Recently, Portland Trail Blazers PG Damian Lillard had a series to remember against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Lillard is receiving all the praise from fans and media alike. He seems to have elevated his game, and people have taken notice. With the praise he’s received, comes the talk as to whether Lillard is a top PG in the NBA. I think Damian Lillard is starting to become overrated by most people. When we discuss the best PGs in the NBA, four names immediately come to mind. These names include Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, and Damian Lillard.
The talk is more so around Lillard compared to Westbrook. However, that’s a comparison that’s been made since the start of the playoffs. What’s less talked about and just as interesting is the comparison between Lillard and Irving. Some people have Lillard as high as a top-two PG in the league. Me? Not even top-three.
Although I slightly covered Lillard not being a top-3 point guard, we go in-depth with Lillard versus Irving. I and Aiden Hawkins will compare the respective games of Irving and Lillard. Aiden will give the case for Lillard, while I’ll make the case for Uncle Drew.
Scoring
Damian Lillard
For the past four seasons, Lillard has ranked top-10 in scoring. This past year, Lillard averaged 25.8 PPG, which was good for ninth in all of the NBA. He did so fairly efficiently. Lillard shot 44% from the field, which was tied for the highest shooting split in his eight-year career. Similar to other guards, Lillard has the ability to score on all three levels.
He’s one of the better finishers in the NBA. Lillard converts at 56% within 0-3 feet from the basket. This is surprisingly low for a player as electric as Lillard. Despite the relatively average number among elite PGs, Lillard still has the ability to finish through or over defenders. When met with a defender at the rim, he finishes an amazing 62% of his attempts. Where Lillard really struggles is from the restricted area to the short-midrange. Lillard only shoots 7% of his shots from there and only converts around 32% of those attempts.
What really separates Lillard from other players is his jump-shot. Lillard attempts 51% of his shots from 13 feet and beyond. One deceiving aspect of his game is his pull-up midrange. Lillard rarely attempts these shots, shooting 2.3 a game, but he converts them at 52% clip. This isn’t that bad considering a large majority are contested.
This past season, Lillard shot 37% from beyond the arc. Off catch-and-shoot attempts, Lillard shot 42% from 3PT (top-10 among PGs). What separates Dame from other guards is his ability to shoot from “way downtown.” During the regular season, he shot an absurd 39% from beyond 30 feet (highest in the NBA). In simpler terms, Lillard became the NBA’s best threat from deep. Yes, even better than Steph Curry. He’s also shooting a ridiculous 65% from shots 30 feet or more in this year’s playoffs.
It’s worth noting that Lillard is one of the NBA’s most pure scorers in the fourth quarter. He’s ranked top-five in clutch PPG countless times. He has the ability to hit some of the craziest shots in the clutch. There aren’t many players who can do what Dame does on a regular basis
Lillard has become one of the NBA’s best 3PT shooters. With that, he’s quickly become one of the NBA’s toughest players to guard. Though he may not be the tallest, quickest, or most athletic when it comes down to “Dame Time” you better believe that ball is going through the hoop.
Kyrie Irving
As we discuss Kyrie Irving’s scoring ability in comparison to Damian Lillard’s, there’s no doubt that Irving is one of the best scorers in the NBA. Going outside the numbers, Irving doesn’t take as many tough shots like those of Lillard. Why? Because he’s smooth, silky, and great enough with his handles to avoid those situations.
Due to injury, Irving only averaged 19.6 points in the 2015-16, so that season will be excluded. Other than that, in the past three seasons, Irving averaged 24.5 points on both the Celtics and the Cavaliers. Remember the degree of teammates each player had to share the rock with. Lillard really only had to worry about having his shine stolen by C.J. McCollum. For Irving, he had to share the rock with the best player in the world in LeBron James. In terms of the time frame we’re talking about, Irving last played with James in the 2016-17 season. And, even as a second option, Irving notched 25.2 PPG.
Over the past three seasons, Irving has shot an impressive 48%. Why do I use the past three seasons as opposed to his career? Because that’s when Irving has been at his best and not just a young player seeking guidance. And, during that time, he’s healed from what were some tough injuries. Lillard shoots 44% over the same time frame. Furthermore, Irving has shot 40.3% from 3PT range. Lillard? 36.7%. I guess all of those half-court shots really are effective, right?
Moving away from the stats, Lillard just doesn’t have a smart shot IQ. It’s nice to see Lillard shooting from so far out, but when he does do it, most of the time, they aren’t smart shots. That includes his game-winner versus OKC where he attempted and made a shot that he had no business taking.
Irving, on the other hand, has that shot IQ and always looks to find the best shot possible. Does Irving need to take pull-up half-court jumpers? No, because he can attack any defender that comes his way and finish with ease. When it does become a tough shot, he’s able to make that too. Long story short, Irving doesn’t have to do all the extra things that Lillard does. Scoring comes easy for him.
