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As the season nears its conclusion, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year race remains neck and neck. The only certainty at this point is that the winner will almost surely be a frontcourt player. This comes as the top of the race has been a battle between the league’s top interior defenders all season.
On that note, here’s this month’s DPOTY ladder.
No. 5: Jarrett Allen, Cleveland Cavaliers
Previous month’s DPOTY ranking: 5th (-)
Games played: 62 Games won: 39 Games lost: 23
Cleveland Cavaliers big man Jarrett Allen continues to form one of the best defensive tandems in the league alongside frontcourt partner Evan Mobley. The duo’s paint protection has played a huge role in the Cavs’ top-ranked team defensive rating (109.6). However, it is still Allen who makes the bigger impact on a statistical basis.
Allen is fourth in the league in contested shots per game (11.4). He is also holding opposing players to just 47.4% shooting (-2.1%) and 56.4% shooting from within six feet of the rim (-7.7%).
As for traditional defensive stats, Allen is averaging 9.8 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
No. 4: Nic Claxton, Brooklyn Nets
Previous month’s DPOTY ranking: 4th (-)
Games played: 66 Games won: 35 Games lost: 31
Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton has remained one of the league’s best interior defenders all season. His defense has also been a big reason why Brooklyn (39-32, sixth in the East) has remained competitive in the post-Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving era.
Claxton ranks second in the league in contested shots per game (12.0). He is doing so while holding opposing players to just 44.9% shooting (-4.4%) and 56.6% shooting from within six feet of the rim (-7.2%).
In addition, Claxton is tied for second in the league in blocks per game (2.5) while averaging 9.2 rpg and 0.8 spg.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn’s 14th-ranked team defensive rating (113.5) improves to 111.7 when Claxton is on the floor, which would rank fifth in the league.
No. 3: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Previous month’s DPOTY ranking: 2nd (↓1)
Games played: 56 Games won: 42 Games lost: 14
Arguably the best two-way player in the NBA, Milwaukee Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo remains a real threat to win both DPOTY and MVP.
Antetokounmpo is holding opponents to just 41.2% shooting (-7.4%) and 47.7% shooting from within six feet of the rim (-17.1%).
Milwaukee’s third-ranked team defensive rating of 110.1 improves to 108.4 when Antetokounmpo is on the floor, which would rank first in the league.
Antetokounmpo is also averaging 11.9 rpg, 0.7 spg and 0.8 bpg.
At this point, the biggest thing working against Antetokounmpo is that he has a teammate who has also been an elite defender this season. Meanwhile, that teammate has played 13 more games.
No. 2: Brook Lopez, Milwaukee Bucks
Previous month’s DPOTY ranking: 3rd (↑1)
Games played: 69 Games won: 50 Games lost: 19
Even at age 34, Milwaukee Bucks veteran big man Brook Lopez is having one of the best seasons of his 15-year career.
Lopez has been an elite rim protector all season, leading the NBA in contested shots per game (17.4).
Lopez is holding opponents to just 46.3% shooting (-4.2%) and 52.3% shooting from within six feet of the rim (-12.6%).
The big man continues to play a big part in Milwaukee’s third-ranked team defensive rating (110.1), which improves to 106.9 when he is on the court. That number would rank first in the league by a wide margin.
Lopez is also tied for second in the NBA in blocks per game (2.5) while averaging 6.7 rpg and 0.5 spg.
No. 1: Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies
Previous month’s DPOTY ranking: 1st (-)
Games played: 53 Games won: 33 Games lost: 20
Memphis Grizzlies star forward Jaren Jackson Jr. has played the least games of any player on this list due to his early-season injury recovery. However, Jackson still has a rock-solid DPOTY case.
Jackson has led the shorthanded Grizzlies to a second-ranked team defensive rating (109.9). That number improves to a team-best 104.7 when Jackson is on the court and drops to a team-worst 111.6 with him on the bench. That is the difference between the best team defense in the NBA by a considerable margin and the fifth-best.
Jackson is holding opponents to just 43.5% shooting (-5.7%) and 49.4% from within six feet of the rim (-14.6%). He is also seventh in the NBA in contested shots per game (10.8).
Meanwhile, he is still leading the league in blocks per game (3.1) while also averaging 6.6 rpg and 1.0 spg.
Memphis also remains in the upper echelon of the Western Conference (43-27, third in the West) despite the adversity the team has dealt with lately. This includes the eight-game suspension of star point guard Ja Morant as well as the loss of starting center Steven Adams to injury (knee). All of this bodes well for Jackson’s DPOTY chances.
Guess the Lakers players!
