Kevin Durant, J.R. Smith, Stephen Curry & The Top 25 Plays Of The NBA Playoffs So Far

We’re not even through the first round of the NBA Playoffs and we’ve already seen game-winners, fights, sweeps, comebacks, and yes, monster highlights. The most amazing thing about this list you’re about to see isn’t necessarily that all of the plays came within the past two weeks, but that LeBron James doesn’t make one single appearance. Everyone else has just been that good.

Here are the top 25 plays of the NBA Playoffs so far…

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25. WILSON CHANDLER Goes Right Through Andrew Bogut
The Nuggets were wondering how they would replace Danilo Gallinari. Chandler answered that pretty quickly. This is the first of many Bogut appearances on this list — ironically, he might be involved in more plays on this list than anyone else.

24. TONY PARKER Makes A Shot Falling Down
The Lakers season went down the drain pretty quickly against San Antonio, and Parker got so bored going up against D-League players in the Lakers’ backcourt that he started taking shots from his ass.

23. NATE ROBINSON’s Running Jumper From Almost The Three-Point Line
This was the capper on an unreal 23-point run from Robinson during the best NBA game we’ve seen all season.

22. JaVALE McGEE Catches Andrew Bogut Sleeping
There’s that man Bogut again, getting a dose of angry McGee on his head. Don’t worry… he’d get him back.

21. J.R. SMITH Puts Jeff Green On A Poster
Before he started doing and saying stupid stuff, and before Boston woke up, Smith was unleashing his Sunday’s best on Jeff Green and the Celtics.

20. PAUL PIERCE Loses Jason Kidd And Then Flushes It Home
We’re still waiting on the patented “elbow jumper for the win in the playoffs” from the Truth. You know it’s coming. But at least he gave us his other signature move: go baseline for the sneaky flush.

19. NATE ROBINSON Freezes Deron Williams
Robinson’s double through-the-legs move against Williams was so quick that Brooklyn’s point guard barely moved his feet.

18. DWYANE WADE Comes Out Of Nowhere For A Sick Follow-Up
He sat out Game 4 because of a balky knee, but before that, Flash was taking us back in time with this follow-up slam.

17. KEVIN DURANT Crosses Over And Then Dunks On Houston’s Entire Team
KD’s trying to do everything for OKC now that Russell Westbrook is out. The results have been mixed. Here was one of the times he didn’t need any help at all.

16. PAUL GEORGE With A Sick Chase-Down Block
I’ve heard people call this a goaltend. Either way, it’s pretty sick.

15. JAMAL CRAWFORD Puts Jerryd Bayless Into The Blender
You can’t have a top plays section without at least one submission from JCrossover.

14. GERALD GREEN Embarrasses Josh Smith
The best part about this play? Green is so enamored with himself that he forgets to get back on defense. That probably warranted a benching.

13. ANDREW BOGUT Turns Back The Clock
Game 3 of the Denver/Golden State series was littered with WTF moments from Bogut.

12. J.R. SMITH’s Insane Behind-The-Back Assist
I have no idea how this pass got through or even why he attempted it. But it’s definitely one of the best passes I’ve seen all year.

11. DERON WILLIAMS Puts Chicago In His Own Personal Highlight Tape
One of my favorite all-time ballhandlers, it’s never fun getting isolated on Deron Williams.

10. PAUL PIERCE and JEFF GREEN Combine For A Long Alley-Oop
Was this the best pass of the postseason so far? It’s hard to argue against a 70-foot pass — on the run — that gets Jeff Green an easy bucket.

9. ANDRE IGUODALA Finishes A Reverse Alley-Oop
There are maybe five guys in the world who make this play. Iggy can’t get up like he used to, but he’s still probably one of the most underrated dunkers of this era (I’m still pissed about the 2006 Dunk Contest).

8. KENNETH FARIED Chases Down Jarrett Jack
I’m not sure how Jack didn’t see or hear him coming because he served this one up on a platter. Faried gets extra points for finishing on the other end as well.

7. DAVID WEST’s Touchdown Pass
Instead of wasting a first-round pick, the Buffalo Bills should sign West. He’d fit right in on a football field.

6. TAJ GIBSON Dishing Out Another Playoff Special On Kris Humphries
Gibson serves up one of these dunks once a playoff run. There are dozens of Kardashian jokes you could throw in here, too.

5. STEPHEN CURRY’s Out-Of-This-World Back-To-Back Floaters
The star of the postseason so far, Curry is going to close out Denver in Game 6. I can feel it. After the way Game 5 ended, he’s going to throw up at least 35 points back in the Bay.

4. TY LAWSON Fakes Out Golden State’s Whole Team
Very rarely do you ever need a replay to see exactly what happened. This is one of those times. On first glance, I had no idea how Lawson even got rid of it. But the replay holds the magic.

3. HARRISON BARNES Unleashes A Nasty Reverse Slam
Barnes looks like he’ll be a much better NBA player than college player, as he’s stayed consistent throughout the first-round series against Denver. While he definitely traveled on the initial catch here, the finish is so eye-opening that it can be overlooked.

2. CARLOS DELFINO Enters Into Kevin Durant’s Next Nightmare
This is the best play of Delfino’s life, and also sports a pretty serious after-dunk face.

1. KEVIN DURANT Slams A Facial Down From The Heavens
KD almost made this look too easy. He still dribbled through an entire defense, elevated up to about 12 and a half feet, and then brought it down on a seven-footer’s head. That’s nasty.

Did we get it right?

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