Shifting gears back to just this season, Aiden mentioned that Lillard coverts a low 56% from 0-3 feet. This season, Irving converts 61%. If Lillard is one of the NBA’s best finishers, then (outside of Giannis) Irving must be the definitive best. If that isn’t enough, he shoots 53% from 10-14 feet and 48% from 15-19.
If the numbers aren’t convincing you, just watch the film. Kyrie has the best handles in the league which allows him to make scoring look easy. Just because Lillard takes crazier shots and scores more, doesn’t mean that he’s a better scorer. Keep in mind that Kyrie plays on the Celtics who have players everywhere that can take over a game. The Blazers have two, maybe three, guys including Lillard.
To cap it off, while some may be praising Lillard for his ridiculous shot against the Thunder, Irving has been doing this his whole career. Most notably against the Golden State Warriors, he drained the game-winner in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Kyrie Irving is the most clutch player in the NBA. The Warriors, Raptors, and many other teams in the NBA have felt what Irving can do in crunch time. When you need a clutch bucket or need to close out a game, Kyrie Irving is the player to go to. He takes high-percentage shots and closes out games unlike any other.
A clear indication of this is Irving’s 32.5 minutes per game in his two years with Boston which are the lowest since his rookie year. Lillard has a whopping 36 minutes per game with the Blazers. And still, the numbers are not that far away from each other. Uncle Drew is the better scorer.
Playmaking
Damian Lillard
Even though Lillard is one of the NBA’s most lethal scorers, his playmaking is one of his most valuable assets. This past season, Lillard finished 12th in APG (6.9).
Even though Lillard’s assist numbers aren’t extremely high like other elite PGs, his passing ability ranks very highly among guards. He often garners so much attention because of his scoring ability, it allows him to look off a defender and deliver stunning passes to an open teammate. Lillard also operated amazingly out of the pick-and-roll. 28% of Lillards assists came from such plays, primarily with Jusuf Nurkic.
The only aspect of playmaking where Kyrie Irving may edge out Dame is ball-handling. Lillard does have some of the better handles in the NBA, but he very rarely does anything crazy with the ball. He often just does one or two moves and explodes past his defender for a layup, whereas Irving has the tendency to play with the ball. Still, Irving is regarded as the best ball handler in the NBA. But, when it comes to delivering perfect passes on time and on target, Dame Dolla is your guy.
Kyrie Irving
It’s obvious to everyone that neither of these guards are known for playmaking. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have skill in that aspect though. Kyrie Irving, in the early years of his career, was relied upon heavily to put the ball in the hoop. But, even with that, he still notched 5.8 APG for the Cavaliers until the return of LeBron James.
Knowing James is a pass-first player, Irving would see his assists stats decrease to 5.2. Then came another decrease to 5.1 in his first season with the Celtics. This past season, we finally saw a healthy Kyrie in a system that feeds off moving the ball. Irving would average 6.9 assists per game, a career-high.
Irving isn’t a playmaker. But, you can’t fault him for his assists numbers being low considering the situations he’s been in. Lillard virtually beats out Irving when you look at the numbers, but once again, the eye-test comes into great use.
Irving has the elite handles to create shots for not only himself but teammates. It’s as simple as the defense being worried about the best ball-handler in the league so much that other teammates can feed off Irving. Although the numbers don’t reflect the playmaker that Irving is, there’s no doubt that watching him allows you to see that he’s a productive player who’s not just about scoring.
Defense
Damian Lillard
Where Lillard really sets himself apart from Kyrie Irving is on the defensive end. When many think of Damian Lillard, one of the last things that come to mind is his defense. In reality, Lillard has become one of the more underrated defenders in the NBA. He’s never averaged more than 1.2 SPG, but he has decent hands and can poke a ball lose when he decides to pressure a ball-handler.
When playing man defense, Lillard is exceptional. He very rarely gets blown off the ball. Lillard also applies 100% every possession on defense, something Irving rarely does. It’s important to note that when Damian Lillard went head to head with All-NBA PG Russell Westbrook, Lillard completely locked him down. Westbrook shot a terrible 27% when being guarded by Lillard.
Kyrie Irving
Irving is also not known to be a defender. But, in comparison to Lillard, the upper hand can be given to him. Irving isn’t special defensively but holds his own on that end of the ball. Lillard has never averaged more than 1.2 steals. Irving has on four different occasions.
When going up against other All-NBA caliber PGs, there’s not much to say due to the fact the Celtics have other players that can handle the load. This gives Irving a break and allows him to perform the way we does on the offensive end.
Now, this was obviously a lot of numbers, strong opinions, and overall a closer matchup than you may have expected. While Aiden believes that Damian Lillard is a better player than Kyrie Irving, I just can’t see it.
Who do you think is the better player? Let us know!
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