NBA Playoffs 2015: Biggest Winners in the Playoffs so Far

The NBA playoffs belong to winners.

It's the domain of legends, the province of Jordan and Russell and Magic. It's a realm where legacies are built and reputations are earned.

It's a place where our basketball deities come to bless us with moments of greatness: MJ's Flu Game, Reggie Miller's eight points in nine seconds, Ray Allen's corner three, Willis Reed hobbling out from the tunnel at MSG, Dr. J's levitating baseline scoop. 

But superstardom isn't necessarily a requisite for epic performances or extraordinary moments. 

Just this year we've seen role players like Austin Rivers, Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert, Beno Udrih and Otto Porter step up and have big moments.

We're going to take a look at nine players who have been big winners this postseason, but before we do, let's shine the light on two coaches—one of whom thrust himself into the conversation as one of the best in the NBA and another who likely saved his job.

Jason Kidd

Associated Press

Strange circumstances brought Kidd from Brooklyn to Milwaukee, but Kidd's bold move worked better than most could ever have imagined.

It's cliche to say, but time heals wounds, and no team was more wounded last year than the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Following the end of last season, Kidd's first as a head coach, the former New Jersey Net asked ownership for what essentially amounted to complete control of all player and team personnel decisions. He was promptly rebuffed, there was a falling out and next thing you know, Kidd is being traded to the Bucks—who fired then-coach Larry Drew to make the move possible—for a second-round pick.

Now, it appears the big move and big contract have paid off for Milwaukee. 

Just one year after winning a league-worst 15 games, the Bucks finished 41-41, a 26-game improvement good enough for the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. 

That alone would have been a success, but the Bucks refused to be first-round cannon fodder for the Chicago Bulls.

Kidd, with vastly inferior talent, soundly outcoached Tom Thibodeau for most of their first-round battle. The former Olympic gold medalist never let his team lie down and die after falling behind 3-0 in the series, even after a brutal Game 3 loss in overtime. 

Kidd's stifling defensive scheming frustrated the Bulls for most of this slugfest of a series, until that epic Game 6 collapse.

"He came in with the philosophy of: If you don't play defense, you won't play," Bucks' swingman Jared Dudley explained to the Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein.

It was a compelling tactical performance by a second-year coach with a young team battling against a Bulls squad that many believe to be the best in the East.

"I think we had a great season," Kidd said the day after being eliminated from the playoffs, per WISN 12. "We still have a ways to go, but the process has started and we have a foundation to build on."

Randy Wittman

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Washington fans may not like it, but after this year's postseason performance, Randy Wittman isn't going anywhere.

There is a strange dichotomy in Randy Wittman's prowess as a coach.

The abilities and success rates of regular season Randy Wittman and postseason Randy Wittman are vastly different. 

Wittman, in his fourth season as Washington's head coach, is 137-158 (.464 winning percentage) in the regular season but 11-6 (.647 winning percentage) in the playoffs.

After a blistering start that had them sitting at 33-21, the Wizards went just 13-15 following the All-Star break. They entered the postseason as the No. 5 seed and were set to take on the Raptors in a series most thought could go the distance.

Well, Wittman and his squad ended this thing by knockout in the first round.

It was a convincing 4-0 sweep, capped by John Wall ascending to pseudo-point god status and Paul Pierce proclaiming himself King in the North.

Even Wittman's cartoonish clipboard confusion was swept aside because of the success Washington found in the postseason.

Wittman's Wizards completely baffled Dwane Casey and Toronto.

His use and development of Otto Porter and insertion of Pierce into the starting lineup as a stretch 4 were critical to Washington's rediscovered vigor. 

“So he played some 4 during the course of the year, but not like he did [in the playoffs]," Wittman explained on 106.7 The Fan, per the Washington Post. "We don’t have back-to-back games. I can get him up into the 30s now and not worry about it. But during the regular season—as hard as it is to sometimes bite your tongue and not go for a win because of minutes—I wanted him fresh. And I think it’s worked out pretty good."

Things were going better than anyone could have hoped, with Washington taking down No. 1 seed Atlanta at home in the first game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Wizards were the only undefeated team left in the NBA at 5-0, but as it has all postseason, the plague of injury found its way into the locker room.

