From Gilgeous-Alexander on, NBA playoffs to be heavily influenced by Canadians
We've never seen so many Canucks poised to play big roles on brightest NBA stage.
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Canadians could play huge roles in the NBA playoffs, particularly in the Western Conference.
It all starts with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that won 68 games, the fifth-most in a single season ever and set a new high by being 12.6 points per 100 possessions better than opponents, eclipsing the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks, 1995-96 Chicago Bulls and 2016-17 Golden State Warriors. That’s pretty good.
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From Gilgeous-Alexander on, NBA playoffs to be heavily influenced by Canadians Back to video
Gilgeous-Alexander is the favourite to join Steve Nash as the only Canadian to win league MVP honours. He averaged a league-best 32.7 points per game (only seven players have averaged more since 1980), shooting 52% from the field, 37.5% on three-point attempts and 90% from the free throw line (he led all in free throw attempts for a second straight season after finishing second in MVP voting last year). Gilgeous-Alexander also averaged 1.7 steals and 6.4 assists a game, all in only 34.2 minutes since the Thunder rested him for the entire fourth quarter more than 10 times because they were blowing out opponents so decisively. Nikola Jokic could win MVP for a fourth time, but given OKC’s dominance and record-setting season and Gilgeous-Alexander being the driver of all of it, most expect the Hamilton native to come away with the hardware.
Montreal’s Lu Dort is another key piece for Oklahoma City, one of the most dominant defensive teams to come along in years. Dort is widely considered the best defender of the NBA-leading group and will make an all-defensive team for the first time and maybe even get some defensive player of the year votes. No star enjoys being guarded by him and Dort has been a crucial piece for Team Canada at the World Cup and Olympics too. But Dort’s become more than that, as his 41.2% three-point shooting attests (last year Dort went from a career average around 32.5% from three to 39.4%), he’s now one of the premier two-way players in the league.
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The Thunder will first take on a battered Memphis team that gutted out a play-in win over Dallas on Friday night, in part thanks in part to 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots from centre Zach Edey, who hails from Toronto. There’s no reason to think Gilgeous-Alexander won’t dominate against the Grizzlies, with Gilgeous-Alexander likely targeting his fellow Canadian Edey at times to get to the line. The Thunder should easily keep rolling after getting any jitters out last year in the franchise’s first trip to the post-season since 2019-20. That would get them through to the conference semi-finals. Which brings us to …
Kitchener’s Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets — maybe.
It’s been a rough season for the 2023 NBA champs, even though Jokic has again been at worst the second-best player in the league. The coach and general manager both just got fired in a stunning late-season move, Murray has at times battled injuries, but still managed to play in 67 games, his most since 2018-19 and averaged 21.4 points, slightly besting his previous career high. Murray struggled at the Olympics last summer as he clearly wasn’t 100%, so it was unclear what he’d be able to provide the Nuggets, fresh off a massive contract extension, but he shrugged off a slow start to turn in a huge December and then arguably his best month yet in February (24.7 points, 52% three-point shooting in 11 games). How Murray fares could determine what is unquestionably the best first round matchup, with Denver starting at home against the red-hot (and healthy) Los Angeles Clippers. It’s a shame one of these teams will go out so early as this feels more like an NHL first round series. L.A. is 18-6 since February 1 (Denver is just 12-11 since then), Kawhi Leonard looks like the Raptors version, or at least close enough, James Harden has turned back the clock, they defend extremely well and they have great coach in Ty Lue and a deep roster.
In short, Denver will be in tough. To prevail, Murray will likely have to go on one of his heaters. He’s done it before (26.5 points on 45% outside shooting in 19 playoff games in 2019-20 and 26.1 and 39.6% on the way to the title).
If it does happen, Gilgeous-Alexander and Murray would face off in Round 2 in what could be an epic battle.
On the other side of the bracket in the West, Gilgeous-Alexander’s cousin, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who has channeled Dort in going from a defender who couldn’t shoot to an excellent defender who consistently nails about 39% of his threes, is an important reserve for the Wolves. He will be tasked with trying to be part of a system aiming to slow down the great Doncic and the talented Austin Reeves of the Lakers, though he will only rarely be the primary defender on either. He will also need to take some of the offensive pressure off superstar guard Anthony Edward’s hands, along with the other Wolves.
The other matchup in the West will see Houston, a surprising No. 2 seed, facing Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors. Houston, like OKC, is a tough-minded, scrappy, defensively imposing side and Mississauga’s Dillon Brooks is one of the figureheads of that approach. He held Curry to 0-for-5 shooting this season in three games when they matched up and likely will see plenty of Butler too. That should be fascinating, with both Brooks and Butler being extremely mercurial, aggressive and unafraid to show emotions on the court (not to mention Golden State’s Draymond Green and Houston coach Ime Udoka are about as fiery as it gets).
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This one will be a war.
The Eastern Conference playoffs will not boast the same level of Canadian flavour. The Indiana-Milwaukee series (a No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup like Denver-Los Angeles Clippers) is probably most notable on that front.
Aurora’s Andrew Nembhard and Montreal’s Bennedict Mathurin are significant players for the Pacers. Nembhard started all 65 games he played, while Mathurin averaged slightly more minutes and primarily serves as the bench’s chief scorer. Nembhard can get buckets too, but his outside shooting fell off a cliff this year, so he’s more of a paint scorer or facilitator, but is leaned on pretty heavily on defence by Indiana. In fact, Nembhard spent 23:44 minutes this season matched up against star Bucks guard Damian Lillard this season, his most against any opponent. Lillard surprisingly was just ruled ready to return way ahead of schedule after dealing with blood clots. Lillard fared well against Nembhard in the regular season and that will need to change for the Pacers to have a better chance against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co.
At the other end, Mathurin isn’t afraid to let it fly (only Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton averaged more attempts for Indiana), but can be streaky. Mathurin is a big-time talent (which is why he was drafted sixth overall in 2022) and could easily emerge as an X-factor in the series.
Miami deserves credit for becoming the first 10th seed to make the NBA playoffs. Vaughan’s Andrew Wiggins played a key role in wins over Chicago and Atlanta, scoring 20 points in each as the secondary scoring threat behind Tyler Herro. Wiggins also played strong defence and grabbed 17 rebounds in the two games. The Heat will be in tough against Cleveland, a team that was in the league’s Top 3 all year.
@WolstatSun
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