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Best Elimination-Game Performances: Win Shares Edition

Posted by Neil Paine on April 26, 2010

As a quick follow-up to my post this morning about the best elimination-game performances by total points and John Hollinger's "Game Score", I took commenter Mike G's advice and calculated single-game Win Shares for each player in an elimination game as well. Here are the Top 100 performances by WS since 1991 in a playoff game where the player's team was one loss away from going home for the summer:

Date Player Team Opp Rd G# MP Pos PPrd ORtg %Ps DRtg Fl% Stp Stp% OWS DWS WS
5/3/2002 Paul Pierce BOS PHI EC1 5 44 21.9 39.2 178.7 30.8 116.3 0.733 5.5 0.388 0.708 -0.026 0.682
5/1/2009 Dwyane Wade MIA ATL EC1 6 39 23.6 36.5 154.8 35.7 90.3 0.672 7.3 0.555 0.465 0.121 0.586
5/1/1997 Anfernee Hardaway ORL MIA EC1 4 48 27.4 40.2 146.9 33.3 102.9 0.656 11.0 0.667 0.463 0.076 0.539
5/5/1995 Clyde Drexler HOU UTA WC1 4 41 21.5 38.8 180.5 29.4 123.2 0.785 6.3 0.430 0.555 -0.018 0.537
6/5/1993 Charles Barkley PHO SEA WCF 7 46 25.1 41.8 166.9 28.0 115.7 0.775 8.7 0.485 0.518 0.004 0.522
5/27/2003 Michael Finley DAL SAS WCF 5 44 18.1 28.3 156.9 22.0 90.1 0.694 12.9 0.787 0.357 0.126 0.483
4/30/2000 Terrell Brandon MIN POR WC1 3 48 19.2 30.7 159.9 25.2 113.6 0.716 7.6 0.499 0.482 -0.006 0.476
5/2/1994 Reggie Williams DEN SEA WC1 3 39 16.7 28.4 169.6 23.5 101.6 0.764 8.6 0.606 0.411 0.056 0.468
4/30/2003 Ben Wallace DET ORL EC1 5 42 10.6 16.1 151.6 15.0 64.6 0.765 14.7 1.041 0.212 0.252 0.464
4/27/2008 Raja Bell PHO SAS WC1 4 40 11.4 23.4 205.0 14.6 98.1 0.810 6.5 0.420 0.377 0.087 0.463
5/2/2006 Boris Diaw PHO LAL WC1 5 38 17.2 30.0 175.0 23.7 106.2 0.794 7.3 0.506 0.404 0.049 0.452
5/1/2001 Dirk Nowitzki DAL UTA WC1 4 36 19.1 28.9 151.5 29.5 93.3 0.627 5.9 0.452 0.364 0.088 0.452
4/30/1997 Kenny Anderson POR LAL WC1 3 41 14.8 26.1 175.5 19.4 99.3 0.764 8.1 0.532 0.368 0.082 0.451
5/22/2006 Dirk Nowitzki DAL SAS WCS 7 50 23.5 36.2 154.0 26.8 113.7 0.718 9.8 0.557 0.429 0.019 0.448
6/12/1998 Karl Malone UTA CHI FIN 5 44 23.9 33.7 140.8 32.5 102.4 0.696 7.5 0.512 0.383 0.063 0.446
4/29/1997 Anfernee Hardaway ORL MIA EC1 3 47 31.0 38.4 124.0 37.8 86.5 0.587 10.8 0.659 0.270 0.167 0.437
5/2/2003 Chauncey Billups DET ORL EC1 6 45 25.0 35.4 141.7 28.3 98.0 0.567 7.7 0.438 0.352 0.085 0.437
5/31/2006 Tayshaun Prince DET MIA ECF 5 43 14.8 24.3 163.7 19.9 96.2 0.736 7.3 0.489 0.327 0.106 0.433
5/20/1995 Kevin Johnson PHO HOU WCS 7 42 31.5 47.0 149.3 37.9 121.5 0.673 6.9 0.417 0.442 -0.010 0.432
4/29/1997 Darrell Armstrong ORL MIA EC1 3 38 14.9 22.8 152.4 22.5 82.4 0.652 10.0 0.753 0.277 0.154 0.431
