Gordon Hayward vs. Luc Mbah a Moute
Gordon Hayward – 22.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.0 STL, 46.9 FG%, 39.9 3P%
Luc Mbah a Moute – 5.8 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 0.5 APG, 1.0 STL, 49.4 FG%, 37.7 3P%
This might be the easiest one of the batch to determine. No disrespect to Luc Mbah a Moute as he’s a terrific defender and not a bad three-point shooter by any means (his percentage is higher than Hood’s, albeit at a much lower volume), however when being compared to All-Star Gordon Hayward, Mbah a Moute simply can’t measure up.
Hayward is having a phenomenal season and has been Utah’s go-to guy all year long. At a career-high 22 points per game and solid efficiency both from the field and deep, Gordon has become more reliable than ever for this Jazz team.
Luc Mbah a Moute playing some good defense today. Hayward has just 8 points on 33% shooting #Clippers pic.twitter.com/blrGo6qZsC
— Justin Jett (@JustinJett_) March 25, 2017
And given that he is even or above Mbah a Moute in every major stat listed above minus field goal percentage, it’s quite clear that Hayward has the edge in this one. Not to mention, given that Mbah a Moute isn’t much of an offensive threat, Hayward should easily be able to outmatch him on that end of the floor.
To be fair, Hayward did play pretty awful in the two losses in which he played against the Clippers and some of that could be attributed to Mbah a Moute’s defense.
However, Hayward was stellar in the lone win and has been able to punish formidable defenders all season long. So as long as he is healthy come playoff time, there’s almost no questioning that he will have the edge in this match-up throughout the course of a best-of-7 series.
Advantage – Gordon Hayward, Jazz