'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
This postseason is shaping to be one of the most engaging ones in recent times. For the first time in over 8 years, there is no clear favourite to win either the Western Conference title or the Eastern Conference berth to the Finals.
The Cavaliers are acclimatizing to life after Kyrie Irving, while the likes of the Toronto Raptors and the Philadelphia 76ers are on the rise this season.
The West, meanwhile, remains the Murderer's Row that it always has been. Barring the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors, it is not clear which teams will make it past the first round of playoff games in this bracket.
Filled with high-caliber playoff teams, and the real possibility of an upset for the Warriors this season, NBA fans are promised a treat of a playoffs this time around as well.
Let's take a look at the top 10 role players playing for playoff teams this season.
#10 Larry Nance Jr.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were foundering in early February, coming off a rough patch in late December and January which had carried into the month of February. It was clear that their roster was aging and no longer able to play an uptempo game - especially at the defensive end.
Enter Kobe Altman. The Cavaliers' GM pulled off a slew of deadline deals that reduced the baggage in the roster, replacing them with young and promising players of the likes of Rodney Hood, Larry Nance Jr., and Jordan Clarkson. Out of these three players, Larry Nance Jr. looks like their most invaluable addition based on the evidence so far.
Hobbled due to the constant injury troubles, as well as the regressing play of their 2012 first round draft pick Tristan Thompson, the Cavaliers needed to find a big man with the ability to protect the rim and contribute within the paint area on offense. In Larry Nance, they found the ideal guy to plug into TT's diminishing role.
Expect Nance to showcase a few highlight reel shows in the playoffs as well.
#9 Trevor Ariza
Trevor Ariza has made a career out of his reputation as a good on-ball defender capable of taking various assignments at different points of a game. His athleticism and 3-point shooting ability, added to this, rounds him out as one of the more complete players in the league, and he's put up a regular season campaign that is nearly spotless for the rampaging Houston Rockets.
Ariza is averaging 11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals this season while making 36.8% of his 3-point attempts (over 70% of his shot attempts are from this range) and 50% of his 2-point field goal attempts. In a starting role, Ariza fulfills his role to the T, and his offense will be vitally important to a Rockets team which consists of streaky shooters like Luc Mbah a Moute and PJ Tucker other than him.
#8 Darren Collison
Darren Collison has been quietly putting up a statistical season that belongs to the dreams of fans obsessed with statistical efficiency.
He's scoring 12.4 points per game on 49.5% field goal percentage, a league-leading 46.8% 3-point percentage and 88.2% from the free throw line - a near 50-40-90 statline achieved only by 7 players since the introduction of the 3-point line in 1979.
Collison has been a vital cog in the Pacers team that will finish fifth in the Eastern Conference standings. In addition to making field goals at career-best efficiency levels, Collison has also been a solid playmaker with 5.3 assists per game this year.
The Pacers will need him at his efficient best if they are to have any chance of progressing through to the second round of the playoffs.
#7 Khris Middleton
Khris Middleton has been one of the Milwaukee Bucks front office's shrewdest acquisitions over the past 5 years. While he's always been at least an average NBA player, he has now blossomed into a scorer and secondary playmaker vital to the working of the Bucks' offensive schemes.
Middleton's season averages of 20.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists are revelatory for most wing players - if he were playing in a bigger market, he could've gotten more fanfare in the All-Star voting sweepstakes.
The Bucks' net rating undergoes a swing from +2.4 with him on the court to -2.9 with him off the court, ranking him third in on/off differentials behind Eric Bledsoe and Giannis.
#6 Otto Porter Jr.
Otto Porter Jr, while not an All-Star by any stretch of the imagination, is one of the most efficient scorers in the NBA right now. During the initial stretch of the John Wall MCL injury absence in February, Porter played pretty much like one with stats of 19.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists while shooting 52.3% from the field and 40.7% from behind the arc.
Porter has season averages of 14.7 points per game on 50.2% shooting from the field and a red-hot 44.1% from downtown. He has also been a two-way presence, averaging 1.5 steals a game and guarding a variety of assignments on switches.
The Wizards will need him to keep performing at the same level to have any chance of making it to the second round of the playoffs.
