Is Paul George the second-best player in the league?
Despite the Indiana Pacers taking the 131-123 loss to the 23-0 Golden State Warriors, one could argue that Pacers star Paul George matched, if not surpassed, MVP favorite Steph Curry's production on Tuesday. It was close:
Curry's statline: 29 points (11-23 FG, 3-11 3PT), 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals, 4 turnovers, 36 minutes
George's statline: 33 points (11-27 FG, 5-13 3PT), 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers, 36 minutes
Curry was slightly more efficient from the field, and involved his teammates more, but George scored more, grabbed more rebounds and turned the ball over less.
The game summed up the current MVP race: The Warriors are clearly better than the Pacers, but George is closer to Curry than people think.
Yes, Curry is the best player in the game right now and the unquestioned MVP. If the season ended today, he'd earn his second straight MVP award -- probably unanimously.
But George would probably be the runner-up, which speaks volumes to how far he's come since his unfortunate leg injury in the summer of 2014. George has fully recovered, and is better than he was before. There's a compelling case to be made that George has surpassed LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and whoever else for "second-best in the game" honors.
Over at ESPN, ESPN Stats & Information put together a few stats to show just dominant George has been.
First, he's actually been shooting better than Curry from deep lately:
He's also the superior defensive player, which should factor into any discussion about how good a certain player is:
Read the rest of the piece here.
Better on 3-pointers than Curry lately
George’s 15-game stretch dates to Nov. 4. Since then, he’s shooting better on 3-pointers than Curry: 49.6 percent to 47.2 percent.
George has been so effective by operating out of a variety of play types:
"Ball screen: He’s tied for third in the NBA in points per game off ball screens (4.1), behind Curry (5.1) and Klay Thompson (4.7).
"Isolation: He’s fourth in the NBA in points per game operating out of isolation (4.3).
"Catch-and-shoot: He’s fourth in the NBA in effective field goal percentage on catch-and-shoot plays (70.2 percent) among players with at least 60 such shots.
Remember: He can “D up,” too
Over the past five seasons, George ranks fifth in the NBA in Defensive Win Shares. Win Shares are an estimated number of wins contributed by a player.
And there's no question the Pacers, who are already strong defensively, are much better with George on the court. The 47.0 percent the Pacers allow opponents to shoot with George off the court would be the worst in the NBA.