5/3/2000 Gary Payton SEA UTA WC1 4 42 27.9 36.2 129.8 35.1 90.1 0.574 13.0 0.816 0.311 0.117 0.429
6/3/1994 John Starks NYK IND ECF 6 40 13.8 25.0 181.1 17.9 102.2 0.746 6.6 0.429 0.371 0.055 0.426
5/17/2009 Hedo Turkoglu ORL BOS ECS 7 36 17.0 27.4 160.8 25.7 97.1 0.665 6.2 0.468 0.343 0.082 0.425
5/13/1999 Scottie Pippen HOU LAL WC1 3 48 26.3 34.5 131.4 29.2 97.1 0.595 9.8 0.543 0.337 0.079 0.416
5/18/1997 Tim Hardaway MIA NYK ECS 7 45 27.7 36.9 132.9 32.4 95.5 0.557 10.5 0.613 0.300 0.111 0.412
5/17/2001 Sam Cassell MIL CHH ECS 6 42 24.6 35.6 144.9 31.0 109.5 0.693 7.1 0.450 0.393 0.018 0.411
5/7/1993 Chris Morris NJN CLE EC1 4 37 10.6 18.8 177.8 14.3 79.2 0.800 10.1 0.682 0.247 0.164 0.411
5/14/2001 Dirk Nowitzki DAL SAS WCS 5 47 28.3 37.6 132.8 31.4 100.0 0.659 14.2 0.788 0.335 0.075 0.410
5/20/2004 Ben Wallace DET NJN ECS 7 42 9.4 15.5 164.9 12.2 77.6 0.815 9.9 0.641 0.247 0.160 0.407
5/4/2006 Anthony Johnson IND NJN EC1 6 45 26.3 37.6 143.3 33.3 115.4 0.677 7.8 0.492 0.394 0.008 0.401
5/2/1998 Gary Payton SEA MIN WC1 5 48 17.2 25.8 149.9 20.3 99.5 0.677 9.6 0.567 0.315 0.085 0.401
6/4/2005 Richard Hamilton DET MIA ECF 6 39 15.8 23.1 145.8 23.4 85.9 0.693 6.2 0.457 0.256 0.142 0.398
5/19/2004 Kevin Garnett MIN SAC WCS 7 46 24.7 27.6 111.6 28.7 70.4 0.553 17.5 1.017 0.179 0.219 0.397
5/30/1996 Karl Malone UTA SEA WCF 6 39 23.9 31.4 131.3 32.6 85.5 0.653 10.5 0.718 0.254 0.140 0.395
5/19/2006 Manu Ginobili SAS DAL WCS 6 38 21.2 29.3 138.2 29.1 85.8 0.610 10.9 0.746 0.254 0.140 0.394
5/4/2006 Steve Nash PHO LAL WC1 6 46 23.4 36.9 157.6 27.0 123.5 0.700 5.7 0.329 0.429 -0.036 0.393
5/14/2000 Jason Kidd PHO LAL WCS 4 37 17.9 27.5 153.5 24.9 99.9 0.662 8.6 0.600 0.331 0.058 0.389
5/5/2005 Paul Pierce BOS IND EC1 6 44 13.6 20.0 147.4 17.3 84.6 0.692 12.4 0.792 0.220 0.167 0.388
5/14/1999 Terry Porter MIA NYK EC1 4 32 9.3 16.3 175.7 17.7 87.5 0.796 7.1 0.672 0.295 0.092 0.387
4/25/2010 Dwyane Wade MIA BOS EC1 4 43 31.4 40.7 129.8 38.0 100.4 0.592 8.9 0.536 0.301 0.086 0.386
5/16/2004 Brad Miller SAC MIN WCS 6 34 7.9 16.8 212.4 12.8 97.7 0.994 7.4 0.596 0.346 0.040 0.386
5/13/1999 Charles Barkley HOU LAL WC1 3 43 24.4 30.5 125.0 30.3 87.2 0.613 12.6 0.783 0.259 0.125 0.384
5/18/2008 Paul Pierce BOS CLE ECS 7 44 26.1 35.7 137.0 35.0 110.9 0.599 7.6 0.511 0.353 0.027 0.380
5/5/1996 John Stockton UTA POR WC1 5 37 16.1 22.0 136.7 24.1 77.4 0.598 7.6 0.573 0.208 0.170 0.378
6/16/2000 Reggie Miller IND LAL FIN 5 39 15.4 23.9 154.6 20.4 94.9 0.623 7.7 0.512 0.291 0.085 0.377
5/7/2005 Jason Terry DAL HOU WC1 7 41 19.3 26.9 139.4 26.2 92.5 0.579 7.0 0.475 0.259 0.117 0.376
