These NBA playoff performers have the most to prove

We’ve heard plenty of discourse lately on the difference in perception of white European players to their Black American counterparts regarding playoff success. No matter what side you err on, there is no denying it’s time for Jokić to step it up and make a deep playoff run. This is the healthiest the team has been in years.

With Jokić on pace to win his third straight MVP trophy, the incredibly talented Serbian center must put the team on his back and make it to at least the Western Conference Finals. This is the best chance the Nugs have had at a championship in years, thanks to balanced parity within the West and injury luck. The Nuggets are first in the West, giving them home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. With only one Conference Finals under his belt, the time has come for The Joker to prove he can be the MVP of the playoffs too.

Since making the Conference Finals in 2021, it’s been a hell of a ride for Young and the Atlanta Hawks. They got absolutely gobsmacked by the Miami Heat in the first round of last year’s playoffs. After adding Dejounte Murray (pictured with Young) last summer, the Hawks gave Young an All-Star-caliber backcourt mate to co-handle the scoring load. This season the two have had to work through injuries and a coaching change to evolve past “your turn, my turn” shot-taking.

At the time of writing, Young is averaging a blistering 27 points per game, 10.1 assists per game, and 1.1 steals per game, but on awful shooting splits of 43.6 percent/33.6 percent/89 percent. Young wasn’t chosen as an All-Star reserve this season, mostly because of his team’s failure to launch. But Young has been atrocious on defense this season, earning a 118.2 rating. The defense isn’t expected to improve, but Young must find a way to play off-ball and increase his shooting percentages from last season’s Miami series (32 percent from the field, 18 percent from three).

There’s no doubt Tatum has been an MVP candidate this season. But he has yet to come through consistently in the clutch to be considered a bona fide superstar. Instead, he has choked at the end of many games this season, so much so that he might be dubbed the next “Boston Strangler.” This was never more obvious than in the Finals last season. After a blistering scoring run in the previous rounds, averaging 25 ppg on 48 percent from the field in the Eastern Conference Finals, he only managed 21.5 ppg in the Finals on 42 percent from the field, scoring a pathetic 13 points (6-18) in the eliminating Game Six.

Tatum must show he can be the go-to option in the clutch, as his teammate Jaylen Brown has had to be “the guy” thus far. When looking at the 25 players most frequently in isolation, he’s 17th in efficiency (at the time of this writing). That doesn’t exactly scream “Mamba Mentality.” If Tatum can finally step up, that gives the Boston Celtics two unstoppable forces in crunchtime, something no other Eastern Conference team can boast.

Randle has had his second improbable career turnaround this season. His bounce-back this year has been even more impressive than in 2021, when he was named an All-Star, All-NBA, and awarded Most Improved Player. Not only have his stats been at career highs, but his mind seems solidified after a tumultuous season last year where he bickered with fans, teammates, and himself.

But just like two years ago, Knicks fans and Randle want to see it translate to the playoffs. In the Knicks’ 2021 first-round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks, Randle was double-teamed and blitzed on defense, forcing him into low-percentage shots and turnovers. This season he needs to prove to himself and the Knicks fan base he can be the man come playoff time. He looks at an all-time high in confidence and poise, which are great signs for the postseason. But with his mind right, there’s no reason to believe Randle won’t be the same dominant force in the playoffs that he’s been this season.

After getting son’d by Luka Dončić in last year’s Western Conference Semifinals, Booker desperately needs to shine this postseason. Booker’s poor performance against the Mavs, in a star-studded matchup with Dončić, was personified in the meme of Dončić smiling at Booker while he looked on in embarrassment. Booker doesn’t need to worry about being “the guy” this season. Superstar and all-time great Kevin Durant now fills that role.

