The Killer Crossover 5.08.08: Playoff X-Factors

Posted by Todd Spehr on 05.08.2008

Sure, you can count on your superstar every night in the postseason, but each team has an X-Factor that can be the difference between winning and losing a playoff series. 411's Todd Spehr looks at four such playoff X-Factors.

Rajon Rondo (Boston)

How about that playoff experience? For a guy who had never tasted a playoff minute coming in, Rondo sure looks comfortable in that so-called harsh postseason spotlight. Coming into the Atlanta series, there were questions about his matchup with Mike Bibby, and by the end, all the questions were circling Bibby. Not only did Rondo hold him to 33% shooting for the series, but in the four Boston wins, Bibby was good for just six points per. Of course, Bibby was working against both Rondo and karma, which is a one helluva defensive combination, but it has been Rondo's playoff maturation – 12 points, seven assists, four boards nightly – that was one of the keys against Atlanta.

Consider this: In Game 1 against Cleveland, with both Ray Allen and Paul Pierce (combined 2-18 FG) offensively inept, it was Rondo who stepped in with 15 points. They're down 0-1 if he doesn't do that. Not only that, but unlike the Hawks' series, Rondo has a clear advantage over a guy (Delonte West) he once fought for minutes with. Watch for at least one stupid Rondo stat-line this series, one where he gets low teens in points, 7-9 assists and an inordinate amount of rebounds for point guard - he's become the master of those. If they advance, the anticipation of a seven-game series with Chauncey Billups is, shall I say, jolly exciting.


Peja Stojakovic (New Orleans)

Its funny how, when you think of the Hornets, you immediately get that Paul-West-Chandler image, but then you realize that Stojakovic not only put up 16 a night this year but has proven to be the difference in the first two games of the San Antonio series. Aside from the obligatory "Well, Peja has playoff experience" sidebar to the previously inexperienced Hornets prior to the postseason, Stojakovic had been nothing more than an after-thought. And sure, I may have over-jumped things earlier this year when I suggested he and Paul had a little Mullin-Hardaway thing going on there, but gosh darn it, when a guy hits 61% of his 40 3-PT attempts through his first seven playoff games, you can't help but be impressed.

Funnily enough, San Antonio seemed content letting him get his if it meant slowing the other guys, and there's no doubt the Spurs, they of defensive adjustment fame, surely won't make that mistake again. Random sidebar: I was recently reading how the Hornets announced the Stojakovic signing in Vegas two summers ago. A gamble you say? Yes, the symbolism is there, but if Peja keeps jacking like its 2002, then the Hornets have – wait for it – hit the jackpot. Random sidebar #2: Hasn't had an assist in his last 193 playoff minutes, shades of the late Yinka Dare, and hardly anything to write home to Yugoslavia about.


Jameer Nelson (Orlando)

Introducing your starting point guard for the All Me-Against-The-World team. Not only came into the league undervalued (despite a great college career), but also came into Orlando's first-round matchup with Toronto – and that two-headed point guard juggernaut of Ford and Calderon (only half-serious there) – as a vast underdog.

Of course, he played practically the best ball of his life, upped his average roughly seven points (17.2 from 10.9) over his regular season output, kept Toronto's two PG's mostly tamed, and then theorized before the Detroit series that he loves "challenges." Oh yeah? Challenges like the one where he's matched up with Chauncey Billups, the same guy who lit him up for 22 and seven in last year's playoff series? Keeping Billups – who went for 19 and 28 respectively in the opening two games against Nelson – under control is massive. And to say that Nelson, even with the talent he has alongside, is the key to any kind of success Orlando is to have is unadulterated fact.


Jason Maxiell (Detroit)

He who is thrown to starting line-up. With Detroit down 2-1 to Philly, Flip Saunders, never one to shake things up, went with Maxiell to start Game 4 and Detroit hasn't lost since. And here's the beauty of the Maxiell promotion: He has a domino effect on the Pistons - he gives the starting line-up more energy, he gives other teams a new guy to think about, and he gives Antonio McDyess and those creaky knees much-needed rest. Maxiell was assigned Dwight Howard for Game 1 of the Orlando series, and held him to 12 and 8. No doubt the folks at Elias Sports Bureau found that the last time Howard was held to 12 and 8 was sometime in elementary school.

And word is, Joe Dumars longed for more minutes out of Maxiell all year, because he's a guy that blocks shots, changes shots, and is active on the glass at both ends. Sound like Ben Wallace? Yeah, but he can score too (5-5 FG, 11 points in Game 2 vs. Orlando. Last thing: You have to love undersized power forwards. You just do. Just like ever other UPF – that's what we shall call them – in the past (Barkley, LJ, Spoon) you can't help but fantasize about adding a few inches to their listed height and wonder how they'd play then. Jason Maxiell, welcome to that club.

You can read Todd Spehr's NBA column every Wednesday at 411mania.com. To read more of his stuff, check out his recently launched blog "Runnin' The Point," which has daily updates for the NBA playoffs, analyzing every PG who takes the floor.