NBA Stars Who Are Even Better in the Playoffs

To be a favorite, it helps to have one of the exclusive few who are actually better in the playoffs than they are in the 82-game slate.Players who exemplify that follow.Amin Elhassan, NBA analyst for ESPN, joins The Full 48 with Howard Beck to discuss the overrated Clippers, the Lakers' unexpected dominance, LeBron's stamina, the Rockets' small-ball style and the origins of The Pitino Game.Anthony Davis doesn't have a ton of playoff minutes to his name, but he's certainly made the most of the 530 he's played.AD's basic playoff averages for points (30.5), rebounds (12.7) and blocks (2.5) per game are all higher than his career marks in the regular season. His playoff box plus/minus may be lower than his regular-season number, but it's still 22nd among players with 500-plus minutes in the three-point era.While AD was putting up 31.5 points per game on the Warriors in his playoff debut, Draymond Green explained why he flexed after scoring a bucket on the New Orleans Pelicans big man: "If you score a bucket over Anthony Davis, you better pound your chest, too, because it ain't happening often. By just about every measure, he's LeBron James' No. 2 for the Los Angeles Lakers, but if he raises his level of play for the postseason again, it could lead to a title and passing of the torch.Kevin Durant isn't just one of the greatest postseason performers of all time, his dominance in the Finals is also almost unparalleled.Over the course of 15 games, KD has averaged 30.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.9 threes, 1.5 blocks and one steal with a 67.4 true shooting percentage. He helped push the most famous and intimidating basketball team in the world—the LeBron James-era Heat—to the brink.Draymond Green has received plenty of praise and adoration for his regular-season play, including five All-Defensive selections, three All-Star nods, two All-NBA honors and one Defensive Player of the Year award.His career averages of 9.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game provide a good illustration of his well-rounded contributions to the Warriors dynasty. Sure, Draymond Green's suspension helped, but knocking off one of the greatest regular-season teams in NBA history has to count for something.LeBron also has the top two (and four of the top 12) game scores in Finals history.On June 16, 2016, he went for 41 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks. The approach has been the subject of much analysis over the last two seasons.In Leonard's' mind, it works."I don't think I'd be playing right now if I would've tried to go through the season," Leonard told ESPN's Rachel Nichols during the 2019 Finals.If load management played any role in Leonard's dominance last postseason, it's tough to fault the Los Angeles Clippers for following suit in 2019-20.Leonard's final numbers in that title run with the Raptors were 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.3 threes and 1.7 steals per game with a 61.9 true shooting percentage.LeBron James, Larry Bird and Tim Duncan are the only players in NBA history who tallied more wins over replacement in a single playoffs.This run, much more than 2014's, cemented Leonard as an all-time great playoff performer.