Kobe's 10 Greatest Playoff Games

[murksiderock]

28 in his 2nd full finals game, G3 vs Indy
26-10-4 in closeout game vs Pacers

31-8-6 G2 vs Philly
19-10-9 G4 vs Philly
26-12-6 G5 vs Philly

36-6-4 w/ 4 stls & a blk G3 vs NJN
25-8-6 w/ 2 stls G4 vs NJN

40-8-8 w/ 2 stls & 2 blks vs Orlando G1
32-8-7 w/ 2 stls vs Orlando G4
30-6-5 w/ 2 stls & 4 blks vs Orlando G5

30-7-6 vs Boston G1
29-7-4 w/ 2 stls & 3 blks vs Boston G3
38-5-4 vs Boston G5
26-11-3 w/ 4 stls vs Boston G6

'09 was his greatest Finals, it's really the only one he was the best player on the floor from start to finish and he was assertive and dominant. He was on fire that series...

His other Finals aren't great. He has some good games in there and a few great ones, but he only has one great front-to-back Finals...

I personally look at '01 and '02 differently, he wasn't the best player on his team so while he played very well with some gems in there, the standard of excellence is a lower bar when you aren't the best player...

My favorite game is kind of a tie between G5 '09 Finals and the '00 Pacers game he carried the Lakers to that win while Shaq was on the bench. Most of his other great games are in earlier rounds and he has some there I like as well...

 

[LexDiamonds]

28 in his 2nd full finals game, G3 vs Indy
26-10-4 in closeout game vs Pacers

31-8-6 G2 vs Philly
19-10-9 G4 vs Philly
26-12-6 G5 vs Philly

36-6-4 w/ 4 stls & a blk G3 vs NJN
25-8-6 w/ 2 stls G4 vs NJN

40-8-8 w/ 2 stls & 2 blks vs Orlando G1
32-8-7 w/ 2 stls vs Orlando G4
30-6-5 w/ 2 stls & 4 blks vs Orlando G5

30-7-6 vs Boston G1
29-7-4 w/ 2 stls & 3 blks vs Boston G3
38-5-4 vs Boston G5
26-11-3 w/ 4 stls vs Boston G6

What were his percentages?

 

[Controversy]

'09 was his greatest Finals, it's really the only one he was the best player on the floor from start to finish and he was assertive and dominant. He was on fire that series...

His other Finals aren't great. He has some good games in there and a few great ones, but he only has one great front-to-back Finals...

I personally look at '01 and '02 differently, he wasn't the best player on his team so while he played very well with some gems in there, the standard of excellence is a lower bar when you aren't the best player...

My favorite game is kind of a tie between G5 '09 Finals and the '00 Pacers game he carried the Lakers to that win while Shaq was on the bench. Most of his other great games are in earlier rounds and he has some there I like as well...

The fact remains the series vs the Spurs & Kings were the real finals in 01 & 02

The Sixers, Pistons & Celtics #1 priority in those matchups was to limit Kobe

Are we gonna act like Shaq wasn't fouling out of games & getting carried at the end time & time again

 

[Cyber]

Crazy just how few of his best games were in the Finals compared to say MJ, Magic, Shaq and Bron.

He did most of his damage in the WCF.

Faced some of the strongest defenses in the finals in a defensive minded era - and in general since he faced the Spurs so much - but he still had several great finals games despite that. 04 Pistons and late 00s Celtics in particular were brutal to score against.

The weakest defensive squad he faced (by far) was the above average Pacers team where he was on a rolled ankle from game 2 on and yet still had that game 4, I'm sure if Shaq was out the entire series he'd have scored way more (and likely still win series) but that period in OT was really the only time he could actually do that

Not that hard to contextualize. Strong defenses in slow defensive era (particularly for perimeter players) means that it's more difficult to get that kind of raw production

 

[Street Knowledge]

Game 4 against the Spurs in 04 is my favorite

 

[Controversy]

There was never a doubt we'd win the Finals

The doubt always came in WCF all 3 yrs from 00-02

 

[Sccit]

Crazy just how few of his best games were in the Finals compared to say MJ, Magic, Shaq and Bron.

He did most of his damage in the WCF.

THATS BECAUSE THE REAL COMPETITION WAS IN THE WEST

 

[Gotright]

Crazy just how few of his best games were in the Finals compared to say MJ, Magic, Shaq and Bron.

He did most of his damage in the WCF.

one of the reasons I got lebron over him. Playoff Resumes don’t compare. Even Duncan resume is better then kobe but I got them tied.

 

[Controversy]

one of the reasons I got lebron over him. Playoff Resumes don’t compare. Even Duncan resume is better then kobe but I got them tied.

Kobe beat 25 50 win teams in the playoffs, Bron beat 10

Kobe was 4-2 vs Duncan in the offs

Not sure why it's even a debate

 

[Ben.]

'08 Kobe is so amazing man, From the start of that season all the way to leading USA to gold was incredible to see.

 

[Dave24]

I think overall Kobe's playoff run in 2008 was his best

 

[Regular_P]

I love his game 4 vs Utah in '09. Not only was he crazy efficient, he was coming off one of the worst playoff games of his career. Folks were chirping that Brewer & the Jazz had actually figured out how to contain him. This game is also so dope because he did 95% of his damage from the outside. He could have gotten to the rim much more than he did vs Utah, but Kobe was hellbent on making a point. The objective was never to just score on Brewer that night; it was to demoralize him.




I miss my dog.

It doesn't make sense how that Utah squad was a first round matchup. They had five All-Stars on their roster: Williams, Okur, Boozer, Kirilenko and Millsap. They had Korver too.

Lakers chopped them down three straight seasons.

 

[Dave24]

@viktordoomsecretwars what do you consider Kobe's greatest playoff games??

 

[Swagnificent]

one of the reasons I got lebron over him. Playoff Resumes don’t compare. Even Duncan resume is better then kobe but I got them tied.

so putting up bigger numbers against weaker competition impresses you?

No player in NBA history has faced stiffer playoff competition than Kobe. The number of 50 win teams he faced year in and year out in the grueling 2000s Western Conference proves that. He also typically faced defensive minded teams in the Finals during an era of slow pace like the Celtics.

If Kobe played a soft schedule every year like LeBron did in the East and then in the Finals was getting to face off against fast paced offensive forced teams like the Warriors, then his numbers would have been more impressive. This is why context and the eye test are critical when evaluating sports than just doing a box score comparison.

For example, look at Kobe's 2010 series against the Suns. Statistically its arguably his finest series. He put up very LeBron-esque stat lines. However, I would say it wasn't close to being his most impressive. Why? Because that Suns team was not as good as the teams Kobe beat in the WCF for his 4 other rings. And also because they were one of the only offensive minded fast pace teams Kobe faced in a big time series.

There's a reason Andre Igoudala said Kobe was tougher to defend than LeBron. Listen to the players. They understand all the context and nuance I am talking about.

 

[GreatestLaker]

It doesn't make sense how that Utah squad was a first round matchup. They had five All-Stars on their roster: Williams, Okur, Boozer, Kirilenko and Millsap. They had Korver too.

Lakers chopped them down three straight seasons.

No one on that Utah team was truly elite. They had no one that could dominate a game.