Best Plus Minus: Trevor Ariza (+53 in 195 minutes). It's almost forgotten that Trevor Ariza made two game-winning plays in the Western Conference finals for the Lakers... in 2009. In the years that followed, we've spent so much time focusing on what he isn't, that we forgot what he can do really well: play good defense on three positions, and provide timely (if streaky) outside shooting as a safety valve on offense. When he's hitting threes (46.4% for the series on 5.6 attempts per game), he's a very valuable piece.
Worst Plus Minus: Kirk Hinrich (-32 in 163 minutes). Unfortunately, Derrick Rose's injury placed a burden on Hinrich that he may not be up for at this point in his career. Combined with the task of chasing around John Wall or Bradley Beal, and it's pretty easy to figure out why he shows up here.
Series MVP: D.J. Augustin (Net +42 in 142 minutes). Despite being cast off for basically nothing by two franchises, Chicago put Augustin in the "Nate Robinson Memorial Scoring Point" role, and he performed admirably. I'm still not sure that his place in the league can move much beyond rotational guard, but kudos to Chicago for letting a guy do what he does best, and reaping the benefits.
Series LVP: Martell Webster (Net -48 in 91 minutes). I'm assuming that Trevor Ariza's defense allowed him to flourish much more than Webster, given that Ariza was tasked with chasing Augustin around at critical junctures. Having said that, for a guy whose major calling card is outside shooting from the corners, 31% from three probably isn't good enough.
Jerome James Award: Nene Hilario. As a fan of Nene's one-on-one post defense and offensive smarts, this one is tough. But it's hard not to notice that the Wizards were +25 when he was off the court. I'm perfectly willing to accept the idea that Nene and Gortat had a cumulative effect on wearing down Noah, and for some reason it just happened to show up in Gortat's minutes (who was +43 in 180 minutes). Unfortunately, their respective numbers are just too different to back that up, and I won't play favorites on the hallowed grounds of the Playoff Summaries.
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