As usual, some players marked this specific playoff day with their excellent performances. They once again proved their status of being elite.
Without any further ado, here's the list.
5. Luol Deng
Luol found his shooting rhythm, as he scored on excellent efficiency, was extremely active on the glass and was solid defensively. The stats say that he was everywhere on the court for his Bulls.
Deng poured in 19 points, pulled down 17 rebounds, dished out three assists, recorded two steals, blocked two shots, committed two turnovers, shot 8-16 from the field, 0-5 beyond the three line, 3-3 from the stripe in 42 minutes.
His excellence on both sides of the court wasn't enough as the Bulls lost and are out of the playoffs now.
4. Andre Iguodala
Andre was excellent from an all-around point of view. He scored, involved his team mates, did solid work on the glass and was good defensively as well. He additionally closed out Chicago late.
Iguodala poured in 17 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out six assists, recorded two steals, committed two turnovers, shot 7-16 from the field, 3-5 from deep, 2-2 from the charity in 41 minutes of action.
He hit the crucial free throws in the fourth quarter when the game was decided. With that, he and his Sixers became the fifth team in NBA History as an eight seeded team to beat a first seeded team in the playoffs.
3. Kobe Bryant
Despite playing with a flu, Kobe seemed more motivated than anything. He went hot again, as he found his rhythm throughout the game and carried the team offensively. The stats also say that he was good from an all-around point of view.
Bryant recorded 31 points, dished out four assists, grabbed two rebounds, had a steal, lost three balls, shot 13-23 from the field, 1-4 from the arc, 4-4 from the free throw line in 37 minutes of action.
The Black Mamba has a nice streak of three games in which he has scored 30+ points and this one just adds to that streak. Unfortunately, his team mates didn't follow him and they eventually lost the game.
2. Ty Lawson
Ty picked up where he left in the previous games, attacked the defense real hard, created easier chances for scoring for him, his teammates etc. Also, his shot served him well, as he found the bottom of the net in the entire match.
Lawson scored 32 points, dished out six dimes, grabbed five rebounds, had a block, shot 13-18 from the field, 5-6 from three point land, 1-3 from the stripe, committed no turnovers in the game all in 30 minutes of action.
He set his new career high in points and connected on nearly all of his shots from distance. He was definitely the biggest reason why the Nuggets won.
1. Kevin Garnett
KG changed the game with his presence on either side out there. Besides his usual defensive excellence that he displayed, he took over offensively and led the way. He found his motives in the Hawks' statement about him being dirty and he made them way.
The Big Ticket delivered. He scored 28 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, blocked five shots, recorded two assists, three steals, shot 10-19 from the field, 8-10 from the stripe in 39 minutes of action.
The stats prove that this was his best performance of the playoffs in this series. Him regaining his old form, is nothing but positive results for his franchise.
Darko Mihajlovski is a columnist at FootBasket. He also contributes to Hoops-Nation. You can read more about him at our Staff page.
