Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Tristan Thompson vs. Taj Gibson
These two power forwards are fighters. Taj Gibson and Tristan Thompson are often called upon to work hard and fight for rebounds and they both do it well. Gibson has been doing it for years in Chicago, while Thompson really came into his own this past season for Cleveland.
Their Regular season stats looked like this:
Thompson – PPG (8.5) RPG (8.0) BPG (0.7)
Gibson – PPG (10.3) RPG (6.4) BPG (1.2)
Gibson and Thompson were both key bench players for their teams throughout the year. Thompson was eventually asked to step up to a new role once starter Kevin Love was injured in the first round. Against the Bulls, Thompson was the x-factor in the entire series.
Thompson – PPG (9.3) RPG (11.2) BPG (1.5)
Gibson – PPG (7.7) RPG (5.5) BPG (0.8)
Gibson had the better regular season, but Thompson had the better series. Thompson looks like he will only get better, while Gibson continues to look more and more like the odd man out in Chicago. All in all, the advantage goes to Thompson as his rebounding alone played a large role in eliminating Chicago from the postseason.
Next: Backup guards: Williams vs. Brooks