Aaron Gordon emerges as a defensive stalwart

Aaron Gordon got the call to defend Dirk Nowitzki on the final shot and stood his ground to complete a strong game. His defense has continued to stand out.

The final play of regulation in Friday’s overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks went exactly how the coaching staff and every player knew it would. The ball would find its way to Dirk Nowitzki and it would be up to individual defensive plays to force a difficult shot that might not even matter.

Aaron Gordon had the draw on Nowitzki for this final possession, just as he did on Kawhi Leonard in the last game before the All-Star Break. The task was tall on both occasions and on both occasions Gordon, the 20-year-old, second-year player who set the NBA world on fire with his spectacular dunks, held his ground.

Leonard made his shot last week to sink the Magic. Friday night though, Gordon’s defensive effort would be rewarded.

Gordon did a good job getting through Wesley Matthews‘ screen along the baseline, getting a good assist from Victor Oladipo to hedge the screen and force Nowitzki out wider. Gordon recovered well too, knocking Nowitzki a bit off his spot and closer to the 3-point line. Gordon was in perfect position when Nowitzki caught the ball. All he had to do was hold his ground and contest the jumper.

Nowitzki’s shot fell off the back side of the rim and the Magic prevailed in overtime.

“Really, it’s fighting for position before he gets the ball,” Aaron Gordon said after Friday’s game. “Zaza [Pachulia] set a crazy screen there at the end. You have to get around that and get to him. If he makes the shot, he makes the shot. All you can do is contest the best that you can. Kind of obstruct his vision by contesting the ball.”

That is all Gordon can do in these situations against great players like Leonard or Nowitzki. But Gordon is also doing a bit more in these moments.

Dirk Nowitzki struggled Friday with coach Scott Skiles lauding the tag-team efforts of Ersan Ilyasova and Gordon in holding him to 11 points on 4-for-16 shooting.

Nowitzki scored three points on 1-for-9 shooting with Gordon guarding him. Gordon was solid staying on his feet and not biting on Nowtizki’s pump fakes. In defensive rotations, he conceded a few open shots covering for others, but closed out quickly.

Gordon stayed disciplined kept his feet, rarely jumping to contest and exposing himself to fouls (Gordon’s only foul against Nowitzki came as he fought through a screen), and disrupted Nowitzki by fighting him for position and holding his ground. Those are all impressive feats for a 20 year old.

“Aaron was I thought exceptional tonight on the defensive end,” Skiles said after the game. “Dirk is so clever and Aaron is still a young player. Dirk has made a career not only by being a great player but by tricking people with pump fakes and stepping into them and stepping back. Aaron had really good discipline and holding his own.”

While Gordon’s dunking ability certainly has gotten everyone around the league talking, his defensive ability is what is earning him playing time at this stage of his career.

The Magic have a 101.9 defensive rating with Gordon on the floor this season. A solid, but not great number. It is among the best of Magic rotation players and the best among the Magic’s current starters.

Since entering the starting lineup Jan. 22, the Magic have a 105.1 defensive rating with Gordon on the floor, the third highest on the team and the best among the team’s starters. These are team statistics and so do not quite accurately reflect Gordon’s individual defensive efforts.

This season opponents are shooting 40.7 percent with Gordon guarding them, according to NBA.com/stats, 4.4 percentage point difference from the season average.

“That’s just what Aaron does,” Nikola Vucevic said. “He brings a lot of energy for us. He does a lot of those things that do not show up on the stat sheet. He was really good for us defensively last night.”

The team was far from perfect defensively despite posting their third sub-100 defensive rating (according to Basketball-Reference) since January 1.

Every little extra effort has proven itself to be incredibly important for this Magic team. So when Gordon finishes the game by grabbing big rebounds — he picked up a big one in overtime by outleaping the earth-bound Nowitzki and kicking it back out to reset the possession and kill more clock in an incredibly mature decision — or getting a big steal to ignite a fast break that sealed the victory, it matters.

Gordon has brought boundless energy, particularly on defense and that has helped Orlando a lot. At this point, anything he provides offensively is still something of a bonus as he gets comfortable attacking NBA defenses in the same way he dismantled defenses in Summer League.

For now, that is all he needs to do to help his team. His activity and energy on defense and on the glass are more than enough to show his promise and help his team succeed.

“When you are athletic like he is, it really just comes down to understanding the scheme is one thing, but the other thing is the players in the league,” Skiles said. “It’s one thing to sit with Aaron and show him clips of Nowitzki, it’s a totally different thing to be out on the floor with him.”

The next step for Gordon is being better defending on the perimeter against small forwards, not that he is bad at that, Skiles said. Skiles noted how well Gordon has played versatile power forwards like Nowitzki and Paul Millsap. In those two games between the Magic and the Hawks, Millsap scored a total of 36 points on 13-for-32 shooting and a 46.9 percent effective field goal percentage.

Getting around screens against smaller players and fighting through stagger screens to the perimeter are still a bit of an issue for Gordon considering his size and upper body strength. He has to “get small” as Skiles describes it to fight through those screens.

The other thing Gordon still has to do is learn the league, Skiles said. He is still going through the league for the first or second time and learning tendencies.

Next: Brandon Jennings, Ersan Ilyasova fit right in during first game

The way he played Nowitzki on Friday certainly was a sign of the progress he has made and that he is learning the league. Dirk Nowitzki may not have the mobility he once had, but he still has plenty of tricks in his bag and plenty to stress a defense. Staying down on his pump fakes and holding his ground to make his life hard is a big step for a 20 year old making his name as a defender in this league.