Welcome back to my mini series of the best individual playoff performances from each day that I've started and will finish until the post season is finished.Day three of the 2012 NBA Playoffs is already behind us, in which the favorites managed to get their wins and there weren't any surprises in that regard.
There were as usual players who marked the night yesterday with their great performances. Who tops the list this time? Without further ado, let's find out.
10. Shane Battier
Despite coming off the bench, he played his role in Miami's win over New York. He found the bottom of the net with his touch, had a decent all-around performance and had his role in defending Anthony as well.
Shane recorded 11 points, three boards, an assist, a steal while shooting 4-6 from the field and 3-5 from the arc as well.
Battier, who's the Heat's X-Factor in this series, had a great performance in limited playing time. Although he didn't defend Carmelo as good as in Game One, he did a solid job.
9. George Hill
George is starting at point guard to replace injured Collinson for his team and has produced quite well so far in the series. He made up for his bad shooting day from the first game.
Hill recorded 18 points, four boards, an assist, a steal, shot 6-10 from the field, 1-3 from deep and 5-6 from the charity.
He played nicely on both sides of the court and his presence was a difference maker in positive sense of the word for his Pacers. His aggressiveness robbed of on his team mates and was a key factor in tying the series with Orlando at one game a peace.
8. Paul George
Paul played aggressively throughout the entire game. He was attacking the rim, getting to the line where he made his free throws on offense, cleared the glass and interrupted the lanes on defense with his activity.
He scored 17 points, grabbed 8 boards, recorded 2 steals, dished out 2 assists, shot 7-10 from field, 3-3 from the stripe and missed his attempts from distance.
George was certainly a key contributor to Indiana's win over Orlando.
7. Amare Stoudemire
Although he had somewhat a solid performance, it wasn't enough for his team to try to upset their rivals last night. He didn't make a big difference for New York in the last game.
Stat wise, Amare was decent. He scored 18 points, grabbed 7 boards, recorded two steals, blocked a shot, shot 6-9 from field and 6-9 from the free throw line.
However, those stats are far from what you'd expect from the same Stoudemire who was a MVP candidate at the start of last season and was dropping over 30 points.
Even though he was defended by Chris Bosh, he still couldn't explode partly because he doesn't get enough touches and partly because doesn't have nice off-ball movement.
He's hurt his team in a lot of ways, as he was reported to cut his hand in the locker room after yet another loss and is out for the following game.
6. Chris Bosh
Chris played a vital role in yesterday's big win over the New York Knicks. He contributed on offense mostly as he connected on his attempts and was solid overall.
Bosh scored 21 points, pulled down four boards, dished out four assists while shooting 7-12 from the field, 6-8 from the charity with also one block shot too.
This was a terrific from him considering he didn't start the series as good as he was expected to.
5. LeBron James
Although he didn't have as great performance as he had at the start, LeBron played overall well considering the focus and attention the Knicks defense gave to him.
Statistically speaking, he recorded 19 points, dished out nine assists, pulled down seven boards, shot 8-18 from the field, missed his three attempts from deep and made 3-7 attempts at the stripe with two steals.
The stats aren't the same from the opening game, but he still made a difference that fueled Miami and helped them to get the second victory in the series.
Additionally, he played solid defense on 'Melo as he intimated the prolific scorer, took him out of his rhythm and forced him out of his comfortable spot.
4. Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo opened up nicely, as he connected on his jumper early on versus Battier. Even though he was being guarded by James later on, he still did beyond good.
Anthony had 30 points, grabbed nine boards, had a steal while shooting 12-26 from the field, 6-9 from the stripe and missing his attempts from distance.
That's really an excellence performance when compared to his first and taken in consideration that he went in against two great defenders in James and Battier.
He'll be the guy whom New York will look up to again in order to try to avoid what seems as a reality now, a sweep.
3. Kevin Durant
He struggled once again with his shooting. He couldn't find his rhythm last game, nonetheless he found a way to finish with a dozen of them while playing solid overall.
Kevin scored 26 points, pulled down ten boards, recorded two steals, shot 5-17 from the field, 2-6 from deep, 14-16 from the line with seven turnovers.
The high number of lost balls that Durant had in the last game is surprising. The Durnatula yet has to find his stroke versus this Mavericks team which has a solution for him.
He'll definitely want to explode.
2. Dwyane Wade
Flash had a good start of this year's playoffs, which was in the shadows of his team mate James. However, in the second game, he came out to play as he had an outstanding performance.
Dwyane scored game high 25 points, grabbed four boards, had four assists, shot efficiently 11-18 from the field, missed a three pointer, connected on his three attempts at the line with two steals and a rejection as well.
With the rookie defensive stopper Iman Shumpert out of the series due to teared ACL, Wade's expected to continue to play in similar fashion and to give New York even bigger headaches.
1. Russell Westbrook
He was all over the court once again and his presence made a positive difference for his Thunder. He made big plays on both sides on the court while leading the team in the series.
Russell scored 29 points, dished out two assists, grabbed two boards, lost two turnovers, shot 10-21 from the field, 1-2 from deep and hit his all eight attempts at the line.
Him keeping his head calm, not losing the ball like in this game and torching the Mavericks from outside (yes and I'm not joking) are the crucial factors for his team's lead in the series.
Here's a surprising stat. Westbrook has shot 55.6% (15-26) from mid range shots. The Mavericks will need to make some adjustments if they want to win the series, otherwise he'll continue his phenomenal play.
