Wednesday was a high-scoring day for the NBA, but Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks were not able to join the party because the Cleveland Cavaliers did not let them. The Cavs beat the Mavericks on the road, 105-90, thanks to Cleveland’s defense, which held Dallas down to only 39.2 percent shooting from the field.
Doncic still managed to fire 30 points, but he was inefficient from the field, making only nine of 23 attempts, including just two 3-pointers on eight shots from behind the arc. Doncic also turned the ball over five times, and when he gets crippled like that on offense, the rest of the Mavs’ attack, more often than not, crumbles altogether, which was what happened in the Cavs game in large part because Lamar Stevens made it so hard for the Slovenian to get into a rhythm.
Stevens played a huge role in the Cavs win against Dallas. Apart from scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, he played outstanding defense on Doncic, which did not go unnoticed by head coach JB Bickerstaff.
Cavs power forward Evan Mobley also credited Stevens for the latter’s defensive work on Doncic, which was not easy to do, to say the least, considering that the Mavericks star is second in the NBA in scoring.
For what it’s worth, opposing teams are shooting 2.7 percent worse when Stevens is on the floor, but 3.9 percent better from behind the arc. It appears that he does most of his defensive damage inside the 3-point line, as teams are shooting worse by 6.2 percent on their 2-pointers, 3.6 percent worse on their attempts from fewer than six feet from the basket, and 9.3 percent worse on attempts from 10 feet or nearer, when he’s on the court.