5/3/1997 Detlef Schrempf SEA PHO WC1 5 42 13.8 22.8 165.1 17.3 99.3 0.695 9.4 0.588 0.290 0.085 0.375
5/5/2005 Tracy McGrady HOU DAL WC1 6 42 27.1 35.1 129.3 35.0 95.4 0.541 8.4 0.540 0.266 0.106 0.372
5/7/2005 Josh Howard DAL HOU WC1 7 38 13.7 19.2 140.8 20.0 76.7 0.661 11.6 0.851 0.189 0.181 0.370
4/28/1998 Mookie Blaylock ATL CHH EC1 3 26 10.3 17.5 170.2 23.4 83.9 0.739 4.4 0.502 0.272 0.096 0.368
4/28/2002 Allen Iverson PHI BOS EC1 3 44 28.4 37.5 132.1 34.9 109.7 0.568 10.5 0.648 0.357 0.010 0.367
5/8/1993 Hakeem Olajuwon HOU LAC WC1 5 46 24.5 28.6 116.8 27.0 73.1 0.563 15.7 0.863 0.129 0.237 0.366
5/17/1992 Brad Daugherty CLE BOS ECS 7 36 13.7 24.9 182.0 19.8 111.1 0.898 6.8 0.491 0.328 0.038 0.366
4/30/2000 Chris Webber SAC LAL WC1 3 44 24.5 31.7 129.3 30.2 96.4 0.624 10.6 0.656 0.277 0.088 0.365
5/21/2006 Tayshaun Prince DET CLE ECS 7 47 15.7 20.6 131.9 20.7 85.0 0.621 7.0 0.466 0.187 0.178 0.365
5/15/2000 Theo Ratliff PHI IND ECS 5 39 16.5 23.2 140.7 22.1 87.0 0.686 10.6 0.708 0.241 0.124 0.364
4/30/2002 Ron Artest IND NJN EC1 4 35 13.0 17.9 138.3 19.6 70.8 0.611 11.4 0.860 0.185 0.178 0.363
5/2/1998 Hersey Hawkins SEA MIN WC1 5 37 13.7 22.0 160.8 21.0 101.0 0.645 7.0 0.536 0.303 0.059 0.362
6/3/2001 Allen Iverson PHI MIL ECF 7 44 28.4 36.8 129.7 35.4 106.4 0.587 7.5 0.468 0.324 0.035 0.359
5/3/1998 Karl Malone UTA HOU WC1 5 39 23.7 27.9 117.8 34.6 75.3 0.583 10.7 0.779 0.171 0.185 0.356
6/12/1996 Shawn Kemp SEA CHI FIN 4 33 15.1 22.2 146.5 26.1 89.1 0.710 9.6 0.821 0.251 0.104 0.355
4/28/2001 Dirk Nowitzki DAL UTA WC1 3 48 23.0 30.7 133.8 24.9 100.1 0.593 9.2 0.495 0.279 0.076 0.355
5/2/1997 Steve Smith ATL DET EC1 4 42 17.3 24.5 141.6 22.6 94.7 0.570 8.1 0.532 0.245 0.108 0.353
5/6/1993 Charles Barkley PHO LAL WC1 4 39 19.5 26.1 134.2 26.4 87.0 0.676 10.7 0.727 0.214 0.137 0.350
6/1/2001 Ray Allen MIL PHI ECF 6 43 22.2 31.9 143.9 29.6 117.9 0.544 7.4 0.491 0.377 -0.027 0.350
5/1/1996 Rod Strickland POR UTA WC1 4 38 18.2 27.2 149.8 27.1 108.9 0.681 6.0 0.447 0.321 0.030 0.350
5/18/2001 Vince Carter TOR PHI ECS 6 43 25.4 32.8 129.2 32.8 101.5 0.586 8.4 0.539 0.289 0.061 0.350
5/20/1993 Kenny Smith HOU SEA WCS 6 38 11.6 21.5 186.1 16.1 108.8 0.814 4.2 0.289 0.315 0.035 0.350
5/17/2006 Tim Duncan SAS DAL WCS 5 44 26.7 35.8 134.2 33.5 108.7 0.680 8.9 0.558 0.306 0.043 0.349
5/7/2005 Stephen Jackson IND BOS EC1 7 37 13.4 18.6 138.7 21.6 80.5 0.576 9.2 0.742 0.189 0.159 0.349
5/1/2001 Steve Nash DAL UTA WC1 4 38 20.3 26.6 131.2 29.6 91.1 0.531 7.0 0.508 0.245 0.103 0.348
5/21/1994 Karl Malone UTA DEN WCS 7 46 24.4 29.3 120.2 31.7 89.6 0.594 12.0 0.778 0.211 0.134 0.345
