Heading into Tuesday night’s point guard showdown between Isaiah Thomas and John Wall, can we definitively state which All-Star is more valuable?
When December concluded and Washington Wizards point guard John Wall received Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors over of Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas, fans around New England were outraged. Thomas posted the most outrageous stat line of his career throughout the holiday month. He piled up 30.3 points per outing on an impressive 48.3 percent field goal percentage and 38.7 percent three-point percentage on a measurable 7.8 three-point attempts per game while shooting a mind-boggling 92.9 percent from the free throw stripe.
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In games in which Thomas performed, the Celtics garnered a 9-3 record, capping off the successful month with an overtime victory over the Heat in which Thomas exploded for a career-high 52 points on 9-of-13 shooting from beyond the three-point line. However, Wall put up a strong campaign for the award as well, leading the Wizards from the doldrums of the Eastern Conference standings by compiling a 10-5 record over the course of month. In the process, Wall averaged a double-double of 24.5 points and 10.7 assists while shooting a higher percentage from the field (49.1 percent) in comparison with Thomas. Wall also recorded 2.7 steals per game in addition to 4.4 rebounds per night.
When the Celtics hosted the Wizards on January 11, Thomas made sure to let his distaste for the decision to hand the award to Wall show. He torched all comers for 38 points while knocking down 14 field goals in the process to clinching a 117-108 victory for Boston while former professional boxer Floyd Mayweather sat courtside. Meanwhile, Wall suffered through his lowest scoring total of the season, picking up just nine points on a horrific 4-of-21 performance from the field with the likes of Boston point guard Marcus Smart hounding him. However, he did manage to dish out 11 dimes while picking up seven rebounds and three assists.
Wall’s ability to make a considerable impact on the defensive side of the ball is what sets him apart from Thomas in the eyes of many. Per 36 minutes, Wall averages 2.2 steals in comparison with Thomas’ measly figure of 0.8. Wall’s steal percentage of 3.1 percent cloaks Thomas’ steal rate of 1.1 percent, while Wall has posted 1.7 defensive win shares compared with Thomas’ 0.5. In terms of defensive box plus-minus, Wall has managed to post a positive number of 0.5 while Thomas’ figure of -4.0 ranks places him in the bottom of the league in that category. When assessing the defensive ratings of the pair, Wall has managed to garner a rating of 107 while Thomas’ rating of 114 falters when combined side-by-side.
On the offensive end, however, Thomas takes the cake. Many could pose the argument that Wall is a substantially more dependable creator due to his superior average of 10.2 assists per 36 minutes of his eye-popping assist percentage of 46.5 percent. However, Thomas is relied upon to shoulder more of the scoring burden in comparison with Wall, taking 20.8 field goal attempts per 36 minutes while Wall averages 18.1. Despite the fact that his assist rate of 6.3 per 36 minutes fails to equal Wall’s figure, Thomas has displayed his ability to drop dimes with the best in the business with his 15-assist performance in a victory over the Jazz on January third. Thomas is one of the league’s premier assist-makers when passing out of a pick-and-roll, and his assist percentage of 32.5 percent is none too shabby.
Scoring-wise, Thomas has proven himself to be more reliable than Wall with a true shooting percentage of 61.7 percent matched up with Wall’s mark of 55 percent. This is a significant measurement considering that 40.3 percent of Thomas’ field goal attempts come from outside the three-point arc compared with just 19 percent of Wall’s attempts. Speaking of three-point range, Thomas shoots the rock at a 38.4 percent rate from deep, making him a dynamic threat to pop a trey when defenders decide to go under a screen that is set for him. Wall, on the other hand, provides defenders the option to play the penetration when guarding him on a screen-and-roll, shooting just 31.7 percent from three-point land.
Thomas’ ability to hurt a defense with the three-pointer, as his average of 3.2 threes per 36 minutes far outweighs Wall’s mark of 1.1, makes him a substantially more potent scoring threat, as he posts 30.5 points per 36 minutes to Wall’s 22.8. Both point guards receive a plethora of looks from between 10-16 feet beyond the basket due to their respective offenses revolving around screen-and-roll opportunities for them as the primary ball-handler. When given these shot opportunities from this range, Thomas converts at a 52.5 percent clip while Wall shoots at just a 35.8 percent average.
Wall also pales in comparison to Thomas in terms of ball protection. Despite having a higher usage percentage (33.9 percent vs. 30.5 percent), Thomas is considerably more dependable with the rock in his possession. While Wall carries a turnover rate of 16.9 percent, Thomas’ hovers around a stupendous 9.7 percent, emphasizing Thomas’ decision-making savviness. Thus, Thomas’ offensive rating has skyrocketed from 113 in 2015-16 to 122 this season, trumping Wall’s offensive rating of 110 by a tremendous margin.
