By Brian Boone

It’s mid-April, and thus begins the most exciting two months in sports: When 20 teams get whittled down to one champion via the NBA playoffs. As far as the playoffs are concerned, you don’t have to be a superstar during the rest of the year, or have been a dominant presence for many years prior. It’s about getting the job done right then and there, and here are some players who etched their names into the NBA history books for a single playoffs full of exceptional on-court heroics.

T.J. WARREN

The 2020 NBA season was interrupted for several months due to COVID-19 restrictions. When it resumed in July 7, 2020, it did so in a “bubble” — a sealed environment in Orlando, and the best teams competed in eight games to determine playoff seeding, sort of a pre-playoffs playoffs. Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard was named Bubble MVP for leading all scorers, but he edged out little-known Indiana Pacers forward T.J. Warren. He averaged 31 points a game in the bubble (twice his regular career pace) and scored 53 in his first bubble game. When regular play resumed, he got injured, missed hundreds of games, and never reached bubble heights again. 

ROBERT HORRY

With regular-season career stats of seven points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game over 15 years, Robert Horry’s numbers are unexceptional. And yet he’s an NBA legend because he showed up for his teams during the playoffs, earning the nickname “Big Shot Bob.” Horry has seven championship rings, and lots of postseason highlights. In Game Three of the 1995 NBA Finals, his three-pointer sealed the win. In Game Four of the 2002 Western Conference Finals, his three-pointer buzzer-beater secured the win. In Game Five of the 2005 NBA Finals, he scored 21 points and a game-winning three-pointer in overtime.

TERANCE MANN

For the first two years of his NBA career, Terance Mann almost always came off the bench for the Los Angeles Clippers, playing about 13 minutes a game and scoring about five points a game. Then came the 2021 playoffs. During the 2021 Western Conference Semifinals, star forward Kawhi Leonard got injured, and Mann got his spot in the starting lineup and most of his minutes on the court. In Game Six of the series, Mann scored 39 points including seven three-pointers. It’s the best game he’d ever have, regular season or playoffs. Mann’s scoring charge eliminated a 25-point deficit and a 12 point win, sending the Clippers to the first Western Conference Finals in franchise history.