6/3/2001 Dikembe Mutombo PHI MIL ECF 7 47 19.2 25.6 133.5 22.3 95.6 0.676 12.3 0.715 0.243 0.101 0.344
5/14/1999 Grant Hill DET ATL EC1 4 34 19.7 25.9 131.5 33.3 94.0 0.635 7.7 0.653 0.272 0.069 0.341
5/5/1994 Stacey Augmon ATL MIA EC1 4 38 10.6 19.6 183.9 15.0 106.0 0.869 5.2 0.370 0.306 0.034 0.340
5/18/2008 LeBron James CLE BOS ECS 7 47 34.1 43.5 127.7 42.7 117.5 0.597 7.5 0.471 0.349 -0.009 0.340
5/3/2002 Antoine Walker BOS PHI EC1 5 41 19.5 27.3 139.5 29.4 110.7 0.587 6.9 0.516 0.335 0.004 0.339
5/18/2006 Corey Maggette LAC PHO WCS 6 27 11.0 21.6 196.7 20.1 108.8 0.844 5.8 0.527 0.313 0.026 0.339
5/4/2003 Dirk Nowitzki DAL POR WC1 7 46 19.4 26.7 137.9 22.8 100.3 0.638 11.4 0.671 0.264 0.074 0.339
5/6/2006 Boris Diaw PHO LAL WC1 7 39 18.0 26.2 145.8 24.4 99.7 0.679 7.9 0.537 0.258 0.079 0.337
4/30/2008 Caron Butler WAS CLE EC1 5 45 24.6 31.8 129.6 31.0 101.7 0.563 8.8 0.558 0.258 0.077 0.336
5/4/1993 Detlef Schrempf IND NYK EC1 3 39 20.8 29.2 140.2 27.0 99.5 0.670 7.4 0.480 0.257 0.079 0.336
6/16/2000 Jalen Rose IND LAL FIN 5 44 21.1 27.0 128.0 24.8 91.3 0.547 10.2 0.602 0.219 0.117 0.335
5/28/1996 Jeff Hornacek UTA SEA WCF 5 46 16.9 24.1 142.7 21.4 102.7 0.626 8.6 0.541 0.265 0.070 0.335
5/25/1999 Bryon Russell UTA POR WCS 5 38 9.9 15.8 159.6 16.7 96.2 0.739 6.0 0.510 0.266 0.067 0.333
5/3/1998 Charlie Ward NYK MIA EC1 5 30 7.7 13.1 171.7 14.0 76.1 0.772 10.4 0.958 0.193 0.139 0.332
5/19/1995 Patrick Ewing NYK IND ECS 6 37 16.6 22.2 133.7 24.6 81.9 0.667 11.3 0.838 0.170 0.162 0.332
5/5/1994 Mookie Blaylock ATL MIA EC1 4 36 18.0 25.9 144.2 26.8 102.1 0.553 6.2 0.463 0.282 0.050 0.332
5/5/1994 LaPhonso Ellis DEN SEA WC1 4 43 18.9 23.4 123.7 24.3 83.6 0.566 10.6 0.681 0.174 0.157 0.331
5/5/1995 Hakeem Olajuwon HOU UTA WC1 4 38 24.3 35.5 145.6 36.0 123.9 0.711 5.6 0.414 0.350 -0.020 0.330
5/19/1994 Kevin Johnson PHO HOU WCS 6 44 23.0 30.4 132.3 28.9 103.9 0.618 7.8 0.491 0.279 0.051 0.330
5/20/2004 Chauncey Billups DET NJN ECS 7 40 17.6 21.7 123.6 24.0 82.9 0.487 7.5 0.514 0.205 0.125 0.329
5/1/2001 Michael Finley DAL UTA WC1 4 42 13.6 19.2 140.9 18.0 90.2 0.581 8.0 0.529 0.210 0.118 0.328
5/19/1994 Dikembe Mutombo DEN UTA WCS 6 46 17.9 24.2 135.4 22.4 98.8 0.681 11.6 0.728 0.245 0.082 0.328
5/26/1997 Tim Hardaway MIA CHI ECF 4 44 18.3 24.9 135.9 24.5 100.0 0.545 7.4 0.493 0.242 0.085 0.327
6/2/1995 Reggie Miller IND ORL ECF 6 35 15.7 24.3 154.6 23.5 102.3 0.634 7.8 0.585 0.253 0.070 0.323
5/3/2009 Joe Johnson ATL MIA EC1 7 44 17.8 22.7 127.7 24.4 89.8 0.509 10.8 0.738 0.184 0.139 0.323
5/2/1991 Doc Rivers ATL DET EC1 4 42 17.8 29.0 163.0 21.3 118.9 0.799 6.3 0.377 0.318 0.005 0.323
