The 2012 Playoffs don't stop, as Day twenty seven is behind us. The standard one game schedule continued with the Thunder visiting the Spurs for the first game of the Western Conference Finals. In it, the hometown team ended up victories.
Some players performed above the expectations. Who ranks on the top? Without any further ado, here's the list!
3. Tim Duncan
I start off the list with the veteran power forward who played in a similar way against the Thunder like he has throughout the entire playoffs so far. Tim Duncan was on that level and was one of the biggest contributors to his Spurs' win.
Tim established as a presence on both sides of the court. He didn't have a great shooting day, but found his rhythm late when it was most needed and ended up with many points. He was also excellent on the glass and provided the usual great defensive presence as well.
Duncan scored 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out two assists, recorded two turnovers, swatted an attempt, shot 5-16 from the field and 4-6 from the charity in exact 35 minutes of action. That's another great performance by Timmy.
2. Kevin Durant
Another forward who's been playing in a similar level like Duncan throughout the entire playoffs and played like that in Game One, Kevin Durant was just excellent. Unfortunately, his excellence wasn't enough as the Thunder failed to win.
Nonetheless, he played excellent overall. He was aggressive, especially on offense. Kevin entered his rhythm from the start to the end, was terrific on the glass, involved the open man, played solid defense etc. In other words, he was great in nearly all the aspects of the game.
Durant scored 27 points, pulled down 10 rebounds, dished out four assists, recorded two steals, blocked three shots, committed two turnovers, shot 8-19 from the field, 0-4 from three point land and 11-12 from the stripe in 42 minutes. However, he didn't get a shot off in the fourth and the Thunder payed the price for that.
1. Manu Ginobili
Manu Ginobili has been a huge factor for the Spurs off the bench for numerous years. He just did the similar thing again, as he came up big against the Thunder. He was on his game, especially in the late period where he definitely went to vintage Manu.
He provided the spark with his aggressiveness and motivation. Ginobili entered his rhythm as a shooter from the start to the end of the game and ended up with a bunch of points. He was excellent in all the other areas as he had a terrific all-around performance to follow his excellence in the fourth quarter.
He poured in 26 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out three assists, recorded three turnovers, had one steal, shot 9-14 from the field, 3-5 from distance and 5-5 from the charity in 34 minutes of action. He rightfully gets the nod over anyone else.
