The 5 worst superstar performances so far in the NBA playoffs

Every athlete has had a bad day. Even the greatest were not immune.

Muhammad Ali ran his mouth on Joe Frazier and took his first loss after 31 wins in the Fight of the Century. Michael Jordan was eliminated 9 times in the playoffs before Scottie Pippen came along. Wayne Gretzky was—well… Wayne Gretzky was untouchable. That man was the one god of hockey. Anyway, the point is, there are just days when professional athletes have performances that they would rather prefer to have not happened at all. 

Unfortunately for these NBA superstars, they had their share of choking in the playoffs – the biggest stage of competition in the entire sport. 

Here are just some of the worst for 2017:

 

5. Damian Lillard – Game 2 vs Golden State (110-81 loss)

12 points, 5 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 5-17 shooting (29%), 0-4 3PT (0%) 

For Lillard, there was no harder task than competing against the almighty Golden State Warriors in the first round, especially when he was literally Portland’s only hope. 

However, Lillard and teammate CJ McCollum got fans thinking they actually had a legitimate shot when they combined for a whopping 75 points in a Game 1 loss. Then Game 2 happened and Rip City went back to bracing for the inevitable.

Clearly gassed out from carrying the hapless Trail Blazers, the star duo combined for only 23 points on 9-34 shooting, with McCollum adding 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting. Everyone else tried to chip in but just ended up missing 60 of their 90 shots as a team.

As a courteous favor to the Blazers and the city of Portland, the Warriors promptly eliminated them in 4 games and moved on.

 

4. Paul George – Game 4 vs Cleveland (106-102 loss)

15 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 block,  5-21 shooting (24%)

 

In what may probably be his final performance as a member of the Indiana Pacers, PG13 gave it his all against the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers but just couldn’t cut through, losing Game 4 by just 4 points on a forgettable performance.

Team president Larry Bird clearly had enough of repeated losses to LeBron James and stepped down right after the Game 4 sweep. As for George, he can choose to enter free agency and join the likes of Kyle Lowry, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in a star-studded market for the summer.

 

3. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love – Game 3 vs Indiana (119-114 win)

Irving: 13 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 4-17 shooting (24%), 1-6 3PT (17%)

Love: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 4-12 shooting (33%)

 

It’s bad enough that you’re the defending champions and you trail by 26 to a bad team. But it’s even worse if your coach benches you for the entire fourth quarter as your aging team captain breaks his back to singlehandedly erase that deficit. That’s exactly what happened to Irving and Love.

One can only imagine the shame they must have felt when they were yanked from the game for sucking so bad. Sure, some could say that they have a good team system but really, at that moment of dire need with James going back to his old heroic antics, they knew they should have done better.

 

 

2. DeMar DeRozan – Game 2 vs Cleveland (125-103 loss)

5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 2-11 shooting (18%)

 

When you’re facing a team who has eliminated you in the playoffs last year, you should at least have already scouted where you went wrong and how could you improve from it. This should especially motivate yourself to do better when you and your team have already endured disrespect throughout the years because you choke at the biggest games. (READ: DeMar DeRozan is the NBA’s worst superstar)

Yet here is DeRozan, a man who averaged 27.3 points in the regular season, choking yet again in the Raptors’ biggest game. Assuming that Lowry did not get injured for Games 3 and 4, an upset Game 2 win could have given Toronto the right momentum heading into a potential 3-game winning streak that could culminate in a Game 6 clincher at home. 

Unfortunately, DeRozan curled up yet again, leading to a 4-game sweep for Cleveland. Looks like that “DeFrozen” nickname will not thaw out just yet. 

 

1. James Harden – Game 6 vs San Antonio (114-75 loss)

10 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 6 turnovers, 6 fouls, 2-11 shooting (18%), 2-9 3PT (22%)

 

Finally, here we are with what is possibly the most pathetic playoff performance from a superstar in the modern era.

Here was a man who exploded into the Most Valuable Player conversation by racking up wins and triple-doubles left and right, culminating with a 50-win season and a peak single-game performance of 53 points, 16 rebounds and 17 assists.

Here was a man who was playing a do-or-die game in front of thousands of fans who believe that he is the key to their first finals berth in 22 years – a man who has surpassed the Hall of Fame inductee Tracy McGrady in terms of dominance and skill as a Rocket.

 

And he blew it in every way possible. In 36 cringe-worthy minutes of action, Harden played nothing like the offensive nightmare he is known to be, with just two shot attempts coming inside the three-point line. He shook on open shots and passed when he didn’t have to, ending with him having thrice more turnovers than shots made. As a final slap to the face of the city of Houston, he fouled out, which he has never done in his previous 91 games this season. All this against a team playing without Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker. 

Now, whether or not he wins the regular season MVP award, there will always be a stain on it. People will always remember how one of the league’s brightest superstars personally terminated his own season against a team lacking two of their own stars. 

He still has time to make up for this disgrace by winning the Rockets a championship in the near future, but even then, he will always look back on this day and wonder how he got everything so wrong when everything was supposed to be going right. – Rappler.com