Utah Jazz vs. Indiana Pacers: Keys to the Game

Key Match-up – Gordon Hayward and Paul George

Although the aforementioned match-up between Rudy Gobert and Myles Turner will more than likely be an underrated and exciting individual battle, there’s really no way to pin anything other than the contest between Gordon Hayward and Paul George as the key match-up.

Both players have been long compared to one another in several ways as they were selected back-to-back in the 2010 NBA Draft with Hayward going ninth overall to the Utah Jazz and George going tenth overall to the Indiana Pacers. Both play the same position, come from relatively small schools and have risen as stars of their respective small market teams.

And while Paul George has often been viewed as the more elite of the two players, largely due to his fantastic playoff runs with the Pacers, Gordon Hayward is putting up a strong case of being the better player this season.

Their 2016-17 stat lines are nearly identical as Paul George is putting up 22.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists while Hayward is at 22.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists. It’s truly unbelievable just how closely aligned the two oft-compared players’ numbers are.

However, Hayward is putting up those points on nearly two less field goal attempts per game and at a notably more efficient clip. While George is shooting 44.8 percent from the field (his best mark since his rookie season) and 38.6 percent from deep, Hayward is converting on 46.1 percent of his field goal attempts (also his best since his rookie season) and 39.2 percent of his attempts from behind the arc.

Hayward also has a higher player rating on the season as he comes in at 16.6 compared to George’s 12.4 and boasts a better plus-minus of 4.4 compared to PG’s 2.0. These numbers can be a little misleading as they’re certainly affected by the caliber of teammates around a player and the Jazz benefit from better depth and cohesion than the Pacers this year.

Nevertheless, it’s pretty incredible to see Hayward matching up and even in some ways exceeding an opponent who has distinguished himself as a superstar. Although Paul George was able to move up the ladder faster out of the gates than Hayward was, the Jazz star is quickly showing that he is equally deserving of recognition in this league.

And with both players being so closely matched up and as leaders of their respective squads, their performances will very likely be the key factor in determining which team comes away with the win.