Greatest NBA finals game performace

[AussieBuck]

KD Game 3 2018 NBA Finals

43pts
13 rebs
7 assists
FG 65% 15/23
3PT 66% 6/9
FT 100% 7/7

82% TS!!!!!!!!!

with the dagger in Cleveland same spot...

Context is key here.

Steph had an off game
Klay was off
while Dray was defending he wasnt giving you consistent offense

KD really carried the team... that was one of the best finals performances i ever seen... he was giving everyone buckets

heres a video to refresh your memory lol

Watch on YouTube

Imagine posting that as evidence in this context. A whole bunch of single coverage against mediocre defenders.

[Stan]

I don't know why that game gets so much hype when his Game 1 performance was clearly better. 32/20/6/3/7 on 65%

[PistolPeteJR]

KD Game 3 2018 NBA Finals

43pts
13 rebs
7 assists
FG 65% 15/23
3PT 66% 6/9
FT 100% 7/7

82% TS!!!!!!!!!

with the dagger in Cleveland same spot...

Context is key here.

Steph had an off game
Klay was off
while Dray was defending he wasnt giving you consistent offense

KD really carried the team... that was one of the best finals performances i ever seen... he was giving everyone buckets

heres a video to refresh your memory lol

Watch on YouTube

Considering the thread is “Greatest NBA Finals Performance”, considering the absolute crazy mismatch in ‘18, and considering the fact that even if his teammates were off, gravity is a thing, this is not that impressive.

[planetmars]

Basketball reference has a stat called "Game Score" that Hollinger coined to determine how productive a player was.

You can use their play index to find the top game scores for all finals games since 83-84 sine that is when box score stats were readily available.

http://bkref.com/tiny/azbI9

The top 10 game scores in descending order for NBA finals are as follows:

1. Lebron James - Game 6 2016 : 41/8/11/4/3
2. Lebron James - Game 1 2018 : 51/8/8/1/1
3. Tim Duncan - Game 1 2003 : 32/20/6/3/7
4. Kevin Durant - Game 3 2018 : 43/13/7/1/1
5. Magic Johnson - Game 6 1980 : 42/15/7/3/1
6. Lebron James - Game 5 2016: 41/16/7/3/3
7. Michael Jordan - Game 4 1993: 55/8/4/0/0
8. Shaquille O'Neal - Game 1 2000: 43/19/4/0/3
9. Stephen Curry - Game 3 2019: 47/8/7/2/0
10. Charles Barkley - Game 2 1993: 42/13/4/1/1

[Joao Saraiva]

Basketball reference has a stat called "Game Score" that Hollinger coined to determine how productive a player was.

You can use their play index to find the top game scores for all finals games since 83-84 sine that is when box score stats were readily available.

http://bkref.com/tiny/azbI9

The top 10 game scores in descending order for NBA finals are as follows:

1. Lebron James - Game 6 2016 : 41/8/11/4/3
2. Lebron James - Game 1 2018 : 51/8/8/1/1
3. Tim Duncan - Game 1 2003 : 32/20/6/3/7
4. Kevin Durant - Game 3 2018 : 43/13/7/1/1
5. Magic Johnson - Game 6 1980 : 42/15/7/3/1
6. Lebron James - Game 5 2016: 41/16/7/3/3
7. Michael Jordan - Game 4 1993: 55/8/4/0/0
8. Shaquille O'Neal - Game 1 2000: 43/19/4/0/3
9. Stephen Curry - Game 3 2019: 47/8/7/2/0
10. Charles Barkley - Game 2 1993: 42/13/4/1/1

3 LBJ games in the top 10... and people say he is not good in the finals.

[hongdayuan]

Pascal Siakam scored 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting in his first NBA Finals game, a convincing 118-109 Raptors Game 1 win over the defending champion Golden State Warriors. He became just the seventh player ever to score 30 points on 80 percent shooting in the Finals, and joined Larry Bird, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant as the only players in Finals history to record a stat line of at least 30 points, five rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and two threes made. Those numbers are flat-out ridiculous in and of themselves.

unfortunately the sad truth is most probably stopped reading after "Pascal Siakam". the less recognition the better i guess, since his up for a new contract

[Bergmaniac]

James Worthy had a 36/16/10 triple-double in Game 7 of 1988 Finals against the Bad Boys Pistons.

[Air Apparent]

iverson handing the lakers an L

[Brooklyn91]

Context is key here.

Steph had an off game
Klay was off
while Dray was defending he wasnt giving you consistent offense

KD really carried the team... that was one of the best finals performances i ever seen... he was giving everyone buckets

heres a video to refresh your memory lol

Watch on YouTube

Considering the thread is “Greatest NBA Finals Performance”, considering the absolute crazy mismatch in ‘18, and considering the fact that even if his teammates were off, gravity is a thing, this is not that impressive.

Cavs were leading that game
Steph and Klay combined for a total of 21points
KD was going up aganist the so called “GOAT” in Lebron
Warriors only won by 9 points
Steph was not doubled often that particular game.

