OKC Thunder Series Matchup: The x-factors – Jerami Grant vs. Al-Farouq Aminu

Defense

Advantage: Grant

Both Aminu and Grant make their money on defense and both play the same kind of switchy, versatile defense but it’s clear that Grant is flat-out better at it than Aminu. Aside from the flashier plays he’s made this series – like steal from Damian Lillard in the last five minutes of game one and the block on CJ McCollum that happened a few minutes later – there’s a level of versatility in his game that Aminu just can’t compete with.

In a sense, they’re sort of the same player on defense. They’re both fantastic wing defenders who can moonlight on guards and get by on bigs. But what’s really separated them this year is rim-protection. Where Grant was one of the better players in the league at it, holding offenses to 6.7 percent worse around the bucket, Aminu was a slight negative down there, giving up half a percentage point more.

For as good as Aminu is, he doesn’t have the range to make a play like this one:

And in the playoffs, especially in this series, versatility is huge. Offenses will probe around for any little edge they can get and by being able to at least hang anywhere, Grant’s established himself as a real force on defense. The OKC Thunder couldn’t stop a nosebleed last night and appear to be on the brink of collapse, but as long as Grant keeps playing like he has on defense, they should have a shot.