5/18/1995 Hakeem Olajuwon HOU PHO WCS 6 43 24.7 33.2 134.6 29.3 103.6 0.632 10.6 0.627 0.242 0.080 0.322
5/7/1993 Derrick Coleman NJN CLE EC1 4 48 20.7 22.7 109.9 21.6 72.0 0.500 16.4 0.857 0.066 0.254 0.319
4/27/2003 Rasheed Wallace POR DAL WC1 4 41 12.7 18.7 147.6 16.3 91.5 0.623 7.7 0.498 0.209 0.110 0.319
5/17/2003 Dirk Nowitzki DAL SAC WCS 7 44 17.6 24.6 140.0 20.2 98.1 0.632 11.6 0.666 0.236 0.083 0.319
5/14/1992 John Starks NYK CHI ECS 6 27 15.1 22.0 145.5 30.9 84.8 0.679 8.4 0.859 0.207 0.111 0.318
5/28/2009 LeBron James CLE ORL ECF 5 46 35.5 44.0 123.9 40.7 108.3 0.594 9.4 0.541 0.275 0.043 0.318
5/7/1994 Bison Dele DEN SEA WC1 5 34 10.6 17.2 162.5 18.5 98.5 0.819 7.4 0.649 0.255 0.062 0.317
6/15/2008 Pau Gasol LAL BOS FIN 5 42 13.8 21.5 155.8 16.5 100.9 0.770 9.6 0.577 0.239 0.077 0.316
5/5/1991 Joe Dumars DET ATL EC1 5 37 13.8 20.0 145.0 18.5 86.8 0.618 7.8 0.520 0.171 0.142 0.314
5/4/2003 Chauncey Billups DET ORL EC1 7 42 23.4 32.5 138.4 31.8 119.3 0.592 4.5 0.308 0.342 -0.030 0.312
5/1/1996 Charles Barkley PHO SAS WC1 3 40 16.5 23.3 141.2 23.0 100.5 0.666 9.8 0.682 0.240 0.072 0.311
5/5/1996 Reggie Miller IND ATL EC1 5 31 16.7 24.9 149.4 30.4 110.1 0.666 4.6 0.416 0.292 0.020 0.311
5/16/1999 P.J. Brown MIA NYK EC1 5 36 8.8 14.2 162.5 15.4 95.3 0.762 7.8 0.685 0.243 0.067 0.310
5/4/1993 Rik Smits IND NYK EC1 3 39 16.4 24.0 145.8 21.4 99.9 0.703 7.2 0.470 0.230 0.077 0.307
6/2/1996 Shawn Kemp SEA UTA WCF 7 42 17.4 23.5 135.2 23.4 98.1 0.637 8.9 0.602 0.220 0.088 0.307
5/2/2007 Lamar Odom LAL PHO WC1 5 38 22.6 33.1 146.1 28.7 118.7 0.716 7.2 0.455 0.333 -0.025 0.307
4/30/1991 Benoit Benjamin SEA POR WC1 3 38 14.2 23.4 164.5 20.4 114.3 0.730 5.4 0.389 0.283 0.025 0.307
5/2/2001 Vince Carter TOR NYK EC1 4 47 25.5 32.3 126.5 29.1 104.4 0.597 8.8 0.502 0.257 0.050 0.307
5/1/2007 Dirk Nowitzki DAL GSW WC1 5 40 20.9 30.6 146.6 26.0 116.6 0.638 8.0 0.497 0.323 -0.017 0.306
5/1/1996 Arvydas Sabonis POR UTA WC1 4 35 17.6 23.5 133.3 28.5 93.0 0.576 10.0 0.812 0.212 0.094 0.306
5/29/2004 Kevin Garnett MIN LAL WCF 5 46 25.1 30.9 123.1 29.2 102.9 0.589 10.2 0.594 0.283 0.023 0.306
5/14/2009 Luis Scola HOU LAL WCS 6 36 16.5 22.2 134.0 26.2 92.3 0.658 8.1 0.640 0.199 0.104 0.304
5/3/1992 Patrick Ewing NYK DET EC1 5 46 24.7 30.0 121.6 29.5 91.7 0.598 11.9 0.713 0.150 0.152 0.302
5/5/2000 Shaquille O'Neal LAL SAC WC1 5 35 23.8 28.5 119.8 35.9 86.1 0.611 10.1 0.761 0.187 0.115 0.302
5/2/2000 Chris Webber SAC LAL WC1 4 46 24.4 27.3 111.9 27.0 81.5 0.553 15.0 0.834 0.124 0.177 0.301
6/5/1994 Patrick Ewing NYK IND ECF 7 44 20.8 26.2 125.8 27.7 98.1 0.625 11.4 0.759 0.219 0.083 0.301
