NBA Playoffs: 10 best players this postseason after Round 1

NBA Playoffs: 10 best players – 5. Kevin Durant

There was a time in the recent past when Kevin Durant looked like the best postseason player in the world, taking advantage of the perfect ecosystem around him on the Golden State Warriors to win two titles and only injury prevented a third.

Yet that same injury, an Achilles tear, meant a year-and-a-half of not playing NBA games. Would Durant still be the same player when he came back? While he has dealt with other injuries this year, he is fully healthy now and was simply sublime in the first round.

Durant poured in a cool 32.6 points per game across the five contests, leading the Brooklyn Nets in scoring and outpacing his counterpart Jayson Tatum even with the young gun’s 50-spot. He also brought the defensive intensity, averaging 2.2 blocks per game.

There are questions about whether this Brooklyn Nets team can weather injuries and a lack of defensive talent to win the title, but they have the most important box checked. Durant is their top-5 player able to elevate his team, just as he did in the first round of the NBA playoffs.