The NBA Playoffs are a great time of year. New players get to show their stuff, and veterans get to prove why they’re on top. The competition and intensity are fantastic, and we look forward to them every year. We’ve got a list of players who are going to make their mark and some who will unfortunately not bring their best to the gym.
Which NBA player will embrace the spotlight and which ones will succumb to pressure in the playoffs?
Show Out: Jaylen Brunson
Brunson has arrived as the star of New York. This season he’s taken a jump forward towards being an MVP candidate with over 28 points a night and has led the team in Julius Randle’s absence to the two seed in the east. Brunson already showed this mettle in the playoffs last year, taking the Knicks to the second round for the first time in years and putting up 28 points a game there as well. The diminutive guard is on the rise as one of the best players in the NBA and will prove it again this post-season.
Shrink: Joel Embiid
Joel Embiid is a classic playoff choker. He blew a 3-1 lead last year in the first round after winning MVP. In the Play-In Game he went 6-17 from the field and was bailed out with a questionable foul call in the final minutes, already in mid first round form. The Knicks hard nosed defense will likely get to him and unfortunately, he’ll do what he does best, and fall apart in the big moment.
Show Out: LeBron James
LeBron James has solidified his all-time status even further by becoming the all-time scoring leader in NBA history. LeBron is one of the best playoff players ever, with 28.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, and 7.2 APG in over 280 NBA playoff games. As always we know he will show up. He’s got a great team around him this year, but a difficult challenge in the Denver Nuggets. Win or lose, he’ll still be one of the best players on the court.
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Shrink: Paul George
“Playoff P” is probably the most preposterous player nickname in the NBA. Paul George has never even won a conference finals, despite being on a variety of loaded teams. With Leonard very dubious to play in the series, we will see George as a main scoring option in a playoff run yet again. That’s bad news for the Clippers. PG-13 will have to step up if the Clippers want to cash in on those lofty pre-season aspirations, but we have to doubt based on past results.
Show Out: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is looking to cash in a tremendous season with an MVP award. He’s already carried the Thunder to a miraculous one seed in the west over the T-Wolves and defending champion Nuggets. The leader of a young and hungry team, Gilgeous-Alexander, wants to make a name for himself on the national stage. We’re sure that his talent will be on display for all to see.
Shrink: Karl-Anthony Towns
Like Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns is a player who just seems unable to get it done in the playoffs. This year, the Timberwolves had a terrific regular season and are looking to finally make good on a solid roster. But with KAT as one of the main players on the squad, it seems like this will be a tough ask. Towns average about 5 points fewer per game a year in the playoffs than he does in the NBA regular season and has never made it out of the first round. The team is stronger this time around, so they may be able to get a first-round win, but we don’t think it’ll be because of towns.
Show Out: Anthony Edwards
Fortunately for Towns, he has Anthony Edwards on his team. The Ant-Man has become an absolute monster this year, getting 26, 5, and 5 at only 22 years of age. Another young and hungry player, Edwards has only played well in the Post-Season so far. Last year, he put up 31.6 PPG in the T-Wolves’ only playoff series. We think he’ll be back to do even more damage this time around.
Shrink: Bradley Beal
Bradley Beal has a tremendous amount of pressure on him coming into this playoffs. He is the third head of a supposed scoring beast with Durant and Booker but he failed to get 20 points per game this season. We know Booker and Durant will get their 25 a night, but if the Suns are going to succeed, they will need Beal to do it, too. We’re not sure he can. He has some playoff experience with the Wizards but was never able to advance out of the second round. Being the third option should make his life easier, but it seems like he needs the ball all the time to succeed. We’ll see how he and the Suns wind up.
Show Out: Luka Doncic
Luka Doncic is looking to win his first MVP award with his excellent regular season. Doncic always plays well in the postseason. He’s led the NBA in playoff scoring the last two years he was in the playoffs (‘21 and ‘22), with a deep run to the end of the conference finals in 2022. It appears his game has stepped up to a new level with the scoring title this season. He’s ready to make a title run with a healthy Irving by his side.
Shrink: Damian Lillard
Nothing has gone the way the Bucks wanted this season. With so much hype after adding Lillard, the Bucs ended up firing their coach and adding Doc Rivers to the staff, who has led the team to a sub-.500 records in his tenure. Limping into the playoffs, they still do have the three-seed. However, Damian Lillard is scoring eight fewer points per game this year than he was last season, and he’s never really been able to take his teams to the next level in the playoffs. We’ll see if he can turn on some Dame Time with Giannis in the post-season, but we’re not 100% sure.
