The Biggest X-Factors Emerging in the 2015 NBA Playoffs
When the postseason spotlight shines brightest, the NBA's biggest stars are expected to elevate their game to new heights. However, it's often overlooked X-factors who can wind up deciding a game or even a series by exploiting holes in the opposition's game plan.
This time of year, they're the unsung heroes and unheralded rotational bodies who do the dirty work with bouts of defensive intensity, supplementary scoring and playmaking.
Maintaining a focus on contributors who have helped propel teams to early series leads—although there is one exception—there's an exclusive group of starters and reserves shifting into significant difference-making territory.
Between veterans seeking redemption, young bucks clamping down on All-Stars and backcourt talents with a propensity for slicing and dicing, these players have separated themselves as facilitators of first-round success.
Draymond Green, PF, Golden State Warriors
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There's a real argument to be had about who the Golden State Warriors' most important player is outside of Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green factors heavily into that discussion.
Although Green is shooting worse than 40 percent from the field through two games against the New Orleans Pelicans, his defensive prowess has helped the Warriors stave off two monster efforts from Anthony Davis.
According to Bay Area News Group's Marcus Thompson, Davis' production fluctuates significantly depending on his primary defender:
- Davis vs. Green: 18 points, 6-of-18 shooting, four turnovers
- Davis vs. all other GSW defenders: 43 points, 16-of-27 shooting, three turnovers
En route to helping Golden State capture a 2-0 series lead, Green has posted a team-best plus/minus of plus-47, which is more than double Curry's mark of plus-23.
And as Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes wrote, Green's Round 1 efforts are starting to squash his designation as an underrated role player:
"In this particular series, Green's value is obvious. His three-point range pulls Davis away from the rim on defense, and his maniacal competitiveness (not to mention a whole lot of film study, good coaching and vice-grip hands) makes him one of the few defenders who can force Davis into uncomfortable shots.
Relying on a player's single-game plus-minus is always dangerous because you're combining a small sample and a whole lot of noise. But when you scan the box score and see Green's game-high plus-24 on Monday, it's pretty much impossible not to mutter, "Yeah, that seems about right."
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With Golden State's postseason run just getting started, expect more of the same from Green as the Warriors' title quest rolls on.
Eric Gordon, SG, New Orleans Pelicans
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Don't tell anyone, but Eric Gordon is quietly undergoing a miniature offensive renaissance while Anthony Davis announces his presence to a national audience.
Not only has Gordon been New Orleans' second-leading playoff scorer behind Davis (19.5 points), but he's shooting a team-best 52.9 percent from three on an average of 8.5 long-range attempts per game.
"I'm just focusing on in," Gordon said, according to The Times-Picayune's Jimmy Smith. "At this point of the year you've just got to try to make every shot. Sometimes you don't know when it's coming to you, so I just come prepared to make every shot when possible."
Interestingly enough, that production is merely the continuation of a year-long shooting spree that flew under the radar as Davis single-handedly kept New Orleans' playoff hopes alive.
In 61 regular-season appearances, Gordon knocked down 44.8 percent of his three-point tries, good for No. 2 overall among qualified shooters behind Kyle Korver (49.2 percent), according to Basketball-Reference.
"He's knocked down a lot of shots for us and he's spacing well," head coach Monty Williams said, according to Smith.
Injuries have disrupted the trajectory of Gordon's once-promising career, but at 26 years old, he has a chance to start shifting the narrative during his first postseason series.
Paul Pierce, SF, Washington Wizards
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Here's a golden rule for the NBA postseason: Never, ever doubt Paul Pierce's ability to play the role of X-factor.
As the Washington Wizards stole both Games 1 and 2 on the Toronto Raptors' home floor, Pierce made his presence felt by dropping 20 points in the series opener while chipping in a couple of helpful threes and scoring 10 points Tuesday night.
Overall, Pierce is shooting 52.9 percent from the floor and a team-best 54.5 percent from three in the series. Those marks have been ideal for a Wizards team that's craved capable off-ball scorers to supplement the production of John Wall and Bradley Beal.