5/15/2000 Allen Iverson PHI IND ECS 5 46 28.0 33.7 120.4 31.8 99.0 0.547 7.4 0.419 0.224 0.077 0.301
5/1/1998 Bryon Russell UTA HOU WC1 4 29 9.0 13.5 149.4 17.3 74.7 0.694 8.2 0.782 0.161 0.140 0.301
4/28/2001 Tracy McGrady ORL MIL EC1 3 50 36.2 43.1 119.0 35.2 104.6 0.581 11.4 0.554 0.249 0.052 0.301
5/17/1994 Bryant Stith DEN UTA WCS 5 50 16.4 21.6 131.2 17.4 94.6 0.574 9.1 0.482 0.185 0.115 0.300
5/31/2002 Kobe Bryant LAL SAC WCF 6 44 23.6 31.2 132.2 26.6 106.6 0.610 8.6 0.485 0.272 0.027 0.300
5/1/1998 John Stockton UTA HOU WC1 4 30 9.2 14.4 156.3 17.1 83.4 0.673 6.1 0.569 0.185 0.113 0.298
5/1/1997 Gary Payton SEA PHO WC1 4 53 24.4 31.9 130.6 22.1 104.6 0.537 11.4 0.515 0.225 0.073 0.298
6/4/2005 Chauncey Billups DET MIA ECF 6 36 8.2 13.4 163.4 13.1 89.6 0.660 4.6 0.367 0.182 0.115 0.298
5/3/1992 Isiah Thomas DET NYK EC1 5 45 22.4 29.3 130.7 27.3 101.8 0.581 10.0 0.611 0.201 0.096 0.297
5/5/1996 Bryon Russell UTA POR WC1 5 29 7.4 11.0 148.2 14.2 66.2 0.668 8.7 0.835 0.124 0.172 0.297
5/13/2007 Ben Wallace CHI DET ECS 4 41 8.6 12.9 150.2 11.1 84.8 0.764 12.7 0.824 0.151 0.145 0.297
6/14/1998 Karl Malone UTA CHI FIN 6 43 25.9 32.5 125.7 37.9 112.0 0.615 6.9 0.507 0.285 0.011 0.296
5/30/2008 Chauncey Billups DET BOS ECF 6 41 20.4 28.4 138.8 29.9 116.7 0.621 4.9 0.362 0.299 -0.004 0.295
5/22/2006 Tim Duncan SAS DAL WCS 7 50 35.8 45.5 127.3 40.7 123.2 0.628 8.8 0.501 0.332 -0.037 0.295
5/14/2009 Dwight Howard ORL BOS ECS 6 43 21.0 24.4 116.2 27.4 82.2 0.603 10.7 0.696 0.120 0.174 0.294
5/22/1993 Sam Perkins SEA HOU WCS 7 43 12.0 20.2 167.9 16.9 117.0 0.788 5.6 0.391 0.296 -0.002 0.294
5/11/2009 Dirk Nowitzki DAL DEN WCS 4 44 31.2 40.6 129.9 33.9 112.4 0.611 10.0 0.541 0.273 0.020 0.293
5/2/1991 Eddie Johnson SEA POR WC1 4 34 23.0 30.8 133.7 34.4 100.3 0.622 5.0 0.371 0.216 0.077 0.293
6/12/1996 Gary Payton SEA CHI FIN 4 44 18.8 24.9 132.9 24.2 102.3 0.589 8.1 0.520 0.223 0.069 0.293
5/4/2008 Rajon Rondo BOS ATL EC1 7 30 6.4 12.0 188.3 12.5 90.5 0.900 3.8 0.373 0.201 0.092 0.293
6/14/1996 Gary Payton SEA CHI FIN 5 46 19.7 24.2 123.0 25.4 94.1 0.546 9.1 0.588 0.175 0.118 0.293
5/8/1994 Mookie Blaylock ATL MIA EC1 5 40 15.5 20.9 135.3 20.6 93.7 0.611 10.4 0.695 0.196 0.097 0.292
5/6/2006 Leandro Barbosa PHO LAL WC1 7 31 13.9 21.9 157.2 23.5 105.4 0.718 4.9 0.413 0.250 0.043 0.292
5/20/1993 Otis Thorpe HOU SEA WCS 6 37 13.0 20.1 154.4 18.6 101.3 0.732 6.6 0.469 0.225 0.067 0.292
5/17/1992 Michael Jordan CHI NYK ECS 7 42 31.2 37.8 121.2 42.6 100.2 0.579 6.7 0.461 0.194 0.098 0.292
4/29/2008 Rafer Alston HOU UTA WC1 5 31 9.0 13.8 153.3 16.1 81.4 0.586 6.1 0.545 0.163 0.128 0.291

