Dallas Mavericks: Why Luka Doncic struggles to hit threes

Step back or no

The first retort is always Luka Doncic shoots too many step back threes. Skeptics use it as reasoning as to why his 3-point percentage is low. Normally, NBA players shoot a lower percentage on step back 3-pointers than straight jumpers. Doncic is an exception to that.

This season, Luka has connected on 84 of his 238 step back 3-point attempts according to NBA Stats. That works out to 35.2 percent. The league’s average 3-point percentage was 35.7.

Doncic shoots better on step backs. He did it as a rookie too. Luka hit 61 out of 167 last year which is 36.5 percent. That is a 405 shot sample during his NBA career with Doncic hitting 35.8 percent on his step back threes. It is worth putting stock in. Only 23 players shot more than 405 3-point attempts this season. It is could also be a reason for him to take more step backs going forward.

Simple math tells us, Luka hit 72 of his 253 3-pointers that were not step backs this season. That works out to about 28.5 percent. Why does the 21-year-old superstar struggle so much to hit those shots? There are a few reasons that help explain it.

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