If the Wizards offense can continue to use Wall's penetration and Beal's scoring to lay a stable foundation, all Pierce will need to do is chip in catch-and-shoot threes while stretching out opposing defenses in his modified role as Washington's small-ball power forward.
"I don't want to go through customs no more!" Pierce exclaimed following Washington's 117-106 Game 2 win, according to The Washington Post's Michael Lee.
At this rate, he won't have to.
Dennis Schroder, PG, Atlanta Hawks
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At 21 years old, Dennis Schroder is still crafting his game and working to promote his name as one of the NBA's more reliable second-unit ball-handlers.
But for a second-year player who was considered a fairly raw prospect as a rookie, Schroder has expanded his offensive arsenal to include dribble-drives, threes, floaters and solid pick-and-roll execution.
With the Atlanta Hawks up 2-0 against the Brooklyn Nets, Schroder has taken advantage of his time in control of the team's offense, generating averages of 12.5 points and four assists.
Schroder's scoring average is actually equal to that of Paul Millsap, who's played almost 12 more minutes per game in a starting role.
Flashing excellent control around the bucket and stellar breakaway speed in transition, Schroder possesses the necessary blend of discipline and athleticism to torment the Nets defense.
His game is still a little rough around the edges, but if the first two games of his series have been any indication, the Hawks have a keeper on their hands.
Josh Smith, PF, Houston Rockets
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The Josh Smith redemption tour is officially underway, so buy your tickets before they sell out.
While an 11-point, seven-rebound, two-block showing in Game 1 wasn't quite enough to salivate over, Smith went berserk in Game 2, leading the Houston Rockets offense to a 30-19 fourth-quarter romp of the Dallas Mavericks as they emerged victorious, 111-99.
But it wasn't Smith's 15 points that stole the show. Instead, it was his nine assists—including seven in the fourth quarter—that gutted Dallas as it attempted to even the series 1-1.
"I don't need to be, but it does give people the opportunity to be reminded how versatile I can be," Smith said after Game 2, according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. "People tend to always point out the negatives in situations. Everybody has flaws. People try to magnify them [with me] more than other players. And I don't know why."
At this rate, there won't be anymore negative storylines for dissenters to dwell on.
Smith has found a role that suits him on a team that allows him to play freely with the ball in his hands. Now a feared presence in 4-5 pick-and-rolls with the explosive Dwight Howard, J-Smoove is in a zone that should have Western Conference title contenders afraid.
Beno Udrih, PG, Memphis Grizzlies
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Who says the mid-range jumper is a lost art?
Spurning analytical convention all season long, Memphis Grizzlies point guard Beno Udrih has made a living in the sweet spot between the paint and three-point line.
During the regular season, Udrih shot the ball at a 51.4 percent clip from mid-range, which was a more efficient rate than his paint touches that didn't come in the restricted area.
Now emerging as Memphis' secret weapon after the Grizzlies established a 2-0 series lead against the Portland Trail Blazers, Udrih is starting to turn heads as more than a game manager off the pine.
Despite suffering a right ankle sprain in the first half of Game 2, Udrih is scoring at an even rate with Marc Gasol. Only Mike Conley has filled his box score with more buckets in that span.
It took Udrih all of eight minutes to procure eight of his 10 points in Memphis' 97-82 Game 2 win, using his stop-and-pop jumper and quick acceleration to give Portland's defense fits.
"Portland has to keep Udrih, and all the Memphis guards, on one side of the floor and avoid the scrambling that follows when ball handlers get loose on screens," The Oregonian's Mike Richman wrote. "And when Grizzlies guards do get free it's imperative to recover quickly and get a hand in their face to make those mid-range looks as uncomfortable as possible."
The Grizzlies' bigs may be off to lackluster scoring starts, but with Udrih and Conley forming a dynamic one-two punch in the backcourt, it may not matter much against the depleted Blazers.
All statistics are current as of April 23 and courtesy of NBA.com unless noted otherwise.
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