The best player’s team almost always wins in the playoffs
Basketball is a complicated game. It takes years to fully understand the ins and outs of today’s offensive and defensive schemes. With that said, things seem more straightforward in the playoffs. The team with the best player in a playoff series almost always wins.
There are exceptions to the rule, of course. In 2006 Kobe Bryant led the Lakers into the first round of the playoffs against the Phoenix Suns. Bryant was the best player, and he helped the Purple and Gold stretch that series to seven games before they were eventually defeated.
Unfortunately, Kobe Bryant’s Lakers featured Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton in the starting lineup while the Phoenix Suns had league MVP, Steve Nash, All-Star Shawn Marion, along with Boris Diaw and Tim Thomas.
Kobe Bryant’s excellence pushed a far more talented Phoenix Suns squad to the brink. Kobe’s superstar gravity was a driving force, but in the end, he couldn’t drag Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton into the second round of the playoffs.
This Lakers squad has much better role players than Kobe’s 2006 team, and LeBron James would easily be the best player on the court; there is no arguing that. LBJ’s ranked second in Basketball-Reference’s MVP tracker, while Damian Lillard isn’t in the top ten.
According to ESPN, LeBron James is worth the most wins in the league (17.97), Damian Lillard isn’t in the top ten.
Most advanced stats also jump off the screen and shout, “Anthony Davis is a better overall player than Damian Lillard.” We don’t even need to compare AD and Dame’s stats, though, because the Portland Trail Blazers have no answer for LeBron James. LBJ would be such a mismatch in this series that the Lakers would win against Portland without Anthony Davis.