Memphis Grizzlies big man Jonas Valanciunas has expanded his offensive repertoire over the couple of years, and on Friday, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid found that out the hard way.
During an exhibition game between the Grizzlies and 76ers on Friday afternoon, Embiid essentially dismissed Valanciunas' ability to hit a three-pointer. Valanciunas responded by draining the three and letting Embiid know about it:
Embiid waves off Valanciunas, JV waves back. pic.twitter.com/B3x44kBa3H
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) July 24, 2020
Of course, Philadelphia is in the process of routing Memphis, but Valanciunas definitely got his moment here.
Prior to the 2019-20 NBA campaign behind suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Valanciunas was averaging 14.9 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks over 26.3 minutes per game while shooting 58.6 percent from the floor, 36.7 percent from three-point range and 73.2 percent from the free-throw line.
Valanciunas is attempting 1.3 triples per game, which is a career high. As a matter of fact, over the course of his first five NBA seasons between 2012-13 and 2016-17, Valanciunas took a grand total of four treys and made one of them.
The 28-year-old began to add the three-point shot to his arsenal during the 2017-18 campaign, attempting 74 triples and making them at a 40.5 percent rate.
Valanciunas was originally selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fifth overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft.
The Lithuanian spent the first six-and-a-half years of his career with the Raptors before being traded to the Grizzlies midway through the 2018-19 season.
After a rather successful stint in Memphis last year, Valanciunas re-signed with the Grizzlies on a three-year, $45 million deal last summer.
Valanciunas owns career averages of 12.4 points and 8.8 boards a night.
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