For our first 10 things of 2023, we highlight Luka's volcanic shooting, Herro-ics in Miami, LaMelo Ball aimlessness, and a new invention from Nikola Jokic, plus issue a futile finger wag at obtrusive in-game ads. Happy New Year!
1. Luka Doncic, not settling
It's hard to track every individual scoring explosion, but Doncic's six games before a semi-dud against the Boston Celtics on Thursday was more like a prolonged volcanic eruption: 44 points on 53% shooting, including 43% from deep. That doesn't even look real.
All the focus on Doncic's ball dominance has obscured (a little) that he has reached a new efficiency level.