After missing 30 games of the 2015-16 NBA regular season due to injury, Marc Gasol is back with the Memphis Grizzlies and better than ever.
Marc Gasol entered the 2016-17 NBA regular season as the most overlooked star in the Association. That was an admittedly expected result after Gasol missed 30 games during the 2015-16 campaign.
During the 2016-17 NBA regular season, Gasol is back in action and better than he’s ever been.
Gasol is currently averaging 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.6 blocks, 1.0 steal, and 1.5 3-point field goals made per game. He’s doing so on an efficient slash line of .451/.419/.822.
Gasol’s individual progress has been legitimately marvelous.
Gasol entered the 2016-17 NBA regular season with 12 career 3-point field goals made. Thus far in 2016-17, he’s made 49 3-point field goals on 41.9 percent shooting in 33 games played—good for an average of 1.5 per game.
Those aren’t strong marks for a center; that’s an outstanding mark for any player from a volume plus efficiency perspective.
As a result of Gasol’s individual prowess, he’s helped Memphis overcome what should have been a proverbial death sentence. Injuries have come in rounds, including the absence of star point guard Mike Conley for 12 games,
If that weren’t enough, Tony Allen and Zach Randolph have missed seven games each, and key offseason acquisition Chandler Parsons has missed 25.
Despite the injuries sustained by four critical players, the Grizzlies are 21-14 through 35 games.
21 of the Memphis Grizzlies’ 35 games played, as well as 14 of their 21 wins, have been decided in the final five minutes. Meaning: Memphis has led or trailed by five or fewer points in the final five minutes in 21 games.
During those 21 clutch scenarios, Memphis has outscored opponents by 31 points. The primary reason for that exceptional play is the presence of Gasol’s clutch hand.
Gasol is shooting 37.5 percent from 3-point range and 86.7 percent from the free throw line in said scenarios.
At 31 years of age, Gasol is both reinventing his game and leading an injury-ravaged Grizzlies team to improbable success. In an era where big men allegedly can’t elevate their team, Gasol has been doing it every season.
In 2016-17, the Grizzlies are thriving and Gasol is the reason why.
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With six consecutive postseason appearances and a seventh on the horizon, Gasol is back and better than ever.