John Wall is out with a fractured left wrist and hand, and no one is sure for how long. Without Wall, the Wizards are likely doomed, but it looks like, at the very least, Wittman has saved his job yet again.

But if he can pull off an upset over the 60-win Hawks under this duress, this might just turn out to be one of the most unexpected coaching success stories in playoff history.

Blake Griffin

Yes, Blake Griffin still does plenty of dunking, as the video above alludes to. But he's more than that now—far more.

When Chris Paul went down last season, Griffin essentially served as the Clippers' de facto point guard. It was a fleeting glimpse at what the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion might one day become.

Fast forward over a year, and here we have Griffin, playing the best basketball of anyone in the playoffs.

Better than LeBron. Better than 2015 MVP Steph Curry. Better than James Harden. Better than his currently sidelined running mate Chris Paul.

I wrote in depth about Griffin's postseason contributions and evolution, but there's still so much to be said for how much he's meant to the Clippers against the Spurs and Rockets.

Among all postseason players, he ranks second in win shares (1.5), second in player efficiency rating (25.8), second in rebounds per game (13.6), fifth in assists per game (7.7), sixth in points per game (25.4) and eighth in minutes per game (41.0), per Basketball-Reference.com.

The numbers are breathtaking, but really, even with epic posterizations still a regular occurrence, Griffin's playmaking has been the most fun to watch.

He actually ranks second among all players this postseason with 18.8 points created by assists per game. Along with LeBron, he's the only forward in the league in the top 10.

His Game 7 triple-double (23 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists) against San Antonio was the first by a forward in a Game 7 since Scottie Pippen in 1992 and just the seventh in the history of the NBA playoffs, per Basketball-Reference.com.

The playoffs are all about stepping up and embracing the light rather than scurrying from it like a scared roach. Griffin has embraced the spotlight better than anyone in these playoffs.

He's the reason Los Angeles is still alive. He's the reason the Clippers stole a game (nearly two) in Houston without Paul. And he just might be the reason they finally make it through to the NBA Finals this year. 

Chris Paul

After 10 seasons in the NBA, Chris Paul finally got his legacy moment. 

His Game 7 floating bank shot over Tim Duncan—a man who knows a little something about how to use the glass—is now the pinnacle of his greatness.

"That was huge for us, just the shot," an exasperated Doc Rivers told Bleacher Report's Josh Martin following the game. "I'm so happy for him. The shot alone, no balance on the shot, falling backwards, amazing."

"It was unbelievable," said Griffin. "To be injured like that, when he came back, I was like, man—I asked him, 'What can you do? Can you do anything?' He's like, 'We'll see.'"

We did see. We were all witness to the greatness of the Point God.

CP3 has had almost everything over the course of his career: four assists titles, six steals titles, the all-time consecutive games with a steal record, eight All-Star game appearances, the 2005-2006 Rookie of the Year award, six All-NBA selections and six All-Defensive selections.

What he hasn't had is a defining postseason moment to go along with a deep playoff run into the NBA Finals. He has the former, but a lingering hamstring injury may deprive him of the latter.

Even so, Paul was remarkable in an epic series against the defending champions, especially in Game 7, when he essentially played on one healthy leg for the majority of the game.

Aside from the Game 3 blowout, Paul has been at his playmaking best this postseason, ranking third in assists, sixth in points created from assists and first in secondary assists per game.

The basketball world should be hoping Paul can come back at somewhere near 100 percent to continue a run we've all been waiting years to see.

If a healthy Paul is back alongside Griffin, CP3 might finally find some new jewelry come June.

John Wall

Our second in a string of three battered point guards, John Wall has been an absolute menace to the opposition this postseason. 

If Paul is the Point God, Wall is rapidly transforming into the Point Demigod. 

As mentioned earlier, Griffin ranks second in the NBA with 18.8 points created per assists in the postseason. Wall is first, and it's not even close.

His assists produce 30.8 points per game, far and away the most in the league this postseason. His 12.6 assists per game are also tops, as he's the only player averaging double digits. The 17.4 points per game aren't too shabby, either.

The Wizards are 5-0 with Wall in the lineup. They've been unstoppable, with not a single defense able to account for Wall's speed, vision and playmaking ability. He's finally using his high basketball IQ and otherworldly athletic ability in conjunction instead of alternating between one or the other.