Great showing by KD

[Galloisdaman]

Isiah Thomas -- 43 points, 8 assists, 6 steals on a sprained ankle in 1988 Game 6

Was going to post this. This to me is was even more impressive than MJ's food poisoning game. He shot .563 from the field, and scored 25 points in a quarter on essentially one leg. That is an NBA Finals record for points in a quarter! IT played 44 minutes, and they lost the game by just one point. Had they won the game, they would of won the title.

I think he was also playing with a bad finger.

[Galloisdaman]

KD was great. I go with Clyde and Magic in part because they clinched with their big guys not playing in the final game. I know Wilt scored 4 pts but that was mostly on adrenaline. I go with Clyde first because look at who he was playing.

[mademan]

Steph had an off game
Klay was off
while Dray was defending he wasnt giving you consistent offense

KD really carried the team... that was one of the best finals performances i ever seen... he was giving everyone buckets

heres a video to refresh your memory lol

Watch on YouTube

Considering the thread is “Greatest NBA Finals Performance”, considering the absolute crazy mismatch in ‘18, and considering the fact that even if his teammates were off, gravity is a thing, this is not that impressive.

Cavs were leading that game
Steph and Klay combined for a total of 21points
KD was going up aganist the so called “GOAT” in Lebron
Warriors only won by 9 points
Steph was not doubled often that particular game.

Great showing by KD

watch the video, lol. All it is is Durant attacking single coverage all game against poor defenders on a poor defensive team. All the while playing in a finals they had no chance to lose with no pressure. That wouldnt make my top 20 finals performances. A guy like Kyrie had better ones (2 of them) in the 2016 finals

[LAKESHOW]

Tons of em. But Magics game has to be up there for performance and context. Rookie. Set off a decade worth up to 5 titles. Including a back to back. Giant rivalry with bird and celtics. Explosion of NBA popularity. Etc...

[Brooklyn91]

Considering the thread is “Greatest NBA Finals Performance”, considering the absolute crazy mismatch in ‘18, and considering the fact that even if his teammates were off, gravity is a thing, this is not that impressive.

Cavs were leading that game
Steph and Klay combined for a total of 21points
KD was going up aganist the so called “GOAT” in Lebron
Warriors only won by 9 points
Steph was not doubled often that particular game.

Great showing by KD

watch the video, lol. All it is is Durant attacking single coverage all game against poor defenders on a poor defensive team. All the while playing in a finals they had no chance to lose with no pressure. That wouldnt make my top 20 finals performances. A guy like Kyrie had better ones (2 of them) in the 2016 finals

I could say this about a lot of teams mentioned in here. The nets team OP named wasn’t nowhere near as good as the Spurs either. Furthermore, KD was matched up with a top 3 player of all time in a game where the Cavs were leading most of the time so what exactly are you talking about “no pressure”? In that case why KD won that game damn near by himself? MJ got single coverage against unathletic defenders a good amount of times

[Lalouie]

Rookie Magic playing center in Kareem's absence in game 6 on the road

42 pts (14/23 FG, 14/14 FT), 15 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk, in 47 min

certainly the most talked about

[mademan]

Cavs were leading that game
Steph and Klay combined for a total of 21points
KD was going up aganist the so called “GOAT” in Lebron
Warriors only won by 9 points
Steph was not doubled often that particular game.

Great showing by KD

watch the video, lol. All it is is Durant attacking single coverage all game against poor defenders on a poor defensive team. All the while playing in a finals they had no chance to lose with no pressure. That wouldnt make my top 20 finals performances. A guy like Kyrie had better ones (2 of them) in the 2016 finals

I could say this about a lot of teams mentioned in here. The nets team OP named wasn’t nowhere near as good as the Spurs either. Furthermore, KD was matched up with a top 3 player of all time in a game where the Cavs were leading most of the time so what exactly are you talking about “no pressure”? In that case why KD won that game damn near by himself? MJ got single coverage against unathletic defenders a good amount of times

His play was against the 29th ranked team defensively. The nets were always a top defensive team.

And by leading the whole way, you mean leading the 1st half? GSW took the lead in the 3rd quarter and jostled for a bit (CLE went back up by 1) and won it in the last 2 min with Curry, Iggy and KD making big plays. KD played well, but again, he's playing one of the worst defensive teams in the league on the most stacked team in the league (ever?). Between Kyrie and Lebron, they had 4 more impressive games in a single series in 2016

[AMW27]

One that no one mentioned yet.
Michael Jordan game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals.

[Calvin Klein]

I'll still take MJ's game 6 in 98 as the ultimate finals performance when you take context into consideration.

[ice9]

One that no one mentioned yet.
Michael Jordan game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals.

This was my first thought as well. Stats aren't as gaudy as other games mentioned, but he only played 18 minutes to get 35 in the first half, and it was ridiculous beyond the 3 pointers. Didn't need to do anything in the second half.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Saints14]

LeBron game 5 or 6 in 2016. At the very least that’s the best 2 game stretch in history