The Whiteboard: LeBron vs. Dillon Brooks, pressure on Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga

We’re running through today’s NBA news, looking at the stats for LeBron vs. Dillon Brooks, the pressure on Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga and more.

The Warriors are going to need to turn more than a few variables in their favor in Game 3 against the Kings, with Draymond Green serving a one-game suspension for stomping on the chest of Domantas Sabonis. Green’s absence could add Jordan Poole, Jonathan Kuminga or Gary Payton II to the starting lineup but in any case, there will be a lot of pressure on Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins to make a defensive impact.

The Warriors need someone to slow down De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk

Through the first two games of the series, De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk are averaging a combined 56.5 points and 9.5 assists per game on an effective field goal percentage of 54.5. Whether through dribble-hand-offs, pick-and-rolls, fastbreaks or isos, the Warriors have not been able to keep either player out of the line — they’ve combined for 34.0 drives per game so far in the series, more than the entire Warriors’ roster put together.

The Warriors have several historically strong perimeter defenders to throw at them but the one who has had the most success thus far is Wiggins. He has the quickness to stay with both shifty guards and the length to bother them when they’re getting into the lane.

Across two games, Wiggins has been the primary defender on Monk of Fox for a total of 57.1 possessions. He’s surrendered just 16 combined points to the two and, as a team, the Kings have averaged just 77.1 points per 100 possessions. These matchup stats are fairly noisy but he’s had more success than Payton II and the Warriors have played the Kings even when they’ve been on the floor together, surrendering 112.9 points per 100 possessions, a mark that would have ranked 24th in the NBA stretched across the entire season.

Wiggins has only spent about a third of his defensive possessions matched up with either Fox or Monk. Moving him to those assignments more consistently could help alleviate some of the Warriors’ problems but it will open others as well. If Wiggins is sliding down to handle guards, that means Klay Thompson, Steph Curry and Jonathan Kuminga will have to slide up and deal with Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter.

Huerter has been fairly cold so far in this series but he’s incredibly active running off screens and losing focus on him offers the opportunity for a breakout at any moment. In addition, Kuminga may find that he’s filling Draymond’s role a lot, needing to deal with Sabonins when Looney is on the bench or crash down off shooters like Murray and Barnes to help with rebounding and rim protection.

Essentially, the Warriors have some answers for their biggest defensive problems so far. But making those adjustments is going to put a lot of pressure on their other defenders, particularly the 20-year-old Kuminga, who has played just 14 minutes so far in this series, to keep leaks from springing somewhere else.

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By the numbers: LeBron vs. Dillon Brooks

Dillon Brooks seems to embrace his role as a defensive antagonist and his comments about “old” LeBron James are making the rounds after the Grizzlies’ Game 2 win. Brooks also said, “I don’t respect someone until he gives me 40.”

While that’s technically true of LeBron, it’s not like Brooks has historically been winning this matchup.

According to the NBA’s matchup statistics, Brooks has been the primary defender on LeBron for 301.6 possessions in his career across the regular season and playoffs. And in that sample, LeBron has averaged 32.8 points and 9.9 assists per 100 possessions on a 62.1 effective field goal percentage.

Those stats are noisy and need to be taken with several grains of salt. But if LeBron hasn’t given Brooks 40 yet, it might just be because he hasn’t had to — he now has a 10-3 career record against Brooks in the regular season and playoffs, with an average margin of victory of 11.1 points in those wins.

NBA news and content from around the FanSided network

• Nick Nurse to the Raptors was a hot coaching rumor but all that buzz seems to be suddenly dying down. Does that mean a new frontrunner has emerged?
• The Nets are desperate for any meaningful offensive creation. So why is Cam Thomas still glued to the bench?
• D’Angelo Russell has been an enormous net negative for the Lakers. It might be time to start cutting his minutes.

Today’s NBA Trivia:

Which player has fouled out of the most postseason games in the 3-point era?

The answer for yesterday’s trivia question: Referring back to the chart from yesterday — Dirk Nowitzki was the mid-range outlier, ranking in the 99th percentile for accuracy and attempting roughly 1600 more mid-range jumpers than any other player going back to 2001.