The last time Luka Doncic scored 40 or more and faced the Miami Heat on the second night of a back-to-back, he dropped 60. Clearly, Erik Spoelstra wants to avoid it against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday. But stopping the 6x All-Star who is leading the league in scoring won’t be an easy feat.

“The one thing we can take from it has to be a whole lot more efforts and focus and discipline,” Spoelstra said after Monday’s morning shootaround at UCLA (via The Heat Realm on X). “And even if you do that, you have to have great mental and emotional stability because Doncic can still make shots if you’re there, but you can’t just let him walk into his comfort zone. You have to put yourself out there as a competitor. Make it tough; it’s gotta be five guys against the ball and then if he’s making tough shots, you’ve got to have the mental toughness to continue to be there that next possession and not let the shot-making collapse your spirit or your effort.

“There’s not going to be two defenders on him, or even three (not relying on the team’s best defender against Luka Doncic). You’re pretty much going to go through your entire roster of different looks. You have to have fresh bodies; you have to have multiple guys wanting to step up to the challenge and having that mental and emotional toughness to stay the course. Like I said, they’ve been putting up points relatively easily. They’re a great shot-making team, but you can’t let that affect your effort and focus.”

The Heat coach rightly gave credit to the Lakers and JJ Redick. Currently, they have the NBA’s second-ranked offensive rating this season. Luka Doncic remains the main threat as he leads the league with 37.7 points per game. So, Miami will find ways to contain the Slovenian tonight. Spoelstra clearly stated he is not relying on any one particular defender.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo have already fouled out in different games this season, so the approach has to be different. Even the Heat captain shared his thoughts on making life difficult for Luka Doncic.

“We’re just going to try and make him make difficult shots,” Adebayo previously said. “Guys do that in this league. So, for us, it’s making him see double, making him think a little bit, and like I said, try to make guys miss.”

Let’s not forget that Luka Doncic just created history against the Raptors on Sunday. The Lakers guard became the first player in NBA history to record at least 45 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals, and 5 three-pointers in a single game. Even Toronto’s head coach praised the performance.

“This year he came back in great shape,” he said. “He looks healthy. When he’s healthy and ready to go, he’s just unstoppable. Tonight, he was outstanding.”

Apart from 45, his previous scores were 37, 41, and 52. That 52-point performance against the Utah Jazz tied him with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the 11th most 50-point games in regular-season history. He is already putting MVP numbers.

With 37.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.8 steals on 48.2/43.2/90.2 shooting splits. Plus, his stats against Miami are also elite. The Slovenian has faced the Heat 14 times in his career and has averaged 28.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 7.1 assists while shooting 45.2% from the field and 35.9% from beyond the arc.

Luka Doncic is also second in shot attempts per game, with 23.5 attempts (players to more than 4 games), only trailing rookie Darius Acuff Jr.’s 24 attempts per game. So, Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra has already warned his players that they could see similar effort from the Lakers guard on Monday.

Yet, they have to continue on their defensive assignments in order to win their third straight game of the season.

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