Now Booker has been repositioned as a second option, a role in which he might be the best in the NBA. Booker’s 27.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, and 5.6 apg (as of this writing) in a secondary scoring role is unfair. Booker will be the primary beneficiary of the double teams, and the heliocentric vortex Durant creates whenever he has the ball in his hand. All of this to say, there are now zero excuses for Booker to rip apart opposing defenses and matchups he sees this postseason. It’s time for Booker to ball the hell out.

During his last two seasons with the Utah Jazz, Rudy Gobert was played off the floor as teams went small, employing spacing centers capable of knocking down threes. Gobert was killed in drop coverage, unable to guard the perimeter on switches. Now that the Minnesota Timberwolves gave up one of the largest trade packages in NBA history to get him, he must show he was worth the cost. Not only does he have to stay on the floor, but he also has to show he can dictate the pace in the playoffs.

The 12 ppg and 13 rpg he averaged in the first-round thrashing by the Dallas Mavericks last postseason won’t cut it. The T-Wolves need him to be the defensive anchor they brought him in to be. His advanced metrics have cratered this season, and, as of this writing, he is averaging a career-low in box plus/minus and the second-worst defensive win share of his career (2.9). Part of that is playing next to much better defensive players, like Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards, but he will need to remind everyone what a defensive maestro he is come playoff time.

It feels like forever since we’ve seen Leonard be The Terminator during a playoff run. The Clippers failed to make it out of the Play-In Tournament last season, falling to the New Orleans Pelicans. But this year, in a jam-packed Western Conference, the Clips are tied for fifth place (as of this writing). They boast the most talent-laden roster, the best coach in the NBA with Ty Lue, and the two-time Finals award-winning Leonard as the point of attack. But the 2019 Toronto Raptors championship feels like forever ago.

Injuries, Doc Rivers, and roster turnover have kept the Clips from reaching their full potential. Well, now Leonard is back and healthy, leaving no excuse for a deep playoff run. To maintain his place on the top 10 player list, he must assert his surgical dominance on whoever they play in the first round, earning an upset against a potentially higher-seeded team with a home-court advantage. The Clips are currently .500 on the road (18-18, as of this writing). But if Leonard can be the leader the team needs him to be on the court, he can be the ace in the hole no opposing team can match.

You can guarantee Mitchell wants to do everything he can this post-season to make fans of his forget about the disastrous Utah Jazz first-round exit last season. Even though he’s changed teams, the under-whelming playoff performance by Mitchell — he shot 40 percent from the field and 21 percent from three against the Mavs — is still the last impression Spida has left on the postseason. He’s been electric since joining the Cavs, providing one-half of a star-studded backcourt with Darius Garland.

But Cavs fans are thirsty for a return to postseason success post-LeBron and need Mitchell to be worth the price tag it cost in picks and players to acquire him. Based on the horrid shooting numbers from the last Jazz series, that shouldn’t be hard to outperform. But suppose they end up playing the Knicks in the first round, as that matchup would provide many juicy storylines. In that case, he will also need to trust his teammates more than he did in Utah, where the assist ratio between him and former teammate Rudy Gobert was held under a microscope.

While there’s a consensus around Adebayo as a star-level player, he has yet to have a career-defining playoff performance. In four playoff appearances, Adebayo has yet to average over 20 ppg in a run. Hell, he hasn’t ever averaged over 18 ppg in a postseason, including the Heat’s 2020 Finals run in The Bubble. He is one of the best defensive stoppers in the league, earning NBA All-Defensive Second Team three times.

But offensive, he is limited beyond using his athleticism in the open floor and under the basket. He has developed a decent mid-range game but lacks perimeter ability as a career 13 percent three-point shooter. The Heat currently own the fifth-worst offensive rating at 111.2 (as of this writing) and will need Adebayo to show new wrinkles to his game to sustain the Heat’s offense beyond Jimmy Butler’s isolations and Tyler Herro’s streaky shooting. Adebayo has a month to hone and incorporate a jump hook, three-point shot, or an off-the-dribble pull-up before the playoffs start.