“Stephen Curry Leads in 4th Quarter Points Among Players in 2023 Playoffs Contention”

Interesting stat: Stephen Curry is the player with the most points in the 4th quarter among the players still in contention in these 2023 Playoffs, far ahead of the deserving Jalen Brunson, Jamal Murray, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

Number of points in the 4th quarter in these 2023 Playoffs:

1. Curry, 118
2. Brunson, 71
3. Murray, 69
4. Durant, 65
5. Booker, 64

Stephen Curry is far from the most decisive player in the last 12 minutes, but his franchise is trailing 3-2 by the Lakers. This is explained: the Warriors have since the beginning of these Playoffs the unfortunate tendency to rely almost essentially on the performance of their magician. Around, the players supposed to support him are disappointing. Before talking about his Splash Bro, let’s take the most striking example: Jordan Poole. The boy, however rather brilliant in the regular season (20.4 points on average), completely liquefies in this postseason by halving its number of points per game (10.6 on average in these Playoffs). With – we remember – a match 2 cra-cra as possible against Los Angeles, punctuated by a zero point in scoring.

Klay Thompson put out some great performances but still seems plugged into AC power. Curry must therefore take over at decisive moments. Criticized on his ability to be “clutch” precisely, Wardell crashes more than anyone else in the 4th quarter but perhaps arrives a little burnt in the last five minutes… We think back in particular to the nice you match 4, where he clearly seemed on his knees to outflank the praying mantis named Anthony Davis.

Anthony Davis’ MONSTROUS defense of Stephen Curry 🔒🔒🔒pic.twitter.com/lf0pfSKgOS

— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 9, 2023

It is somewhat the same analysis for the Knicks and Jalen Brunson, the scoring dependence of the leader is total and around him, Julius Randle is not as hot as in the regular season (average of 25.1 points in regular and 16.8 in the playoffs). RJ Barrett blows hot and cold without being a reliable source of scoring, and then…not much. We know that offensive quality is not what characterizes the Knicks. But still: Brunson carries his team almost all by himself when it comes to putting the ball in the hoop – evidenced by his mutant game 5 against the Heat. No wonder to see him just behind Steph in this ranking.

Brunson sinks a BIG triple over Jimmy 🎯 pic.twitter.com/T3NljqA3iV

— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 11, 2023

In third we find this good Jamal Murray, the king of the Playoffs. For once, he takes out his scorer costume only when it counts for Denver: at 20 points on average in the regular season, he goes to 25 in the Playoffs. He wonderfully supports a simply unplayable Nikola Jokic in the racket and everywhere else, becoming the second real offensive alternative for gold diggers. Not surprising to see Denver able to conclude the series tonight when we see the level of Jokic and Murray on these Playoffs. In the event of a tight end tonight in Arizona, pass the ball to Jamal. You never know what he would be able to do with it.

Devin Booker and Kevin Durant… is it really a surprise given that they score 3/4 of their team’s points? Not really. The two fellows are unplayable and skillful as can be, but around them… it’s the desert. Not really the one we know in the cactus region, but rather the offensive desert. A few suns are trying the scoring experience: Landry Shamet, for example, came out of his box in match 5, but it remains poor to accompany the two gunslingers. KD and D-Book will need their buddies to turn the table around and eliminate the Nuggets. A mission that promises to be particularly complicated but not impossible for these tireless scorers.

Phoenix bench stats in Game 2 vs Denver:

Suns bench is hilarious pic.twitter.com/R0hmREJiAy

— Nathan Marzion (@nathanmarzion) May 2, 2023

Sources : ESPN, R/NBA (Reddit)