Today the Suns missed a chance to get a match point, and the Pelicans defended the home court, winning 118-103 in the second half to tie the total score to 2-2. Ingram should be credited with merit, but Valanciunas' contribution cannot be ignored. He had 9-of-15 shooting, including 1-of-1 from three-point range and 7-of-11 from the free throw line, with 26 points, 15 rebounds and four assists. His score was the second highest in the game, with rebounds and plus-minus (+19) being the highest in the game.
In this year's first round of G1, Valanciunas frantically grabbed 25 rebounds, including 13 offensive rebounds, but he shot only 7 of 21 and the Pelicans lost the front. G2 and G3, Valanciunas continued his strength in rebounding, but only scored 16 points in 14 shots in 2 games, and the Pelicans also fell behind 1-2.
After Booker's injury, Ayton played his first personal best game of the year in G3, scoring 28 points, 17 rebounds and three steals on 13-of-20. Perhaps because of this, Pelicans coach Willie Green said before the G4 start that the Pelicans want to increase Valanciunas' offensive role on the inside, give him more balls, let him play more singles and strategies under the basket. "We didn't do a good job at G3, but we could have done better," Green said.
The coach spoke, and the Pelicans players also resolutely executed. Valanciunas quickly got into shape at the start of the game and eventually played his best game so far in the first round, not only winning repeatedly on the offensive end, but also maintaining a strong rebound, 5 out of 15 offensive rebounds in the game, more than Ayton and McGee combined (4). In the four games of this round, the Pelicans have a clear rebounding advantage, especially the offensive rebounds to lead 65-34, of which Valanciunas alone contributed 21.
Today's NBA foreign interior line, although Valanciunas is not as famous as Jokic, Embiid and Alphabet Brother, he is also a distinctive interior line. He regrettably lost the championship that year, and this year when he came to the Pelicans, Valanciunas may want to give everyone a new understanding of him.
Valanciunas, 29, was born on 6 May 1992 in Udina, Lithuania. He started his career in 2008 with Perlas in the Lithuanian secondary league and was promoted to the Lithuanian Top League (LKL) the following year. In January 2009, Valanciunas signed a long contract with Lithuanian league giants Lietuvos Rytas.
During his three seasons, Valanciunas led the team to the LCL Finals three times, winning the title in 2010. During this time, he was named to LCL's All-Star Team three times and was named MVP of the All-Star Game in 2011 and 2012. In addition, he has been voted Lithuanian Player of the Year 3 times and a European Young Player of the Year twice by FIBA. In 2012, he was also named the best team member of the European Cup (UEFA Men's Basketball Sub-League).
In addition to his league debut, Valanciunas was also a member of the Lithuanian men's basketball team at this time, winning U-16 and U-18 European Championship gold medals and U-19 World Championship gold medals with the team. He later won silver medals with the team at the 2013 and 2015 European Championships.
To this end, when the 2011 NBA draft came, Valanciunas was also regarded as a hot rookie, and was finally selected by the Raptors with the 5th pick in the first round. In the rookie season, he played 62 games and started 57 games, averaging 8.9 points, 6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, and was selected as the best rookie second team. His first steps in the NBA were fairly smooth.
In July 2013, Valanciunas was elected MVP of the Las Vegas Summer League, becoming the first foreign player in history to receive the award. In 2013-14, Valanciunas made his playoff debut with the Raptors and became the second Raptors player to have a double-double (17 points and 18 rebounds) in his career playoff debut after Maddy.
Since then, Valanciunas has taken the fifth place in the Raptors, and his performance has also risen, and the Raptors have become a regular in the playoffs. But what makes Toronto fans depressed is that the East Side is under the rule of the Cavaliers at this time, and the Raptors have encountered the Cavaliers in the playoffs for three consecutive times from 2016 to 2018, all of which have lost, and the "garbage brothers" have never been able to get rid of the shadow of James.
Painfully, Raptors president Marseille Ujerri made a drastic transformation of the lineup. He first dismantled the "Garbage Brothers" in the 2018 offseason, exchanged DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard, and then packaged valanciunas in February 2019 to exchange Marc Gasol from the Grizzlies. Under the operation, the Raptors won the first championship in team history in 2019, and DeRozan and Valanciunas became stepping stones on the raptors' success.
After coming to Memphis, Valanciunas continued to improve, averaging 19.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in the second half of the 2018-19 season, thus seeking a three-year, $45 million contract extension in the summer of 2019. In the 2020-21 season, Valanciunas averaged 17.1 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, and the Grizzlies also made the playoffs for the first time since bidding farewell to Gasol Jr. and Conley.
At this point the transaction takes place again. In the 2021 offseason, the Grizzlies, Pelicans and Hornets struck a three-way deal, and Valanciunas was sent to the Pelicans, for which the Pelicans sent two protected first-round picks for 2022. The Pelicans used this to find a better interior partner for Zion, and the Grizzlies, who were rumored to have failed to negotiate a contract extension with Valanciunas, also chose to make a timely move in exchange for future assets. Shortly after the deal, Valanciunas signed a two-year, 30 million contract with the Pelicans.
With a loss in the Battle for Lowry, questions about remedial work after Lonzo Ball's departure, and Zion's long absence, the Pelicans made the season a sad start with just 1 win and 12 losses. But as we entered mid-December, the Pelicans' record gradually picked up, with the mid-season introduction of McCollum receiving rave reviews. Eventually, the Pelicans beat the Spurs and Clippers in the playoffs to break into the playoffs. And they can get to where they are today, which is absolutely unexpected by most people.
Purely from the technical characteristics, Valanciunas is not very in line with today's NBA trends, and is even called "the retrograde of the small ball era". He has excellent rebounding ability, good at secondary offense and blocking, inside offensive skills, good at back-to-back singles, strong finishing ability, defensive end can guard the basket can defend. But his range is limited (2.1 three-point shots per game this season is a career-best shooting rate of 36.1%), while the slow movement is not good at assisting, the ability to respond is also mediocre, and it belongs to the traditional crouching center.
But Valanciunas can still gain a foothold in today's NBA, both because of his indomitable strengths and because the team he plays for happens to have a demand for players of his type, especially after joining the Grizzlies, who are very experienced in the use of foreign interiors, his usage rate has increased almost every season, reaching a career-high of 23.8% this season.
Whether the Pelicans can continue to create surprises depends on what Valanciunas can bring. (Supine Braces/Hairy)