Which NBA Playoff Stars Have the Heart of a Champion?

The playoffs have started, and the stars have begun to emerge.

Experts say that you really don't know much about a player until the playoffs, when they are truly tested.

A few players have shown the heart of a champion, although, it is still the first round. Only few can continue further in this quest.

LeBron James

James is the king, and has played a cat-and-mouse game with Detroit. He knows no one can stop him, and he uses that to his advantage.

Up by 20-plus points at the end of the third quarter in Game Two, LeBron put down a hammer dunk from the free-throw line, which is be one of the greatest highlights for a long time.

Derrick Rose

Rookie sensation Rose has played like a weathered veteran. No one would be able to tell that this was his first trip to the postseason.

Rose tied a record by scoring 36 points in his playoff debut. The last player to do that was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who makes pretty good company.

Chauncey Billups

The Denver Nuggets can thank their lucky stars that Detroit wanted to dump salary and agreed to the lopsided trade of Billups for Allen Iverson.

The Nuggets finally have the leader for whom they have been looking, and they were able to capture the second seed in the competitive Western Conference.

Billups helped smash CP3 and the Hornets by hitting seven of eight three-pointers in game one of the first-round series.

Kobe Bryant

Bryant has not averaged a lot of points against the Jazz in the first two games, but he hasn't had to.

Bryant has taken on the role of the facilitator, which has allowed his team to shoot around 60 percent for the series.

Bryant, showing confidence in his teammates and not playing the it's-all-on-me game, will allow this deep Lakers team to make their second straight appearance in the NBA Finals.

Deron Williams

Despite his team being down 2-0 against the No. 1 seeded Lakers, Williams has shown the heart of a champion.

Williams had a woeful shooting night during game one, but countered it by dishing out 17 assists while committing only two turnovers.

In game two, Williams was on fire, making six three-pointers on his way to scoring a game high 35 points.

Williams is a young leader who doesn't know what the word "quit" means.

Philadelphia 76ers

Despite being down 18 points and playing in front of a very hostile crowd, the 76ers never gave up, and went on to steal the first game from the Orlando Magic.

Andre Iguodala hit the buzzer-beater to seal the deal.

The 76ers played as a team, and if they show as much heart as they did in the first game, they can easily steal the series against the Magic.

Yao Ming

Ming went a perfect nine-for-nine from the floor in the Rockets' first game against the Trailblazers.

The Rockets haven't seen many playoff successes in the last 12 years. For the last two years, they have lost to the Utah Jazz, despite having the home-court advantage.

It doesn't look like Ming and the Rockets will be going home early this year.

Brandon Roy

Roy and the Trail Blazers were demolished in the first playoff game. Getting stomped by 30 points is not what this young team expected.

Roy and the Blazers, however, did not hang their heads for too long.

Winning game two was vital for keeping this series alive. Roy scored an amazing 42 points and led his team to victory.

Tony Parker

Losing game one was nothing for the Spurs; it has actually become a habit for them. It's almost like they're testing their opponents and seeing what their best game is.

The Spurs came out strong in game two, and Parker led the charge, scoring 19 in the first quarter alone, and 38 for the game. Parker pretty much could do whatever he desired against the Mavs.

Ray Allen

After losing in overtime to the seventh seed Chicago Bulls in Boston, things looked ugly for the defending champs.

The Celtics have battled. Garnett is out for the season, and Powe was lost in the second quarter for the rest of the season. Add that to the hot-shooting Ben Gordon, and things just did not look well.

That's when Allen decided to step it up. He scored 30 points in game two after only four points in game one. He hit the buzzer-beating three-pointer to gain the win.