“So, I’ve been impressed,” added Nowitzki.
Lakers Peaking at Right Time?
Nowitzki also praised Lakers head coach JJ Redick’s ability to take “subpar defenders” and turn the team into a decent defensive unit — the Lakers rank ninth in defensive rating (112.1) since the start of March.
“They’re mixing up the zone, matching up out of it. They’re decent on the man-to-man. Deandre [Ayton] has been better,” he said of the Lakers’ defensive schemes.
“Overall, I think that they’re doing really well,” Nowitzki said of the Lakers.
“And is that a team you really want to see in the playoffs with three guys that can decide the game and take over down the stretch? So, been impressed with them, and we’ll see how far they can take it.”
Luka Doncic: ‘Unguradable’
The Dallas Mavericks legend reserved special praise for his former teammate Luka Doncic, calling the Slovenian “unguardable” on account of his recent scoring run.
“Luka [Doncic] has been playing incredible basketball,” Nowitzki said.
“On fire for weeks now, averaging almost 40 a night.
“He’s got his stepback working, and when the stepback works, watch out all the teams, because then he’s basically unguardable.”
Further to Nowitzki’s point, Doncic’s three-point shot has been falling at a more efficient clip recently, with the Slovenian shooting 39% from three over his last 15 games, a considerable uptick from his pre-All-Star break clip of 34.5%.
Doncic will sit out Monday’s game against the Washington Wizards with a suspension after picking up his 16th technical foul last Friday. Fortunately for the Lakers, they should face little trouble maintaining their winning ways against the lottery-bound Wizards. The Slovenian is expected to return for Tuesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, after which the Lakers travel to OKC to face the reigning NBA champions.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
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