The NBA playoffs always deliver. Whether it is superstars battling or young stars bursting onto the scene, summertime in the NBA is when legends are made.
When discussing which players could be in the conversation for greatest of all time, many point to postseason results. The problem is that these are team sports and sometimes, great players run into great teams at the wrong time. Such is the case for guys like John Stockton and his Utah Jazz running into the buzzsaw known as the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.
Sure, Jordan went 6-0 in the NBA Finals and his supporters cling to that number when discussing his status while using LeBron James’ Finals record of 4-6 against him. Perhaps there is a better measure of greatness for comparison.
Game Score is a statistic developed by John Hollinger that brings together all of the statistics in order to quantify a player’s productiveness in any given game. A Game Score of 10 is considered average and 40 or above is an outstanding performance.
While they may not be in the GOAT conversation, looking at how superstars like Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant stack up next to Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan can help paint the picture of how special the latter were during their careers.
Using Game Score, let’s take a look at each NBA legend’s best postseason performance.
The Golden State Warriors have won four championships with Curry, bringing him to the same number as James and one short of Bryant.
His playoff performance came in Game 3 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors. Curry scored 47 points on 45% shooting with eight rebounds and seven assists for a Game Score of 37.2.
In his 147 playoff games, Curry has zero outstanding performances and 15 below-average scores (10% of all games played), according to Game Score.
The Warriors won two of those four titles with Durant at Curry’s side. Durant’s best NBA Finals performance was Game 3 of the 2018 Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers in which he had 43 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists on 65% shooting, leading to a 39.6 Game Score.
KD’s best playoff performance occurred during the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. Durant amassed 49 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists on 70% shooting, for a Game Score of 50.4. This is actually the third-highest playoff Game Score in NBA history, trailing only Damian Lillard (55.9) and Charles Barkley (52.6).
Yes, Durant had the third-greatest postseason performance of all-time (according to Game Score), but it was also his only statistically outstanding performance so far in his career. Just one of his 168 career playoff games registered an outstanding score (.5%), while he has 10 below-average scores (5.9%).
Curry and Durant are two of the most prolific scorers in the history of the NBA. They have delivered incredible playoff moments and series. Despite all of that, they fall just short of the conversation with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
Kobe’s best playoff performance came in the first round of the 2008 Western Conference playoffs. In Game 2 against the Denver Nuggets, Bryant had 49 points, 10 assists, and four rebounds on 67% shooting for a Game Score of 43.6.
His best Finals performance came the following year against the Orlando Magic in Game 1. Kobe finished that contest with 40 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, good for a Game Score of 33.
Bryant played in 220 career playoff games, but had just two contests graded as outstanding (.9%). On the contrary, he had 18 total Game Scores that were considered below average (8.1). Kobe may be a tier above Curry and Durant, but even he is a few notches below James and Jordan.
Thanks to good health, LeBron has appeared in 284 playoff games and counting. His greatest performance to date was during the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic. In Game 1, James finished with 49 points, six rebounds, eight assists, two steals and three blocks for a Game Score of 44.7. While James filled the stat sheet, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost, 107-106.
James’ greatest Finals performance came in an elimination Game 6 during the 2016 NBA Finals between the Cavaliers and Warriors. James led the Cavs to victory with 41 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks. His Game Score was a 42.5.
Of his 284 career playoff appearances, six of them have been graded as outstanding (2.1%), while 14 have fallen below average (4.9%).
Then, there is the barometer of greatness.
Michael Jordan played in 179 playoff games during his career. His best performance was in the first round of the 1992 Eastern Conference playoffs against the Miami Heat. In Game 3, all Jordan did was score 56 points on 67% shooting with five rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks. His 49.8 Game Score is the fourth-highest in NBA playoff history.
Jordan’s best Finals performance came in Game 4 of the 1993 NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns. In that game, he had 55 points, eight rebounds and four assists for a Game Score of 38.9.
This next stat is the separator. Jordan finished with seven outstanding grades (3.9%) and just five below-average performances (2.7%) throughout his career. He is the only player to finish with more outstanding games than below-average games.
To add to the comparisons, Jordan has the NBA record for Game Score with 64.6; in a 117-113 regular-season win over the Cavaliers, Jordan recorded 69 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, four steals and one block while shooting 62.2% from the field. Bryant has the third-highest Game Score in NBA history (63.5), while James’ is 18th (53.2).
The NBA playoffs are when legends are made. While the sample size is small, the next name up is Luka Doncic, as he is the only player in the history of the league to have three Game Scores in the top 20 all-time (2nd-highest,11th-highest and 19th-highest).
