Luka Doncic lauds himself after stopping Kevin Durant tonight. The Dallas Mavericks orchestrated a strong comeback in the second half after falling short in the first against the Phoenix Suns. Doncic led the Mavs’ offense, dropping 41 points with 11 assists. On the other hand, he has improved as a better defender, and took pride in guarding KD.

Following the game, LukaMagic said, “Not just in the fourth, but even throughout the game, I take a big pride in that, and I think I was good today,” while addressing a reporter’s question on stopping KD in the last quarter.

In fact, there isn’t anything wrong with taking pride in guarding Kevin Durant. The Suns team has often established that KD always willfully comes forward to guard the best defender from the opponents. At the same time, he is a lethal shooter in the fourth quarter. Not to forget the Slim Reaper magnificent effort to beat the 22-point deficit in the last quarter against the Sacramento Kings.

Notably, in tonight’s challenge, KD & Co were only trailing behind 10-odd points and they could have easily turned into a close contest. But, the Mavs defense held the Suns’ fighting effort for a comeback. The most which the Suns could come close at the Mavs’ lead was with 5 points, that too in the opening minute of the last quarter.

After that, the Mavs put up strong 10 point lead throughout the fourth quarter, leaving no crumbs for the visitors. At the end of the final buzzer, Luka Doncic had three steals under his name, truly stamping his authority in the MVP contest.

Read More – Luka Doncic Makes His Case for All-Defensive Team After Demolishing Kevin Durant and Co With 50-Points

Moreover, speaking of his defensive ability, Luka Doncic dropped a promising statement for the Mavs family.

Luka Doncic opens up on his defense ability

In the post game press conference, one of the reporter asked Doncic after the factor which helped him improve his defense. Notably, the star has recorded an average of 2 steals in the last 5 games. In response to the question, Doncic spoke like a true leader.

He said, “It’s not for me, it’s for my team. My team needs it… When they see me doing that, it gives even more energy to everybody else for the team.”

It has been a massive turn around for Doncic at the defensive end. He had been earlier criticized for his defense abilities by his own coach, Jason Kidd, last season. Kidd said, “He’s got to play defense… There’s no secret — they’re going to put him in every pick-and-roll,” after a disappointing loss in the regular season.

Will Luka continue to dominate on the defense end and expand their winning streak? Let us know in the comments below.