NBA Europe: Luka’s underrated stat and shots & headbutts from Bitadze / News - Basketnews.com

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Introducing the NBA-Euro weekly review mentioning Giannis Antetokounmpo is almost a tradition, and he is so good at keeping us doing that.

Goga Bitadze

Team:Indiana PacersPosition:CAge:22Height:211 cmWeight:113 kgBirth place:GeorgiaProfileNewsStatistics

In the four of his last five games, the Greek Freak scored 30 points or more and accumulated 5 or more rebounds and assists.

With the return of Jrue Holiday, the Bucks reacted to their recent 1-5 record with three wins in a row against Memphis, Chicago, and Sacramento.

He still succumbs in the MVP standings to only one player: guess who that is?

You are correct: Nikola Jokic. Serbian superstar also had a great week, averaging 36.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 10 assists in three games (figures like that cannot be scripted).

Perhaps more famously, his 49 points' season-high triple-double display against the Clippers, who stole the highlights for some days.

How couldn't this be? Jokic's 10th assist was the game-winning 3 pointer that came from Aaron Gordon in overtime. Double teamed and cool as a cucumber. Being clutch cannot be taught.

Before we go on with more detailed outlooks, some bad news came in the weekend as Lauri Markkanen injuredhis ankle, and it didn't look good. The extent of the issue is yet to be known, but the Cavaliers' curse appears to be in effect after the loss of Collin Sexton and Rick Rubio'sunfortunate setbacks.

Luka Magic is Back, Not Only with His Offense

In December,Dallas Mavericks' did not inspire hope. Even their playoff chances were questionable. Reasons? They were missing the franchise player Luka Doncic.

After Doncic returned, the Mavericks lost just two games: against the Knicks and the Suns last week, the top team in the NBA right now.

In his arguably the best game of the season, Doncic recorded his 19th double-double of the current campaign with 41 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists, only coming with 4 turnovers against the Raptors.

Luka Doncic

MIN:35.19PTS:25.56 (51.08%)REB:8.81As:8.72ST:1.22BL:0.47TO:4.59GM:32ProfileNBA2021/2022

Perhaps, best of all, he made 4 out of 10 3-pointers as a confidence booster of his shot beyond the arc, including his signature long-range clutch three.

Doncic is still below 29% from deep, which is the lowest in his entire career.

Against the OKC, Doncic's service skills rather than individual scoring was in the spotlight.

The Mavericks let the opponents come back from a 22-point deficit, but once again, Doncic made his 12th assist as a dagger, and all those dishes provided 31 points for Dallas.

When Doncic is on the floor, 46% of the made fields goals were assisted by him, the best rate in his career per Cleaning the Glass.

Doncic's quality is beyond any debate. But on the other hand, his overall efficiency was put into consideration many times throughout this season as his turnover average is career-high (4.6). Sometimes, it becomes a problem.

In his duel againstDevin BookerandChris Paul,Mikal Bridges' effective markup defense forced Doncic to 8 turnovers, and the Suns restricted him to only 4 points in the crucial 4th quarter.

Regardless, the Slovenian showed how important he is for his team once again against the Grizzlies.

Commanding the whole game and nearing a triple-double with 37 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists with 13/25 shooting from the field (52%) was already impressive.

Besides all, he added three more steals as a bonus in the 4th quarter as a preemptive measure to cut any paths for aJa Morant-led Grizzlies comeback.

That is hardly a surprise because Doncic's contributions to the Dallas defense this season are already a matter of emphasis.

Until now, he recorded 1.2 steals per game, which is only a weak indication. Per Cleaning the Glass, he has a 1.5% steal rate, as another career-best figure.

His boxscoredefensive RAPTOR is above 0 for the first time in his career, and his LEBRON defensive rating is, by far, the best rate since his first days of the NBA.

The defensive stats still do not put Doncic in the elite category, but his liabilities in the defensive part are much lighter than in previous years.

Career-best Week for Bitadze Came was Blurred with a Headbutt

Nowadays, life might be hard for Indiana Pacers fans, but this was an absolutely eventful week for Goga Bitazde, perhaps the best in his NBA career.

The Georgian center recorded 12.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.5 block averages in the last four games.

In the absence of his teammate Myles Turner, Bitadze recorded a career-best 17 points against the Clippers, where they could not stop having the 10th loss in their last 11th game at that time.

After mostly sitting on the bench for the next game against the Lakers and watching Domantas Sabonis obtain a triple-double (20 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) for a win, things got a little bit more interesting in the next game.

Playing as a starting center against the Warriors in the absence of Sabonis, he stayed 31:21 minutes on the court, only to be ejected in the 4th quarter following his headbutt reaction to the Gary Payton poster dunk over him.

Despite the emotional reaction, which would have cost the game to the Pacers (and it did not), Bitadze was very effective with 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists.

The ex-Buducnost big was not very lamentable, though as he expressed it very openly: "He was staring me down, and it was really disrespectful. That's how I felt. Maybe the headbutt was a little too much... But I'd do it again."

Bitadze also did well against the team with the best record in the NBA, the Phoenix Suns, with the first double-double of his NBA career.

The Pacers are still in tatters and the middle of trade talks for a possible restructuring move, but the 18th selection of the 2019 draft finally found a chance to show his impact in his third season.

Danilo Gallinari Recovers with Double-Digit Scoring Series

Last season's surprise finalists in the Eastern Conference, Atlanta Hawks, found themselves in the Play-in race, and Danilo Gallinari is one of the players that has been constantly mentioned in the trade possibilities.

However, both the Hawks and Gallinari had a somewhat better week this time, winning two games in a row for the first time since the end of November.

After a quick recovery of his game in the previous games against the Knicks and Heat (18 and 17 points, respectively), the Italian forward kept giving double-digit scoring support as he averaged 13.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.

Against the Bucks, not only did he give a remarkable contribution with 16 points as 8 of them came in the 4th quarter, but he also hit the clutch three to give the first lead to his team with 4:35 remaining.

He also drew the charging foul from Giannis Antetokounmpo in his one last attempt to salvage the game, which effectively sealed the win.

Against the Timberwolves, Gallinari's timely introduction into the game helped the Hawks to erase an early double-digit deficit and eventually get a comfortable win.

Behind this recuperation, there was a much more accurate shooting. He hit 6/13 of his threes (46% for last week while 41% for the season) and 52% field goal accuracy. His plus-minus was a total of +26 in all these three games.

But one department that also should not be overlooked is his foul drawing. The frequency of coming to the charity stripe provides some continuity in his offensive production.

With only 17% usage compared to Trae Young's 39%, Gallinari is second in the team in non-shooting foul drawing with 2.5% (compared to 4.3% of Young's).

In addition to that, the Hawks have an increase of 6.1% in the free-throw rate (free-throws per 100 field-goals attempts) when Gallinari is on the floor, which is a team-leading figure.

If we remind ourselves that the Hawks sit in the 4th place in that category, it is easier to observe Gallinari's contribution that the Hawks are doing relatively well compared to the others.

Yet, the big question remains: where will he end up after the trade deadline?

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