Playoff games are full of pressure and intensity, and only stars who have proven themselves in the playoffs can truly be considered NBA superstars. This season, the NBA has produced many young stars, and veteran superstars such as Curry and Durant have also shown good strength in the regular season. With the playoffs on, what are the qualities of these league stars? With such questions in mind, the American media open-air stands rated the NBA superstar's playoff performance.
Tatum: A+
In this year's playoffs, Tatum has completely transformed. Against Durant, Tatum performed at the top of the league on both ends of the offensive and defensive lines. Defensively, in particular, Tatum has improved a lot, and under his defense, KD seems to be struggling. In addition, Tatum's passing ability has improved significantly, and he has already delivered 24 assists in three playoff games. Considering his contribution of averaging 29.7 points per game, he deserves an A+ rating.
Letter Brother: A
Although the Bucks lost a game at home to the Bulls, Alphabet brother has done everything he can to help the team. In four playoff games, Alphabet averaged 27.5 points, 14.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game. His rebounds and assists are higher than the regular season average. He could have scored higher, but in game three, he played just 30 minutes before the Bucks beat the Bulls 111-81.
In this series, aside from the three-point shooting rate (16.7%), Alphabet Brother's performance is almost impeccable. The letter brother got an A rating, which is very reasonable.
Warbler Song: A
Ingram played in the NBA for six years, and it was the first time he'd tasted the playoffs. Ingram has scored at least 30 points in his last three games and averaged 29.8 points per game in the playoffs. He doesn't make a lot of three-point shots, but he shoots 50 percent from three-point range. Booker's injury opened a door for the Pelicans, and Ingram was ready to stage the Black Nine miracle. As a playoff debutant, Ingram deserves an A rating.
Embiid: A
In the G1 game, Embiid shot only 5 China in 15 shots and had 19 points and 15 rebounds. Thanks to Maxi's bravery, the 76ers won the game at home. In games two and three, Embiid averaged 32.0 points per game, shooting 58.3 percent from the field, including 40.0 percent from three-point range. He also scored three goals in Toronto to help the 76ers take a 3-0 lead in the series.
Embiid could have gotten an A+, but his turnovers have been soaring. Embiid has made 15 turnovers in the last 3 games, which have affected his ratings.
Butler: A-
At the end of the regular season, the Heat had infighting. Butler and Spoo had a heated argument on the sidelines, and many feared it would affect the Heat's performance in the playoffs. Butler, however, is clearly very mature. In the series against the Hawks, he contributed 30.5 points per game, as well as a team-high 5.3 assists and a team-high 7.8 rebounds.
It is worth mentioning that Butler's three-point shooting rate in this series has improved significantly, from 23.3% in the regular season to 43.8% now. On the defensive end, Butler's contribution is also large. The Heat's defensive efficiency was 99.7 when he was on the floor and 107.5 when he was on the court. Despite conceding a few key goals at G3, Butler got the A-.
Paul: A-
After Booker's injury, the burden on Paul's body became heavier. Although he performed abnormally in G4, scoring only 4 points in a single game. But considering his average of 12.3 assists per game and his fourth-place performance of 11.3 points, Paul still won the A-.
Curry: A-
In the past 4 games, Curry has played as a substitute. He averaged 27.5 points per game and shot 51.4 percent from the field. All of this is done within 28 minutes of each match. Quite simply, the Denver Nuggets had a hard time controlling him. Curry's three-point shooting percentage is only 38.9 percent, though, which is a pretty good number for an average player, but it's clearly not perfect for Curry. Curry is recovering well from injury, but his three-point performance is A-.
Harden: B
This year's playoffs show that Harden is no longer at his peak. He averaged about 10 points less per game than in the 2019-20 playoffs. In the 76ers, he averaged just 19.3 points per game. But as the core of the organization, he averaged 9.8 assists per game, third in the playoffs. He still gets 7.8 free throws per night and shoots 39.1 percent from three-point range. Harden's performance gave him a B. It would have been higher, but his 37.5 percent shooting percentage blocked his rating.
Jokic: C+
Jokic was under a lot of pressure, averaging 31.3 points per game, topping the playoffs. He shot 55.7 percent from the field. But digging deeper into those numbers reveals some problems.
First, he had far fewer assists than he did in the regular season, when he was able to deliver 7.9 assists per game. With the Warriors choosing to defend him one-on-one, that number has dropped to 5.3 times in the playoffs. Considering that Denver doesn't have much firepower at their disposal, the Nuggets are on the verge of elimination. Jokic can only get C+.
Morant: C-
Jamorant is the most exciting player in the NBA today. Morant scored 32 points in his first loss to the Timberwolves, and since then, his score has dropped in every game: 23 in game two; 16 in game three; and 11 points in game four. His scoring stats (20.5 points per game) are much lower than in the regular season (27.4 points per game).
Another problem is Morant's defense. The Timberwolves targeted him several times with great success. Beverley repeatedly attacked him in game three. The stats support this: When Morant wasn't on the floor, the Grizzlies defense improved by 9.6 points per 100 possessions.
On the positive side, he averaged 10.8 assists per game in the series (up from 6.7 in the regular season), which is one thing that keeps his rating within the passing range.
Durant: D
It was one of the worst playoff performances of Kevin Durant's career. He shot 36.5 percent from the field this playoff. He made more turnovers than assists, and he averaged 5.7 turnovers in this series, the most in his playoffs.
In this series, Durant was directly knocked off the altar. Just look at his performance in the second half of Game 2 on 10 shots. Durant would have had a lower rating, but considering he faced the NBA's best defense, he ended up with a D rating.
Trae Young: F
The playoffs were a complete disaster for Trae Young. As the league's premier sharpshooter, Trae Young's three-point shooting percentage is just 21.2 percent, a far cry from his 38.2 percent in the regular season. In addition, his assists fell from 9.7 to 6.0 per game, and his turnover rate rose from 4.0 to 6.0.
In four 16-quarter matches, Trae Young scored in double figures only twice (both times with 10 points). In the past four games, Trae Young has averaged only 16.5 points per game, far below the 28.4 points in the regular season. There is no doubt that Trae Young is the most disappointing star in the playoffs, worse than Durant.