Think if it wasn’t one of the defenders may get a hand on it depending on how quick they react but hard to say for sure.

Playing it as a bounce pass, with the ball moving up when received allows some of the inertial energy that is bouncing up rather than just laterally to be used by the receiving player to take it up for the layup or dunk rather than have to corral that portion of the lateral energy in and still finish. Basically it’s the best way to move the ball as quickly to get it to that spot before defender notices and potentially intercepts it. Being a bounce pass also lowers the chance of control being lost as the lateral force is too great to handle quickly while also recipient is at speed.

Complex reasons why it was the perfect pass; doncic didn’t think about it, at this level it’s just intuitive that a chest pass is less ideal for a recipient on this cut. You see le ron make chest passes like this while misdirecting his eyes but those are often when the recipient is already on the block or more open.

How players pass in sports is often one of the best indicators of their skill: it can show not only awareness of the passer but when it’s perfect for the recipient it shows complete empathy and understanding of the recipient’s situation and takes it into account. E.g. in soccer, when an offensive player checks back/shows for the ball they often have their back to a defender coming at them; the passer however can often see the coming defender, and if there is a high level of trust and competency between passer and recipient, the passer will tell the recipient which way to turn their body when they receive the pass to avoid the defender’s tackle–simply by which foot/side of the body of the recipient the passer puts the ball on. There is not time for much verbal exchange and is all on trustz timing and feel, the advantage gained can be enormous for the attacking team and can lead to easily spinning around a defender for the pass recipient when executed–or a trip to the hospital if you’re an amateur. Passing matters.