The Dallas Mavericks have been a better team with Luka Doncic on the bench this season than on the court. That seems impossible but the Mavericks net rating drops from plus-3.97 with Luka on the bench to plus-1.61 with him on the court. Some of this is due to Luka’s slow start and to the competition which he plays. But another issue has cropped up recently.
Luka plays the entire first quarter unless he is injured or in foul trouble. For the first roughly six minutes he plays with the current starting lineup of himself, Jalen Brunson, Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell.