NBA Playoffs: Defense Uplifting On-Court Minutes for Unseasoned Rookies

Plenty of rookies around the association garnered impactful play time over the course of the season, but only a select few have found that in the playoffs with one underlying theme.

Apr 26, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II (2) blocks a shot by LA / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

There's seemingly two ways to be able to provide meaningful minutes as a rookie in today's playoff landscape – either defend consistently or shoot consistently, or both.

For this year's batch of rookies, they've found success in both of those departments, but it's primarily been the defensive end of the floor where these rookies have shined through their first three or four games.

Firstly, highlighting the rolling Thunder who are now up 3-0 on the lagging New Orleans Pelicans, they have two of the most productive rookies in this year's class. Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace, two players who are able to generate so much disruption on the defensive end while remaining grounded and disciplined to their assignment. In Game 1, each of their presence was felt.

Five blocks for Holmgren held down the fort on the interior throughout the night before a big-time stop from Wallace on the last play of the game occurred, flustering CJ McCollum into an awful shot and claiming their first win at home. Into Game 3, four blocks from Holmgren and three steals from Wallace helped amass an orchestrated defensive effort to get them one step closer to bringing out the broom on the Pelicans.

Turning things over to who the winner of that series will face, the L.A. Clippers and Dallas Mavericks have been in a bout throughout their first four contests at 2-2. Dereck Lively II has been incredibly impactful for Dallas throughout their wins, helping combat the star power of James Harden, Paul George and a hindered Kawhi Leonard. 7.8 points and 1.3 blocks across four outings, the last one of which almost completed a historic 31-point comeback.

Moving over to the Eastern Conference, Jaime Jaquez Jr., who's supplanting an injured Jimmy Butler, has answered the call as much as he could throughout his first four playoff games in the NBA. But against a formidable Celtics team, the Heat look down the 2-1 barrel heading into Game 4. For Jaquez Jr. he's provided a lot of value on both ends of the floor, probably more so on the offensive end as the outlier in this group. 14.0 points on 40.5% shooting and nearly a steal per game has propped his team up well, but it is doubtful that Miami will be able to overcome this opponent without its star guard.

Each of these rookies' first campaigns in the association have led to this level of production in the playoffs. Watching their level of basketball grow has led to this point, and defense has been a primary catalyst of that. Defending well, disciplined and with a high motor is a winning and lucrative combination.

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