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Seven biggest choke jobs of the NBA playoffs so far

NBA Playoffs

LaMarcus Aldridge, power forward, San Antonio Spurs

Courtesy of USA Today Images

Between Game 6 against the Houston Rockets and the first half of Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors, Aldridge came close to shedding the label of choker.

He had 34 points and 12 rebounds against Houston, helping put the Rockets away with Kawhi Leonard out after struggling for most of the series. In the first half against the Warriors, he came out strong, going 7-of-11 from the field and scoring 17. The Spurs were aggressive in posting him up, and the strategy seemed to work.

Then came the second half. Aldridge suddenly couldn’t make a shot when San Antonio needed him most, and it happened with Kawhi Leonard out again. He went 2-of-9 in the fourth quarter and was responsible for two key defensive breakdowns in the last few minutes of the game.

The first was on a Shaun Livingston offensive rebound with just under two minutes to go — the Warriors’ second offensive rebound on one possession. Aldridge completely failed to box out, making things easy for the smaller player. Livingston kicked it out to Stephen Curry for the game-tying three. A minute later, Aldridge let Curry go on a backdoor cut, resulting in an easy layup on a give-and-go with Kevin Durant, putting the Warriors up by five points.

Those two mistakes made up the difference — and more — in a game the Warriors won by just two points.

Aldridge has been underwhelming, to say the least, during this postseason. He’s averaging 18 points and 8.1 rebounds per 36 minutes on 47.3 percent shooting from the field with poor defense to boot. The Spurs are giving up nearly four more points per 100 possessions with Aldridge on the floor than off, despite the bulk of his minutes being shared with Leonard.

Remember, Aldridge was supposed to be a superstar for the Spurs. They signed him to usher in a new, post-Tim Duncan era where he and Leonard would be leading the Spurs to championships. Leonard has fulfilled his end of the bargain, but Aldridge simply hasn’t played at that level.

With Leonard’s status now in limbo for the rest of the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs will struggle to compete with the Warriors unless that changes.

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