10 Reasons Luka Doncic was wrongfully robbed of the 2024 NBA MVP

6. Absurd efficiency from 3-point land

Perhaps the most surprising development this season for Mavericks fans has been the fact that Luka Doncic has improved his 3-point percentage. Doncic has never been a player that is consistently getting wide-open looks off the catch, so when one takes into consideration the degree of difficulty of most of his 3-point attempts, it’s a lot more understandable as to why Doncic has only shot above 35 percent from distance once in his career until this season.

Doncic also takes a much higher volume of 3-pointers compared to most star players, but perhaps most impressive is the fact that Doncic increased the amount of 3-pointers he’s taking this season whilst still upping his percentage. On an average of 10.6 attempted 3-pointers a game this season, most of which are contested step-backs, Doncic shot an astounding 38.2 percent from distance this season.

Doncic’s increased conditioning this season certainly boded well toward his 3-point shotmaking in late-game situations as well, as he shot 40.9 percent from downtown in what NBA.com deems as clutch scenarios. As we all know, Doncic’s 3-point shooting percentage has fallen off dramatically ever since the playoffs started, as the lift on Doncic’s shot seems to have regressed from when he was healthier during the regular season.

Luckily for Doncic, the playoffs don’t count toward regular season statistics despite how badly the Mavericks need Doncic to start shooting at a better clip if they want to win their series versus the Thunder.

Hopefully Doncic’s 3-point shooting improvement is replicable in these playoffs and beyond this season, but even if it isn’t, Doncic still had one of the greatest 3-point shooting seasons in league history when you take into consideration the volume of shots he’d taken as well as the immense difficulty of most of them.