OKLAHOMA CITY – The way-too-early-list of 2019-20 Defensive Player of the Year candidates must include the Orlando Magic’s Jonathan Isaac, who has shut down virtually every opponent he’s been matched up against in the early portion of the season.
Through six games, per Second Spectrum tracking data, opponents are shooting 29.7 percent from the floor, 22.2 percent from 3-point range and 34.5 percent from within six feet of the hoop when he is the closest defender.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, New York’s Julius Randle, Atlanta’s John Collins and Denver’s Big Three of Nikola Jokic, Paul Millsap and Jamal Murray were a combined 2-of-14 from the field in that early-season stretch when Orlando’s 22-year-old contested their shot attempts.