Now that the second round of the NBA Playoffs have officially started, the lack of drama we saw in the initial round promises to give way to some incredible games.
That was evidenced on Monday night with the Oklahoma City Thunder pulling off a dramatic and controversial win to even up their series with the San Antonio Spurs at one.
There were a ton of key players in that game, none more so than Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who put up 41 points in defeat.
Aldridge is one of eight players we look at as being the most-important in the conference semifinal round.
1. Klay Thompson, guard, Golden State Warriors
With Stephen Curry not set to return until Game 3 on Saturday (at the earliest), Thompson must continue performing at a high level for the defending champs to maintain their lead over the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Going up against C.J. McCollum on the defensive end of the court, Thompson’s presence is big time there as well. He held the NBA’s Most Improved Player to 5-of-17 shooting in Game 1.
This is going to have to continue until Curry returns from his knee injury. If it doesn’t, there’s a decent chance the Blazers could steal a game or two and make a series of this thing.
2. Kyle Lowry, guard, Toronto Raptors
This All-Star guard was off his game big time in Toronto’s first-round series win over the Indiana Pacers.
He averaged just 13.9 points while shooting just 32 percent from the field and turning the ball over 20 times in the seven-game series. This comes on the heels of Lowry averaging 21.2 points during the regular year.
That might work against a Pacers team that has just one above-average player in Paul George. It most definitely won’t get the job done against a streaking Miami Heat squad in the second round.
If Lowry is unable to return to regular season form, there’s very little chance Toronto will be able to come out on top here. That’s the honest truth right there.
3. LaMarcus Aldridge, forward, San Antonio Spurs
Despite the Spurs’ close Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, this prized free-agent signing was on top of his game. The All-Star put up 41 points on 15-of-21 shooting while hitting on all 10 of his free throws. For comparison’s sake, the rest of San Antonio’s roster scored 56 points while shooting 34 percent from the field.
It might not have been enough for San Antonio to take a 2-0 series lead into Oklahoma City, but this performance is just an extension of how well Aldridge has played recently. He scored 38 points in Game 1 and shot over 50 percent from the field in the first round of the playoffs.
If the Spurs can continue to get anywhere near this type of production from Aldridge, they are going to take care of Oklahoma City with relative ease and potentially put a scare in the defending champion Warriors when all is said and done.
4. Damian Lillard, guard, Portland Trail Blazers
While Lillard did put up 30 points in Game 1, it took a ridiculous 26 shots to do so. That’s what we call being a volume shooter.
He’s also struggled a great deal in Oakland over the past few years, posting a 1-5 record while shooting 36 percent from the field in six games in his hometown since the start of the 2013-14 season.
If Portland goes down 2-0 in the series with Curry potentially set to return in Game 3, it’s going to be nearly impossible for the Blazers to get back in the series. After all, they’d then have to win four of five games against a team that’s 78-10 on the season. In this, it’s on Lillard to perform at a higher clip on Tuesday night.
5. Goran Dragic, guard, Miami Heat
Dragic was absolutely outstanding in Miami’s successful attempt to close out the Charlotte Hornets over the weekend. He put up 25 points, six rebounds and four assists in the decisive Game 7 win, shooting 11-of-17 from the field in the process.
In the six games that proceeded that, the former Spurs second-round pick averaged 12.3 points while shooting just 37 percent from the field. Needless to say, Miami went just 3-3 in those games.
Set to take on Raptors guard Kyle Lowry in the conference semifinals, Dragic is going to have to repeat what we saw in Game 7 in order for the Heat to come out on top.
Dragic averaged 11 points while shooting 39 percent from the field in three regular season games against Toronto with Miami losing two of those three outings.
6. Kevin Love, forward, Cleveland Cavaliers
When Love has put up big numbers this season, the Cavaliers have been extremely successful. They won 16 of 20 games when the All-Star forward put up more than 20 points. It’s not necessarily the boards for Love, it’s all about giving Cleveland a third scorer behind LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
We all know King James is the engine that makes this thing go. If he plays at Superman status, Cleveland will run roughshod through the Atlanta Hawks.
We saw this in the team’s first-round sweep of Detroit when James averaged 22.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists while shooting more than 65 percent from inside the paint.
Love does have a decent matchup here against a Hawks forward in Paul Millsap that also likes to stretch his offensive game to the perimeter. In reality, this means Love’s less-than-stellar defense won’t act as detriment to Cleveland. That was evidenced with Millsap shooting just 6-of-19 from the field in Game 1.
7. Draymond Green, forward, Golden State Warriors
A funny thing happened on the way to Stephen Curry’s injury. Green proved himself capable of stepping up and performing like the true all-around star that he is.
Following a triple-double performance against Portland in Game 1, Green is now averaging 14.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game in the playoffs. In the four games that Curry has missed during the postseason, Green is averaging a near triple-double.
While Curry is surely the MVP of the league, a case could be made that Green is the MVP of the Warriors. As ridiculous as that might sound, what Green brings to the table can’t simply be represented in stats alone. He can run point and play center on offense. He guards all five positions on the defensive end of the court.
And in reality, he’s the passionate leader for the defending champs.
Green may have broke out big time en route to helping the Warriors to the title last season. But he’s taken that to an entirely new level this year, and has to now be considered a star.
8. Jeff Teague, guard, Atlanta Hawks
Remember when Teague was on the trade block back in February? That seems like ages ago. He’s now one of the most-important players on a Hawks team that’s looking to take out the defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
This was represented to a T in Atlanta’s Game 1 loss to LeBron James and Co. on Monday. The guard put up just eight points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field. Meanwhile, Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving went for 21 points and eight assists. Atlanta finished minus-13 with Teague on the court while Cleveland was plus-17 with Irving on the floor.
Teague’s importance in this series cannot be overstated. In the four games that Atlanta has won in the postseason, Teague is averaging 15.8 points and 6.5 assists while shooting 46 percent from the field.
In the team’s three losses, the guard is averaging 14.7 and 4.7 assists while shooting 30 percent from the field.
As you can see above, it’s more about the shooting struggles Teague has seen in the games Atlanta has lost. Going up against a player in Irving that can score with the best of them, the Hawks’ starting point guard must step up in this area.