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The San Antonio Spurs can stop two young guards dominating the playoffs right now.
The reboot of the NBA season was largely dominated by a few starters. There were outstanding individual performances by Damian Lillard and Devin Booker, as well as impressive team runs by the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs. But now that we are officially in the postseason, two men are dominating games like few in the league can.
If you haven’t been watching the playoff matchup between Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell, you’ve been missing out. The two young stars go cube by cube, both have made history by having multiple 50-point games in this series and we are not done yet.
Murray and Mitchell will be dominant for a long time. They are cornerstones of their respective franchises. Murray has already signed a deal that will keep him in Denver for the foreseeable future, and Mitchell’s opportunity shouldn’t be too far away now. The San Antonio Spurs are going to have to deal with these two for at least the next decade.
Fortunately, the San Antonio Spurs have the perfect backcourt duo to slow down these two dynamic young guards.
Derrick White and Dejounte Murray are ready to stop Mitchell and Murray
One of the revelations we saw from the San Antonio Spurs in the bubble was finally seeing the duo of Dejounte Murray and Derrick White have more playing time together. This is something Spurs fans have been asking for for a while. The results were mixed but encouraging.
The San Antonio Spurs gave up 109 points per 100 possessions when Murray and White shared the floor. Certainly not where they want to be, but noticeably better than where the team was for most of the season.
The Spurs’ move to a Murray and White starting backcourt is an important contextualization for the numbers Jamal Murray and Mitchell have faced San Antonio throughout their careers. Looking back at all the games the two have played against the Spurs, they have faced a backcourt that included White and Murray alongside Bryn Forbes. That really makes a difference.
Here’s how the two have performed against the San Antonio Spurs so far:
- Jamal Murray: 12 regular season games in his career, 16 points per game with 41% from the field and 36% from behind the arc, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.8 turnovers per game
- Donovan Mitchell: 8 career regular season games, 23 points per game with 40% shooting from the field and 39% from behind the arc, 3.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.8 turnovers per game
Looking at their career numbers, you can see that the Spurs have done a good job of keeping the two young superstars in check. They have forced Mitchell to hit harder shots, his lower-than-career average shooting percentage largely due to two particularly tough games during his second season where he was forced to carry the offensive load for the Jazz.
But the point is, the Spurs have been able to keep Murray and Mitchell near or slightly below their career averages and have done so with Forbes getting good minutes. Imagine what they could do with another full offseason of work and chemistry building from Derrick White, Dejounte Murray and Lonnie Walker.
White and Murray are already two of the best defensive guards in the NBA. White finished second in the league’s shooting guards in blocks and was also one of the league’s best players in drawing charges. Meanwhile, Murray was one of the best hawks in the NBA. He finished in the top ten in total robberies and diversions. Together they are a versatile, defense-focused backcourt that should be able to give even the most prolific scorers trouble.
Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray aren’t going to stop hitting the league for years. But with Derrick White and Dejounte Murray on the team, the San Antonio Spurs are as prepared as anyone to stop them.
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