That unsung player who comes up with the spectacular, yet unexpected performance, has become a recurring theme in the 2021 National Basketball Association playoffs.
Last Friday, we saw Terance Mann of the Los Angeles Clippers score a career-high 39 points in a thrilling victory over the Utah Jazz to win the Western Conference semifinals series and clinch a spot in the conference finals. Mann was starting in the place of injured superstar Kawhi Leonard, who is out with a knee injury. The Clippers trailed by 25 points in the third quarter when Mann sparked a dramatic rally with a 20-point third quarter.
A few days later, Kevin Huerter of the Atlanta Hawks posted a playoff career high 27 points to lead to a Game 7 road victory at Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinals. With star guard Trae Young struggling with his shooting, Huerter stepped forward with the best night of his young career.
On Tuesday night, it was Phoenix Suns’ reserve point guard Cameron Payne who stepped into the playoff spotlight. With future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul out of the lineup and in the health and safety protocol, Payne stepped into starting spot and scored a playoff career-high 29 points in the Suns 104-103 victory over the Clippers in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.
Deandre Ayton’s dunk with less than a second left gave the Suns its thrilling victory and 2-0 lead in the series, but the individual star of the night was Payne. In addition to his 29 points, he also had nine assists and no turnovers while shooting 50 percent from the field.
Through the first two games of the series, Payne is averaging 20 points and nine assists a game.