Pierce checks in at #1 pretty handily; meanwhile, there's a Wade game in 2nd place, but not yesterday's -- it's actually his performance from Game 6 of last year's Heat-Hawks 1st-round series. Game 4 of this year's Heat-Celtics series ranks well down the list, mainly because he needed 31 possessions to produce 41 points, yielding an offensive rating of 129.8 that, while impressive, wasn't ridiculously far removed from his season average of 113.3. Compare to Pierce, who posted an ORtg of 178.7, and that's 15 extra points produced over the course of 30 possessions, which explains the difference in expected wins created by Pierce's performance in 2002 and Wade's yesterday.

Related posts:

    Playoff Wins Above Expected
    Winningest Playoff People
    The Best Suns Team Ever
    Seizing the Moment in Crucial Games
    The Best NBA Finals Performances Since 1991 (*according to statistical +/-)

This entry was posted on Monday, April 26th, 2010 at 7:02 pm and is filed under Data Dump, History, Playoffs, Statgeekery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

17 Responses to “Best Elimination-Game Performances: Win Shares Edition”

  1. DSMok1 Says:
    April 26th, 2010 at 8:25 pm

    Nicely done!

  2. Jason J Says:
    April 26th, 2010 at 9:26 pm

    I'd be interested in seeing something similar in close-out games. See which players really lay it on when the chance to eliminate comes around.

  3. Chronz Says:
    April 26th, 2010 at 10:14 pm

    Derrick Coleman tops the list defensively, never thought Id say that

  4. Ryan Says:
    April 26th, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    Jordan's game 7 against NY in '92 doesn't even make the top 100? LMAO

  5. Ryan Says:
    April 26th, 2010 at 10:27 pm

    My bad, it's 97th, still deserving of a laugh though.

  6. Bryan Says:
    April 27th, 2010 at 5:39 am

    It might also be interesting to look at the biggest "chokers" during elimination games. Which players had a the lowest game score/win shares in an "win-or-go-home" game relative to their average output over the season? Likely it will pull out players playing through injury or hampered with foul trouble, but it might be interesting to see who pops up.

  7. Alvy Says:
    April 27th, 2010 at 7:43 am

    the winshare edition makes more sense, but both pierce and sir charles' performances are amazing.

  8. Mike G Says:
    April 27th, 2010 at 11:15 am

    Awesome. Dirk in here 8 times; Malone, Payton, and Billups 5 each.

