Los Angeles Lakers: 4 players who play better in the postseason
By Josh Wilson
Lakers better in the playoffs: Danny Green
With a cursory glance at the stats sheet, Danny Green doesn’t appear to play better in the postseason compared to the regular season. Anyone who has watched him play in the NBA Finals knows, though, that his perimeter defense and ability to hit shots from distance is a complete game-changer.
Now a two-time title winner with the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors, Green has been an integral part of those two teams and their success.
Despite a 1 percent increase in minutes in the postseason compared to his regular-season average, Green’s points, rebounds, and assists all decline in the postseason. The reason for this is that his role typically declines to that of a complementary player on both ends of the floor.
On offense, Green will often shoot more 3-point attempts per 36 minutes in the postseason because he’s best served as a floor spacer on that end.
To his credit, his transitional and perimeter defense which is superb year-round becomes ever-important in the postseason, and it’s reflected in his box plus/minus. His postseason career BPM (2.6) is 23.8 percent better than his regular-season BPM (2.1).