LocalTalk uses a hardware chip in the Mac that manages the network connection in LocalTalk.
"The port was driven by the Zilog SCC which could serve as either a standard UART or handle the much more complicated HDLC protocol which was a packet oriented protocol which incorporated addressing, bit-stuffing, and packet checksumming in hardware. Coupled together with the RS422 electrical connections, this provided a reasonably high-speed data connection." - Wikipedia
I think that Basilisk does not really emulate the Zilog SCC and just gets away with a cheap serial port emulation.