Before the Utah series, George unpretentiously nicknamed himself Playoff P. George was tied for third in the NBA with deflections, 4.0 per game. George guards big chunks of the court with his wingspan вЂ“ hands always spread, ready for deflections. George was second in the NBA in steals, 161, and sixth in steal percentage, 2.8, which estimates the number of opponentsвЂ™ possessions that end with a steal by a player. And George is the best kind of wing defender вЂ“ he gets a ton of steals without doing all that much gambling. HeвЂ™s a versatile defender, guarding multiple positions. But you canвЂ™t really appreciate GeorgeвЂ™s defense until you see it night after night. We had heard that George was an excellent defender. George is fundamentally sound in so many areas but seemed to have attention deficit disorder when it came to ballhandling.Дefense: A. The problem was the type of turnovers committed by George. His turnover percentage вЂ“ basically how many turnovers committed per 100 possessions used by a player - was 12.2, which was down from his Indiana average of 13.6. This season, it wasnвЂ™t so much GeorgeвЂ™s number of turnovers. Only point guards should finish that high in miscues. Two years ago with the Pacers, PG was fifth in the NBA in turnovers. Excessive turnovers always have plagued George. HeвЂ™s one of the smoothest players in the league and itвЂ™s an absolute joy to watch him on both ends of the floor.Ball security: D. HeвЂ™s an absolute perfect fit with Russ and itвЂ™s showing. ItвЂ™s clear that George has settled in with the Thunder in his second season. HeвЂ™s a true three-level scorer that can get a bucket from anywhere. From beyond the arc, PG is shooting 39% on almost nine attempts per game.

From 10вЂ“16 feet, heвЂ™s shooting a career high 46%. Despite the lack of shooting that the Thunder have (28th in the league in 3P%), heвЂ™s shooting a career high 70% from 0вЂ“3 feet. He is thriving in the scorer and secondary play-maker role. Even next to a high usage star like Russell Westbrook, PG has ramped up his play-making with an assist percentage of 20% which is the second best of his career.

Paul George has always been a great defender so the real growth that weвЂ™ve seen from him this year is on the offensive end. Along with the MVP convo, PG is in the defensive player of the year race. This just all goes to show how amazing the guy has been on the defense end. Among wings, heвЂ™s third in their perimeter defense metric. Perimeter defense is GeorgeвЂ™s calling card and it is reflected in his Bball indexвЂ™s talent grade. According to basketball reference, PG leads the league in defensive win shares as well. With his long wingspan, he is able to get his hands on balls all the time and is second in the league in total deflections. PG constantly goes against the best player on the opposing team and is holding them to 42.6% shooting from the field. The Thunder have been a terror defensively (they have the leagueвЂ™s second best defensive rating) and it all starts with George. PG is in the thick of the MVP conversation as he has led the Thunder to the third best record in the Western Conference with the WestвЂ™s best net rating. ItвЂ™s been a season of career highs for the wing from Fresno State. In the middle of his prime, PG13 is averaging over 26 points per game (career high), over eight rebounds a game (career high), and over four assists a game (career high). In 2014, when Paul George broke his leg at the Team USA basketball scrimmage, everybody was wondering if PG would ever be the same.

Paul george wingspan