One of the big keys for the Los Angeles Lakers in their upcoming second-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors will be their ability to contain the superlative backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
Fortunately, the Lakers have one of the NBA’s better and unique defensive standouts, Jarred Vanderbilt.
Buy Lakers TicketsVanderbilt was the hidden gem in February’s Russell Westbrook trade that also brought D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley. Although Vanderbilt is a 6-foot-8 forward, L.A. head coach Darvin Ham instantly used him to shadow star guards, and the results have been impressive.
In fact, one Eastern Conference scout had some very complimentary things to say about Vanderbilt’s ability to defend backcourt players.
Via Los Angeles Times:
“I think you’ve got to mix it up a bit, you have to impact the ball,” said an Eastern Conference scout. “The bigs have to be up and committed and also challenging shots. Vanderbilt can guard guards on the perimeter as good as any big in the league.”
In Vanderbilt’s three games as a Laker against Golden State this season, his team emerged victorious each time, and the Warriors had trouble hitting shots each time.
In the last meeting between the two teams on March 5, Curry shot just 8-of-20 from the field while the Warriors as a team were held under 40% shooting.
In L.A.’s first-round series versus the Memphis Grizzlies, Vanderbilt helped hold Ja Morant to under 35% field-goal shooting in two of the five games he appeared in, including a 3-of-16 clunker in the Game 6 clincher.