That's all resulted in what currently ranks as the second-best offense in the NBA this postseason.

The Wizards have boosted their offensive rating all the way from 101.9 per 100 possessions to 108.9. The 7.1 point jump represents, by far, the biggest boost in the NBA, per NBA.com's John Schuhmann.

Only the Cavaliers, with a 110.3 offensive rating, have a more efficient offense than Washington, and it all starts with Wall.

Paul Pierce acknowledged how much Wall's loss means, though he did maintain that classic Pierce attitude. 

"Definitely you miss Wall," Pierce admitted to NBA.com's Sekou Smith. "Your All-Star starter and best player. Of course, you miss him. But we're not going to cry foul and use that as an excuse. We've got to band together collectively, use the guys we have, and we feel like we can beat them with what we have."

It would be a shame for Wall's epic postseason run to end in injury, but if he's shown us anything this year, it's that the future in Washington (even with Wittman still around) is something to be excited about.

Mike Conley

Our final broken point guard, Mike Conley certainly got the worst of things after an elbow from C.J. McCollum left him with a black eye and broken face in Game 3 of the Grizzlies-Trail Blazers first-round series.

So how can a dude with a broken face that required surgery be a winner?

Because when he's been in, he's been playing at an All-NBA, All-Defensive level.

In four games this postseason Conley has averaged 17.5 points (54.2% FG, 42.9% 3PT) and 3.5 assists while providing hounding, physical defense on two of the league's premier point guards (Damian Lillard and Steph Curry). Conley's 92.7 defensive rating ranks fourth among all players this postseason.

He just goes out there, night after night, and does it all.

So when Memphis headed into the Western Conference Semifinals against Golden State without its general, all hope seemed lost.

After a 101-86 Game 1 loss, Conley couldn't sit around any longer. He stood up, put on the mask and changed the entire complexion of the series.

In Conley's Game 2 return, he went off for 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting (3-of-6 from deep) while stifling the just-named MVP, Stephen Curry into a 7-of-19 shooting night.

He came back and inspired hope in the Grizzlies fanbase that maybe, just maybe, they can pull this thing out and knock off the NBA Finals favorite.

If they do, it'll be all because of the man in the mask.

Anthony Davis

The New Orleans Pelicans didn't win a single game against the Warriors. No one expected them to.

But none of that matters, because anyone who watched Anthony Davis battle against the 67-win Western Conference champs for four games came out a winner.

The Brow almost single-handedly went toe-to-toe with basketball's best team, and he made every moment compelling.

Bleacher Report's Alec Nathan captured just how historic Davis' first playoff series was:

"

With the spotlight shining bright, Davis averaged 31.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 1.3 steals while shooting 54 percent from the field and 88.9 percent from the free-throw line. Dating back 20 years, Davis is one of four players—along with Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Karl Malone—to average at least 30 points and 10 rebounds over the course of a playoff appearance. 

"

Even Steph Curry, via Twitter, had to acknowledge just what a monstrous performance Davis turned in:

"

@StephenCurry30: Step 1 accomplished! Had to fight every night but proud of the way we stepped up. God is Great! Let’s go home and regroup. S/O to AD. Beast

"

The 22-year-old has been a fast-rising superstar for the better part of this entire year, truly only derailed at any point by injury. But this was his introduction to the basketball world at large, to old fans and new, casual and diehard. This was a coming-out party the likes of which we've never seen.

At the rate he keeps developing, there's no telling what we'll see out of Davis next year. Only one thing is for certain: We'll be seeing a lot more of The Brow in the NBA playoffs.

Jimmy Butler

The 2015 NBA playoffs have been kind to Jimmy Butler.

A Most Improved Player Award. A first-round victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. A mano a mano battle with King James in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, in which Butler came out victorious.

And still, Butler hungers for more—the mark of a true, burgeoning superstar.

“I feel like I’ve come a long way from Tomball,” Butler told reporters following the award press conference, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. “I couldn’t be prouder. I just want to continue to improve and help my team win. I want to win a championship. That’s the final goal.”

