Role Players Defining the First Round
Four players who are proving their value as elite role players
The playoff crucible refines NBA players. It’s where star players are morphed into superstars… and other stars are revealed to be unreliable centerpieces of teams.
Jamal Murray has gone through the crucible process in recent years and has come out on the other side shining, a vaunted playoff performer, regular season numbers be damned. Anthony Edwards is flourishing in the heated environment. Jalen Brunson is going through his moment now — the lone star on a team loaded with depth. (His start has been uneven with poor outings in Games 1 and 2 but an excellent Game 3.)
Role players also go through this process though. Max Strus came up big again and again in the playoffs for the Miami Heat and was rewarded with a fat contract by the Cleveland Cavaliers last offseason. Let’s talk through some others who have flourished through the first few playoff games and played huge roles in their team’s success.
Jaden McDaniels… and the rest of the Timberwolves
Wing, Minnesota Timberwolves
Pretty much everything has gone right for the Timberwolves after their latest drubbing of the Suns on Friday night. The Wolves lead all playoff teams in points per game (an unexpected delight for them) and net rating after three games. They’re doing so behind forcing turnovers, brutalizing the Suns on the glass, and dynasty-Warriors-level third-quarter runs.
(A sneaky storyline of the first round for the Wolves has been their offensive rebounding. They were not that good of an offensive rebounding team throughout the regular season. But, the Suns have allowed the Wolves to collect 36% of their misses in the first three games, second only to the Knicks — they need to be better.)
The Wolves have played with such intensity on the perimeter that the Suns have had trouble even dribbling up the floor. Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal have had difficulty dealing with the physicality of Jaden McDaniels, Anthony Edwards, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and even Mike Conley. They are forced to work extremely hard to even get the ball in a place where they can do something, frequently allowing the Wolves defenders to push them off their spots. When the Suns perimeter stars manage to get by their defender, Rudy Gobert is lurking, forcing them to pull up early instead of getting to the rim.
Per NBA.com advanced tracking data, McDaniels has spent the majority of his time on defense guarding Durant and Booker — holding Booker to 22% shooting while wearing down Durant on the time he’s spent on him. In particular, McDaniels’s length has bothered Booker, as he has had trouble gaining separation from him.
Durant has only taken 12 shots in about 84 possessions when McDaniels is guarding him — McDaniels has done a terrific job limiting his attempts. (On the flip side, Durant has taken 25 shots in the 72 possessions that Towns or Gobert has been switched on to him but is only shooting 36% on those possessions. Another sneaky storyline of this series has been Towns’s ability to hang with Durant while defending him. Durant has largely been good, but if the Suns want to compete, he has to be elite.)
On top of the defense, McDaniels put up 25 points in Game 2 where Edwards, Towns, and Naz Reid were all limited offensively. When the Wolves needed McDaniels most, he stepped up, decisively attacking closeouts and the offensive glass.
Mitchell Robinson
Center, New York Knicks
In 60 minutes with Mitchell Robinson on the floor, the Knicks are a whopping +29. The 76ers have had no answer for Robinson’s intensity on the glass and rim protection.
When Robinson is on the floor, the Knicks offensive rebounding rate has shot up from 30% to 40% (in other words, the Knicks rebound 40% of their misses when Robinson is playing, a gargantuan number.) It hasn’t mattered whether Joel Embiid or Paul Reed is on the floor, Robinson has looked like prime Dennis Rodman (at least on offense — he doesn’t have anywhere close to the same defensive rebounding prowess as Rodman).
Watch Robinson move Embiid out of the way here to get the rebound — there are probably less than five players in the entire league that could do this.
Robinson’s defensive numbers also stand out. In 88 possessions with Isaiah Hartenstein guarding Embiid, he is shooting 55.9%. But, that number drops to 41.7% in almost 60 possessions with Robinson guarding him. This is a small sample, but there is likely some reality to it — Robinson is simply bigger and more physical than Hartenstein.
(Don’t mistake this for me slandering Hartenstein. He has also been excellent and deserves a large contract this offseason — Robinson has just been a little better.)
Unfortunately, Robinson injured his left ankle in Game 3 and missed the second half of the game. His status moving forward will be a huge factor in the Knicks attempt to move to the second round.
Kyle Lowry
Guard, Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers defensive strategy to limit Jalen Brunson has been simple: put length on him and use help defenders to keep him out of the paint as much as possible. It worked for two games but not the third.
Kelly Oubre Jr. and Nic Batum have received the most opportunities to stick with Brunson and have done a decent job. They aren’t quick enough to get around every screen but they have done well at contesting shots and trying to limit Brunson’s attempts.
It’s an interesting tactic because Oubre and Batum are not the strongest perimeter defenders for the Sixers — that title likely falls to Lowry who has spent the majority of his time guarding Josh Hart, the worst shooter on the Knicks roster (though apparently not in this series as he ranks 3rd(!!) in made three-pointers for all players in the first round.)
The Sixers have been willing to let Hart bomb from three, instead preferring Lowry to play free safety as a help defender.
In the clip above, Lowry is on the right elbow but completely leaves Hart on the right wing to try to contest Brunson’s jumper.
Lowry has been superb as the free safety. He has four steals and three blocks in three games with the Knicks offensive rating falling 15(!!) points per 100 possessions when Lowry is on the floor. (To be fair, he’s also played almost every minute next to Embiid which boosts his numbers quite a bit.)
The strategy has burned the Sixers to a degree with Hart burying three after three and going unchecked to the offensive glass with nobody around to box him out. Lowry has strayed less and less from Hart to counter this as the series has progressed — a big reason for Brunson’s resurgence in Game 3. This feels like one piece of strategy still in flux for the Sixers and will be a key factor moving forward.
Offensively, Lowry has also been effective, drilling over two threes per game at a 46% clip. He is proving the age-old adage that veteran experience matters in the playoffs.
Lu Dort
Wing, Oklahoma City Thunder
Dort plays today so I’ll keep this short…
In the first two games of the series, Dort has guarded Brandon Ingram on almost every possession he’s been on the floor, holding him to 5/14 shooting — good for 35.7%, an outstanding number.
Dort has been in Ingram’s grill on every possession, occasionally looking more like a defensive back jamming a receiver at the line than a basketball player. He refuses to be screened, taking up large swaths of possessions as the Pelicans try to get Ingram the ball.
His three-point range from the regular season has carried over to the playoffs, as he’s shot 6/10 through the first two games — a big factor in ensuring he can stay on the floor for the Thunder moving forward.
Look for the Pelicans to try to find more ways to get Ingram open in the rest of the series — they need him and Dort is too good of a defender for him to score consistently on.