In this day of the post season with only two games, there were players who still marked the day with their outstanding performances. Some were key contributors to their team's wins, while others were keeping them in the game.
Who ranks on top? Without any further ado, let's start.
5. Chris Paul
Although his team lost a crucial game, Chris was still attacking the defense aggressively, being active on both sides of the court and making the right play.
Paul scored 19 points, pulled down six rebounds, dished out four assists, recorded four steals, blocked one shot, lost the ball three times, shot 5-11 from the field, shot 1-4 from deep, 8-10 from the charity in 40 minutes.
Unfortunately for him and the Clippers, Memphis' front court came up big enough to win.
4. Zach Randolph
Zach was very good offensively, as he made the majority of his shots in the paint and cleared the glass quite well. He carried the team on offense and made a nice impact. The stats confirm his excellence.
Randolph poured in 19 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out an assist, had three turnovers, shot 6-11 from the field, 7-10 from the free throw line in 37 minutes of action.
Memphis going through him turned out to be the key difference for them.
3. Marc Gasol
He played like a real All-Star in Game Five of the match up. Gasol found his rhythm offensively, got the line where he made his free throws, distributed the rock well and his impact was felt on both sides of the court too.
Marc scored 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out four assists, swatted one attempt, recorded a turnover, shot 8-14 from the field, 7-8 from the charity in 39 minutes.
His best performance in the series surely helped the Grizzlies to continue their trip in the post season and force another game.
2. Carmelo Anthony
He started it red hot, as he scored nearly half of New York's points. He continued in the same manner with him finding the bottom of the net. Carmelo was solid on the glass and on the defensive side of the court.
However, the story was his terrific offensive excellence. Anthony scored 35 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out an assist, recorded two steals, shot 15-31 from the field, 2-5 from the arc, 3-4 from the stripe in 42 minutes.
He was the main reason why New York was in a close game on the road against a favorite team. Despite the tough loss, he has to be applauded for the effort he gave not only in this match, but through the entire series.
1. LeBron James
LeBron, like in many other playoff games, simply did it all for his team. There wasn't an aspect of the game in which he wasn't active. He made the right plays regardless was it to score, pass etc.
James scored 27 points, pulled down eight rebounds, dished out seven assists, recorded two steals, blocked a shot, shot 7-16 from the field, 2-6 from the arc, 13-15 at the stripe, committed four turnovers in 40 minutes of action.
He ended up leading his Miami to a win and in three categories. Here's another interesting fact that makes gives him rightfully the top spot. James became No.1 in most times leading in points, assists, rebounds when he won a game in the post season.
Darko Mihajlovski is a columnist at FootBasket. He also contributes to Hoops-Nation. You can read more about him at our Staff page.