#5 Jusuf Nurkic
The acquisition of Nurkic from the Denver Nuggets during the trade window in the 2016-17 season has provided dividends for the Portland Trail Blazers. Nurkic is a traditional center who gets nearly all of his points from within 14 feet of the basket, but like good old-school big men, the Nurk has been a rock on the defensive end for the Blazers.
Averaging 14.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, Nurkic has not only been a nice auxiliary scorer for the Blazers, he's also been their defensive anchor.
With Nurkic on the court, the Blazers defend at a rate good enough for 2nd place in the league. With him off the floor, their defensive rating falls by 4.5 points per 100 possessions, underlining his importance to their defensive stature.
Nurkic is a big body who can not only crash the glass and defend the paint against slashers and cutters from elite offenses like those of the Warriors and Rockets, he can also be a real handful on the offensive end on his night as his 7', 280-pound frame gives him a size advantage over most centers.
#4 JJ Redick
There were a number of people who, understandably, questioned the wisdom of rewarding a contract worth $23 million to a player whose only elite skill is to score 3-pointers at a high rate.
Through the course of this regular season campaign, Redick has slowly won these doubters over to his side with both his play on the court and his mentoring role off the court for a young Sixers squad finding its real place in the dynamically changing NBA.
Redick has season averages of 17.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. In addition to scoring at high efficiency (making 46% of all his field goal attempts, 42% from 3-point range and 90.4% from the free throw line), Redick has been a good secondary playmaker in the Sixers' offense that ranks first in the league for passes made per game.
Redick will be having a field day in the playoffs, as teams will have to throw double teams on Embiid and Simmons while blocking the paint and allowing him a freer run from the 3-point line than the usual NBA game. Expect him to keep up the same productivity and be a major part of the reason why the Sixers will make a deep playoff run.
#3 Terry Rozier
The Boston Celtics' squad has been stretched to the limit over the last month or so, what with injuries to All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward as well as crucial role players Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis. During this time, they have needed their role players to step up - which they have.
Over the past 15 games, Terry Rozier has per-game averages of 15.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists while playing 32.7 minutes per game. Granted, his field goal percentage of 39.5% has been way below par for the course, but his 3-point percentage of 38.1% on over 7 attempts per game borders on the realms of the elite 3-point shooters in the league.
Rozier is also one of the peskiest on-ball defenders and has the ability to make game-changing plays and play as a lockdown defender in the playoffs. The Celtics will need every ounce of energy that this 3rd-year guard oozes on the court to have any chance of making it past the first round.
#2 Steven Adams
There are no two ways about this: Steven Adams has been the 3rd best player on the OKC roster this season. And the reason for this statement is not so much a downfall from Carmelo Anthony as is the Kiwi's improved play this season.
Adams is putting up a statline of 13.8 points and 9.0 rebounds while securing 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. The crazy bits of his statline are yet to come, though: Adams is 4th in the league in field-goal percentage at 62.7%, while his offensive rebounding percentage of 16.4% is second only to former teammate Enes Kanter in the NBA.
Adams grabs 5.1 offensive boards a game - tied for the best figure in the NBA with Andre Drummond. Adams is a 7', 265-pound beast built sturdily enough to shake up the likes of LeBron James with his rock-like physique on hard screens.
Without Adams, the net rating of the Thunder falls from a spectacular 4.7 points per 100 possessions to a miserly -0.4 points per 100.
#1 Jrue Holiday
It is no stretch to say that Jrue Holiday would've been a legitimate contender for All-Star honors if he were playing in the Eastern Conference. His raw statline of 18.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 36.2 minutes per game certainly makes for a compelling case.
Add in his efficiency (49.1% from the field, 33.9% from the 3-point line and 78.5% from the free throw line) and his defensive contributions (Holiday ranks 14th in the league in win shares per game), which have earned him All-Defensive team attention, and you begin to see why he is somewhat better than some of the players who made the cut from the Eastern Conference.
In DeMarcus Cousins' absence over the final 40% of the season, Holiday has stepped up to perform even better - his statline of 21.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 0.7 blocks and 1.4 steals in the month of February are definitely those of a player deserving of voter attention for the All-Star weekend festivities.
Much of the Pelicans' progress from the first round will depend on the contributions of this mercurial two-way player.
Guess the Lakers players!