    Both Ewing and Isiah appear from a 5th game NY/Det finale in '92.
    http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199205030NYK.html

    In '93, Reggie, Detlef, and Rik all went off in staving off defeat:
    http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199305040IND.html

    One of Reggie's entries is the only game he played in the '96 playoffs; failing to stop the 3-2 loss to Atl.

  9. Travis T Says:
    April 27th, 2010 at 6:25 pm

    "Ryan Says:
    April 26th, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    Jordan's game 7 against NY in '92 doesn't even make the top 100? LMAO"

    What is more telling about that performance is that Jordan played close to his pre-Wizard career average; that a slightly above career average game is among the absolute best games played in a recent elimination game is amazing.

    Also, credit his lack of appearances on this list as a result of small sample size; he only played in two other elimination games since '91 for the Bulls, one of which was in his return against the Magic in '95, and the other was as a 35 year old in '98.

  10. Ryan Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 6:37 am

    Neil, you thought about running a set for best performances to close out a series-sweep?

  11. Neil Paine Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 4:51 pm

    Those are all good ideas... I'll try to post something about close-outs tomorrow.

  12. Mike G Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 9:19 pm

    Does Caron Butler's work last night crack the list?
    (35 pts, 11 reb, 3 stl, 0 TO ... )

    Alternatively: Doesn't this list update automatically?

  13. Neil Paine Says:
    April 28th, 2010 at 9:40 pm

    No, it definitely doesn't. Maybe Justin can set it up at some point, but I can say that it was a huge pain in the @$$ to set up the query for "elimination games" when I was preparing the post.

  14. Travis Says:
    May 3rd, 2010 at 2:56 pm

    Dirk on here 8 times!... furthering my point from the original post considering "Game Score" in these scenarios. Can we say unappreciated??

  15. Travis J Says:
    May 3rd, 2010 at 3:26 pm

    Following up on this, one of the reasons Dirk is on here 8 times, IMO, is not only that he is clutch, esp in the playoffs, but also, consider this -

    How many other players in NBA history have been asked to single-handedly carry a franchise to the extent Dirk has? Maybe that further contributes to him having by far the highest # of performances on here...he and he alone has always had to save Mavs teams that otherwise arguably wouldn't have even been in these positions without him(as someone pointed out, Jordan hardly ever faced elimination after '91-he was great, his teams were good/great) from the brink of elimination, literally. Maybe this terribly bias (I am, admittedly, a huge Mavs fan), but we have 10 straight 50-win seasons, and who's the reason why?

    With the three other teams that have achieved that tremendous 50-win/10-year feat, there was always more than one superstar.

    1) LA of the 80's had Magic and Kareem as superstars and a host of stars (Worthy, Scott, etc) to back them up.

    2)Spurs, of course, have had that (if you'll excuse my frustration) damned 3-headed monster Ginobli, Parker and Duncan (not to mention David Robinson at first, one of the all-time greats).

    3) Celtics of the 60's are the closest to the Mavs situation in that it was Russell who was the one main component throughout. Of course, he did have HOFers Cousy, Havlicek, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinsohn, and Sam Jones throughout most of it (Cousy the first half, Havlicek the 2nd).

    Now, I'm not trying to compare the 00's Mavs teams to those teams bc that would be ridiculous. Those teams won championships. I am saying that maybe if Nowitzki would have had a little more help (like maybe Cuban not letting Nash go in '04), he'd probably have a few rings by now. The list above about clutch performances and many other statistical measurements prove that Dirk is a helluva player, esp in the playoffs. Did I mention he's one of only 5 players EVER to average 25/10 in the postseason?? Who's not on that list? Larry Bird, David Robinson, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt f'n Chamberlain!, just to name a few. That should put it in perspective for everyone. It did for me.

  16. Travis J Says:
    May 3rd, 2010 at 3:33 pm

    Final post on this, I promise :), but I just found out something else I should point about Dirk Nowitzki's clutch play in the playoffs that is esp relevant to this and the related post:

    In the history of the NBA, going way back beyond '91, facing elimination, Dirk has 13
    30+ point performances. Only Wilt the Stilt, tied at 13, and Jerry West at 14, have achieved similar results.

  17. Nick Says:
    May 3rd, 2010 at 9:37 pm

    Hmm. 6 players are on the list for back-to-back games. Webber, Blaylock, Penny, Dirk, Billups, and Malone. 2 more (Diaw and Duncan) are on for non-back-to-back games in the same series. I don't have a point, I just thought it was interesting.

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