The 6 most disappointing stars in the NBA playoffs this year, the Celtics are on the list, Garland leads

Since the start of the playoffs this year, there are only four teams left in the league who are still fighting for the championship. It has to be said that among the only four teams left, only the Thunder were expected to have their current results at the beginning. Before the playoffs started, the Timberwolves, New York and Pacers were all considered to be basically impossible to enter the Eastern Conference Finals. The current situation is that some people are happy and some are worried. Teams like the Cavaliers and Celtics that lose in surprise will naturally feel unwilling to accept it, but they are not unfair to lose. If some players in the team give some strength, they will not be eliminated so early. Next, we will take a look at the six most disappointing stars in this year's playoffs. Their teams are eliminated early and their performance are very related to their performance. Let's take a look at who these players are!

6. Wiggins

Average 11.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocks in the playoffs. In the middle of the regular season this season, Wiggins was given to the Heat as a trade chip for Butler. Although such a thing happened was something he didn't want to see, joining the Heat was not necessarily a disadvantage for his personal performance, because he obviously got more ball rights here. After joining the Heat, Wiggins averaged 19 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1 block per game in the regular season, with a shooting percentage of 45.8%. Before the start of the playoffs, although the outside world was not optimistic about the Heat's ability to defeat the Cavaliers, considering the Heat's performance in the playoffs in the past few years, everyone is looking forward to them bringing some surprises. The result was that Wiggins, as the core, had his personal performance collapsed directly. He averaged only 11.5 points per game in the entire series, and his shooting percentage was as low as 37.2%. In this case, the Heat did not pose any threat to the Cavaliers at all, and they were eventually eliminated by a 4-0 sweep.

5.Jaren Jackson Jr.

Average 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1 steal in the playoffs

Since entering the league in 2018, Jaren Jr.'s progress in the regular season is obvious to all. He averaged 22.2 points per game in the regular season this season. His shooting and left and right hands ended on the offensive end were excellent, but at the same time, his shortcomings such as control fouls and rebounds are still objective. In the first round, facing the Thunder, the outside world never thought that the Grizzlies could win, and even their own fans just hope that the team can play with their style.

Unfortunately, Jaren Jr. failed to satisfy the fans. As the core of the team, his performance was very disappointing. In 4 games, Jaren Jr. averaged only 16 points and 5 rebounds per game, shooting percentage of 37.9% and three-point shooting percentage of 27.3%. In the end, the Grizzlies were successfully swept by the Thunder, and G1 even lost 51 points. In that game, Jaren Jr. made only 2 of 13 shots and scored only 4 points and 3 rebounds. While the shortcomings are still exposed, Jialun Jr. has not yet been used to play his advantage. Faced with high-intensity confrontation, Jialun Jr. cannot open the offense at all, and the more he plays, the more urgent he is, it also affects his mentality on the defensive end.

4. Porzingis

Average 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in the playoffs

In 2023, the Celtics sent off locker room leader Smart. In this deal, they exchanged for Porzingis, and his arrival greatly increased the upper limit of the team's five foreign system. In fact, the healthy Porzingis did not disappoint, especially in the regular season. He can easily play the role of the team as the third leader on both offense and defense in every game, but the problem lies in his inability to stay healthy for a long time. This season, due to injuries, he has played in a very bad state. Although Porzingis strives to play every game in the playoffs, even he himself said he will feel breathless when playing for a while. In this case, he only scored a double-double in 2 of the 12 games he played, and averaged 7.7 points per game also hit a new low in his playoff career. Now that Porzingis has one year left in his big contract, the Celtics will most likely put him on the trading shelves, but whether there is a team willing to take over is another matter.

3. Holiday

Average 9.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4 assists in the playoffs, and Holiday's role in the playoffs was still above Porzingis. At that time, he averaged 13.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He had an irreplaceable role on both offense and defense. In this way, he was able to renew his contract with the Celtics in a four-year, 134 million contract during the offseason. But after the contract renewal, Holiday soon experienced a decline this season. Many fans in the regular season said that he was paddling, but now after the playoffs, it is obvious that he has indeed declined. Holiday in the playoffs could not digest the ball at all. Most of the time he could only play without the ball, but in the second round, he could not provide more output due to his poor condition in the double-team. For Holiday, he is 34 years old, and it is normal for him to decline now. However, at present, his contract is likely to become a garbage contract. If the Celtics want to get rid of him, they need to take action as soon as possible.

2. Jaylen Green

Average 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists in the playoffs, Green has always been a player who relies heavily on the outside feel. When he can hit a jump shot normally, he is indeed not easy to defend, but the key is that his feel will be very sluggish most of the time, especially in high-end games, his performance is even more untrustworthy. This year in the playoffs, Green once again proved that his ability had stopped there. He only made one game against the Warriors, and he scored 38 points in the G2 game, and then there was no more.

Green failed to double the score in four games in the entire series, and his shooting percentage was below 40% in 6 games, and his overall three-point shooting percentage was only 29.5%.. In this case, the Rockets can still play against the Warriors until tiebreak. From this, we can see that the performance of other core players is still commendable. It can be said that if Green is more competitive, the Rockets can eliminate the Warriors without having to play until tiebreak.

1. Garland

Average 18 points, 2.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists in the playoffs

This year's regular season Cavaliers can be said to be the biggest dark horse in the East. They have won 60+ wins again since 2010. I thought this was a season where the Cavaliers were reborn, but in the end they were disappointed. The loss to the Pacers in the playoffs also completely confirmed the label of "pseudo-strong team". As the second in command of the team, Garland's performance is obviously disappointing. Garland only played 5 games throughout the playoffs, and he did not play the role he should have at all.

And this is not the first time Garland has played with an injury in the playoffs, which means that his body cannot withstand the load of the team's core level. In this way, it will be even more difficult to build a team around him. You should know that he averaged only 30.7 minutes of playing time per game this season, but he has not been able to stay healthy yet.