There were some players, who played above the expectations and delivered for their teams, or at least kept them in the game. The stats and impact back their respective strong performances. Who ranks on top? Without any further ado, let's start.
5. George Hill
George found his shooting rhythm, was excellent on both sides of the court, hustled and played his heart out there. His energy robbed off on his teammates that followed him well. The stats show that he was just simply outstanding.
Hill scored 20 points, dished out five dimes, grabbed two boards, had a steal, blocked a shot, shot 6-8 from the field, 3-4 from distance, 5-5 from the stripe and committed four turnovers in 33 minutes of action. He didn't take care of the ball well, but made up for that in different areas.
4. LeBron James
He started off the brilliantly at the start when he found his scoring rhythm, was excellent on both sides of the court and led his team well early on. However, LeBron slowed down in the second period, couldn't get to the line and it went all downhill from there.
James scored 22 points, grabbed seven boards, dished out three assists, recorded two steals, shot 10-22 from the field, 1-4 from three point land, 1-3 from the free throw line and committed four turnovers in 40 minutes of action. He'll need to step it for his Heat to beat the Pacers in this series.
3. Roy Hibbert
Roy established himself as a presence throughout the entire game. He was a match up issue for Miami on the offensive side with his ability to score, yet he managed to took away the slashes from the perimeter and to alert many shots on defense as well.
The stats confirm his excellence. Hibbert scored 19 points, grabbed 18 boards, blocked five shots, had one steal, dished out an assist, committed one turnover, shot 9-16 from the field and 1-2 from the free throw line in 33 minutes out there.
Like his teammate Hill, this was also his best performance as well.
2. Tony Parker
Tony looked excellent out there. He found his way to the rim, got the line, looked aggressive and took full advantage of his match up's (Chris Paul) injury. He was outstanding on both sides of the court and led the way for his Spurs.
Parker scored 22 points, grabbed five boards, dished out five assists, recorded three steals, committed three turnovers, shot 8-19 from the field, 0-2 from three point land and 6-6 from the free throw line in 37 minutes of action. Stat wise, it's a nice performance.
Considering it was his 30th birthday, it was definitely one birthday that he'll remember.
1. Mario Chalmers
Mario was aggressive early on and excellent throughout the entire time. With Wade struggling, he took over some of the scoring load and responded well with James. He dished the rock well, was solid on the glass and was efficient in shooting the ball.
Chalmers scored 25 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out five assists, swatted an attempt, shot 10-15 from the field, 1-1 from three point land, 4-4 from the stripe and didn't commit any turnovers in the 38 minutes he was on the court.
Darko Mihajlovski is a columnist at FootBasket. He also contributes to Hoops-Nation. You can read more about him at our Staff page.