Well, with his team tied 1-1 with the Cavs, that goal is still within reach. The road is paved with Kings and Chefs and Bears, but with Butler at his best, the Bulls can conquer all.

Butler has done a little bit of everything this postseason. He's currently averaging 23.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.5 steals (second among all postseason players) and has taken the reins from Derrick Rose as the leader of this team.

Butler's highest point in a playoff mountain range full of them came in Game 1 in Cleveland. Butler poured in 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals while sticking with LeBron on defense for most of his 44 minutes on the court.

Butler was exhausted down the stretch, but he never wavered. His net rating for the game was a plus-15.9, compared to James' minus-18.1. 

For just one night, Butler made the King look like a plebeian, and Bulls fans (and LeBron haters) everywhere rejoiced. 

Butler will have to continue that production for this Bulls team to finally make a push into the NBA Finals, but with an improved, confident, Taylor Swift-loving Butler leading the way, Chicago has all the makings of a winner. 

(And don't worry about that Game 2. Just shake it off, Jimmy.)

DeMarre Carroll

DeMarre Carroll was the only member of the Atlanta Hawks' starting five who didn't receive an All-Star nod this season, but if he wasn't around, the Hawks might not be either. 

Carroll averaged 12.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 9.3 shots per game during the regular season. Solid, and what the Hawks needed, but unspectacular. 

Well, he saved the spectacular for when it really mattered.

Carroll is currently averaging 18.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 12.4 shots per game. He's shooting 55.6 percent from the field and a ridiculous 46.5 percent from three on 5.4 attempts per game. His net rating is higher than LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Blake Griffin and every single member of the Atlanta Hawks.

If Carroll was a stock, Wall Street would be clamoring to buy every last share.

When the Hawks have gone cold, which they have done far more often this postseason than they did in the regular season, Carroll has been there to spark the fire.

"I thought the MVP of the series was DeMarre Carroll," Brooklyn Nets coach Lionel Hollins said following Carroll's 20-point, 7-of-8 from the field Game 6 performance, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Chris Vivlamore. 

And according to ESPN Stats & Info, Carroll became the first Hawk to ever record six consecutive 20-point playoff games following his 22-point performance against Washington in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

To top things off, he is an unrestricted free agent this summer. 

You might even venture saying that, in these playoffs, no one has been a bigger winner than Carroll.

Iman Shumpert & Tristan Thompson

Iman Shumpert and Tristan Thompson get double billing here.

When Kevin Love went down and J.R. Smith was suspended for the first two games of the series against the Bulls, the onus fell upon Thompson and Shumpert to step up and steady the ship.

LeBron will always be the captain, but even the best in the world can't navigate a ship this big without steady, loyal deckhands.

He found that and more in Thompson and Shump.

Thompson is an absolute menace on the boards, particularly the offensive glass. He routinely beats the defense to loose balls and gets in prime position at the perfect time. Rebounding is an art, so Thompson, accordingly, learned from rebounding's Picasso.

“I watch a lot of Dennis Rodman film, see how he impacted the game, see how he impacted his team when he was playing," Thompson told Basketball Insiders' Jessica Camerato. "Especially for this team, I feel like I can do that and bring it to the table. That’s what I try to do every night.”

Thompson has done a superb job in his emulation. He grabs 16.8 percent of all available offensive rebounds while on the court, a number second only to Tyson Chandler. And his overall net rating (11.0) is actually higher than LeBron's (9.5).

With Love out for the remainder of the postseason, Thompson has stepped up in a huge way.

Ditto for Shumpert in Smith's absence.

Shumpert carries a plus-10.2 net rating and his 64.9 true shooting percentage is 13th among all postseason players who average at least 20 minutes per game.

Noted for his defense, Shumpert has been a boon to the Cavs offense in Smith's absence. Cavaliers coach David Blatt has been thankful for Shump's production.

"Iman did for us exactly what we needed at a very, very important and successful time in the season," Blatt told reporters, according to WKYC's Matthew Florjancic. "I've always said that he's a guy that's capable of production at both ends of the court. When we needed him to do that, he obviously stepped in and did a terrific job."

It can be easy to look good next to LeBron, but in these playoffs, the King has, at times, needed Thompson and Shumpert almost as much as they have needed him. 

Stats courtesy of NBA.com unless otherwise stated.