Playoff Success Eluding Giddey thus far
Josh Giddey has for the most part been as advertised thus far in his NBA career. He is a big guard with crafty scoring skills and phenomenal vision. He is also a liability defensively and hasn’t been able to get his three-point shot consistent enough to be a real threat.
This combination of skills had led him to a very promising opening two years of NBA basketball. This season was a bit of a setback, however. While OKC ascended to the top of the Western Conference, Giddey saw his stats at career lows across the board.
Still, his 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists are not terrible numbers.
However, in his first taste of playoff basketball over the past few weeks, he has struggled even more. In the playoffs the game is different. Team’s will often completely sag off you if you’re not a competent shooter while relentlessly hunting you on the defensive end.
As expected, this is detrimental to your team. As such, Giddey has struggled in the playoffs. Aside from a 21, 8, and 6 stat line in a game three blowout of the Pelicans, Giddey has been subpar.
He managed just two points in game one of the first and second round and hasn’t recorded more than three assists in a game aside from the one just mentioned.
He still saw minute count’s similar to that of his regular season stats in the opening round against a clearly outmatched Pelicans squad. However, this has not been the case in round two.
Game one saw Giddey register just 16 minutes, scoring two points, grabbing five boards, and two assists. In a 22 point OKC win he was -7 in those minutes, the worst mark on the team.
Giddey Forced to watch Game Two from the Bench
Giddey was in desperate need of a bounce back performance in game two to ensure he stays an important piece of the rotation. Unfortunately, it was evident from the very start that this wouldn’t be the case.
His lack of shooting creates a glaring spacing problem for OKC offensively, clogging up driving lanes for Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Defensively, Luka and Kyrie find him and attack him.
As such, he was quickly substituted out, and didn’t really see quality minutes all game. Giddey played just 10 minutes, and while he scored eight points, he was noticeably a weak link on the floor.
This is highlighted by his -20 +/- in those 10 minutes of game action. This mark was eleven worse than OKC’s next lowest player and may be the final straw for Josh Giddey in this series.
Josh Green Gives Mavericks Solid Minutes
On the other side of the series, fellow Australian Josh Green played a solid game for the Mavericks in game two to help even the series at one apiece.
Green made the most of his 16 minutes on the court, scoring eleven points on 4/6 shooting and 3/5 from beyond the arc.
His athleticism and defensive activity were very much needed in a game which Derrick Jones was battling through foul trouble and shooting struggles.
Though he doesn’t play a massive role, Green is and will continue to be an important piece for the Mavericks moving forward as when the young Australian is shooting the ball well, he is a terrific complementary player, given his defensive instincts and hustle.
