Hugo Gonzalez Reflects on Luka Doncic Matchup as Celtics Wings Thrive

PHOENIX — Hugo González attended Real Madrid’s camps around the time a budding Slovenian star joined the club’s senior team. So when he arrived at the gym, still a child beginning his basketball journey, he ran into Luka Dončić as he left the building.

“He did his first two camps in Madrid in the city that I was living (in),” González told CLNS Media on Tuesday. “I was going to his camps and everything, and I think I was just walking into the gym and he was just going out and I just asked him for a picture. That was basically it. I was lucky that his first two camps were in my city, so I just got the opportunity to be there.”

Dončić and González, now two of Real Madrid’s best success stories, faced in the NBA for the first time on Sunday in Los Angeles. Baylor Scheierman drew the Dončić assignment initially before González took over off the bench. González held him to 2-for-4 shooting, Dončić draining two threes and scoring seven points across their two minutes and 10.5 possessions where they matched up, according to NBA tracking data. Dončić finished 9-for-22 from the field with 25 points and only three assists.

The Celtics’ 111-89 win over the Lakers saw LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Dončić shoot 22-for-53 (41.5%) against waves of Jordan Walsh, González and Scheierman minutes where they supplied significant defensive resistance and often pressed full-court. Joe Mazzulla called the plan to attack them after the game, and despite clear frustration from Dončić after LA’s loss and a long wait for him to speak after, he still showed respect to González.

“Very special. Obviously, he played on the same club as me,” Dončić said. “I wish him the best of luck. He’s an amazing guy and an amazing player, so I wish him the best.”

“We all know he’s a very high-effort player. He’s all around the court. It’s only his first year. He’ll still have time to learn, but I think he’s gonna be a very important piece on every team he plays for.”

González held the Lakers’ other two stars to 1-for-4 shooting across his 14 minutes that included sneaking to the rim wide open on an in-bounds pass and running past Dončić for a transition layup after Dončić fell on a three-point attempt and looked for a foul. Scheierman limited Dončić to 3-for-8 while Walsh held Reaves and James to a combined 0-for-4. The trio have taken turns guarding the best players on opposing teams like former teammate Josh Minott did through his ascension to the starting lineup.

It’s become one of the team’s great rites of passage for its younger, less experienced cast of players. Mazzulla credited the players understanding their roles and what the team needs for them, and while it’s given the three, who boasted little-to-no NBA experience prior to this season, minutes nearly every night, it’s also played to their strengths. Walsh thrived guarding the ball in college. González exited Real Madrid as a highly-regarded defensive prospect. Mazzulla praised Scheierman’s defense earlier this season prior to his emergence as a starter.

Walsh handed Jaylen Brown some credit earlier this season for affirming him to Mazzulla as an option to guard opposing top scorers. Brown often filled that role in the past, but seemed to understand early on he strenuous offensive load he would carry this season and found a chance to empower teammates while offloading some defensive responsibility.

“It’s the empowerment from the best players,” Mazzulla said in LA. “Yesterday in practice, Jaylen is taking Sam and Baylor and Hugo and Jordan and those guys and telling them, ‘here’s James, here’s Dončić, here’s these guys,’ and so I think it starts with the leadership … and then, any great team has great role definition and in order for us to be great, we have to have those guys impacting the game at a high level on the margins. They do a great job of that and they take pride in that. So it’s the defense, it’s the rebounding, it’s sprinting to the corners, it’s defending without fouling, it’s offensive rebounds.”

That impact continued in Phoenix with Brown resting against the Suns, two-way wing Ron Harper Jr. joining them and providing the loudest stop of the game by pinning Jamaree Bouyea’s shot off the glass during Boston’s decisive 50-11 run. Mazzulla often credited Harper’s defensive strides after giving him spot opportunities earlier in the year. The Celtics held the Suns to 81 points, their second-fewest allowed all season, and 35 on 31.7% shooting after halftime. Phoenix shot 4-for-22 in the third quarter while Scheierman and Harper logged the wing minutes.

For players like them and Sam Hauser, who didn’t enter the league with defensive pedigree as strong as Walsh and González’, the extensive scouting reports by Boston’s coaching staff have prepared them for the matchups and played to their strengths while minimizing their weaknesses. Scheierman kept a simple approach in his battle with Dončić, describing their game plan after the Lakers star had gone off for 38 points two nights prior. Brown told the trio to get into his space, make him uncomfortable, pick him up full-court and bump him whenever possible. He does that often as they prepare for matchups, Scheierman noted.

Scheierman’s starting lineup has now posted a 100 defensive rating after the win in LA. Walsh, González and he have defended the world’s greatest players all season. But on NBC at the Lakers, friends reached out in droves in disbelief that he shared the court with James. It even felt surreal to Scheierman.

“We watch personnel before every game, the player’s tendencies,” he said. “With Luka, he wants to drive right. When he’s going left, he wants to get to that step-back. You know he’s going to foul bait and try to get to the free throw line, so you try your best to make things difficult on him and make him make shots … Obviously, he’s still gonna score. He’s one of the best players in the world, but you just try to make it difficult on him.”