Grizzlies stud Jaren Jackson Jr. leads Al Horford and Draymond Green despite early playoff exit
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2022 Playoff Blocks leaders Jaren Jackson Jr, Al Horford, and Draymond Green
Boston Celtics marquee defender- Al Horford and Golden State Warriors talisman- Draymond Green are battling out in the 2022 NBA finals but still they are way behind Memphis Grizzlies young stud Jaren Jackson Jr in total blocks this postseason.
Boston Celtics and Golden state Warriors are contesting in the 2023 NBA finals defeating 3 different opponents on the way in their respective conferences. Celtics had tough challenge of Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Miami Heat. They swept aside Brooklyn in 4 games but had to fight it out till last seconds of 7th game against Bucks and Heat. Similarly for Golden State Warrior, it was Denver Nuggets in the first round, followed by Jaren Jackson Jr’s Memphis Grizzlies, and Dallas Mavericks opposition on the way to the finals. Thought Warriors were stretched to the max 6 games – against Grizzlies, it was no easy series for either team.
Now it would be obvious that after playing more games, either Celtics player or Warriors player will be a leader in all the categories (except for averages). But Memphis star Jaren Jackson Jr still leads the postseason “Block stats”. Jaren has 30 blocks in total of 12 games, while Al Horford stands second on 27 blocks in 18 games played. For Warriors, Green leads the chart with 18 blocks in 17 games.
Jaren Jackson Jr super-seeds Draymond Green and Al Horford
Celtics big man, Horford play as conventional center role, but can shoot long range shots too. When compare to his contribution in the team, it’s more of rim protector than a shooter, while other players switch on defenses. Also he has very strong defensive partner Robert Williams III – who actually has better block per game record than Horford (25 blocks in 12 games). This could be the limitation that Jaren Jackson Jr is ahead of Horford.
At 2018 NBA Champions Golden state Warriors, Draymond Green and Kevon Loony share the paint area, where Looney is their conventional center, and Green plays centers role when team play with small unit. Though Green is a very good defender for the Warriors, he never has been a “Block-master” for them He averages 1 block per game throughout his career. So Green is up to his career average.
Golden State Warriors has Kevon Looney as the only considerable size around the rim, but he has not improved much on the block – though he made his impact on the games through rebounds and assists. Looney is 6th on the list with average of 0.5 blocks per game. It is Andrew Wiggins who is supporting Green protecting the ring.
As far as the 2022 Playoff Semifinalist Memphis Grizzlies goes, Jaren Jackson Jr. has shown huge improvement in the blocks category, and was sensational in all the game played. Team’s defensive strategy allowed him to anchor around the rim, and with great defensive display, Jaren has led the league in blocks.
In recent match-up between Warriors and Celtics, both teams showed equal defensive contributions in the paint, grabbing 39 rebounds each and also had equal numbers of blocks (6). Still, Celtics took advantage of no specialized big man around the Warriors rim, scoring 34 points in the paint. That is massive 8 point difference between two team.
Shall Steve Kerr consider using Looney more in the game or use Celtics’ strategy to stop them in the paint? We will have to wait for Sunday night to know more about it.
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Kunal Chawda
(600 Articles Published)