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Goran Dragic was an afterthought going into the Suns' second round series against the San Antonio Spurs. You can't really blame people for that. Third year Slovenian backup point guards behind Steve Nash don't tend to resonate very much with the mainstream media in a series with Nash alongside Amar'e Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Jason Richardson. But in Game 3, Goran Dragic may have been the one to finally break the Suns' inability to defeat the Spurs in the playoffs, dropping 26 points and in a less-heralded aspect, completely shutting down Tony Parker on the defensive end (including a block of Parker's teardrop, a shot I have never seen blocked in the playoffs). Which got me thinking. Exactly how good was Goran Dragic's performance, in the context of his youth and position on the team?
I checked with Basketball-Reference.com, and the results are stunning. Dragic's 26 point performance tied for the third highest point total by a reserve 24 years or younger in the playoffs. I know that sounds like a lot of caveats, but think about it. For a man his age who isn't a starter, Dragic had the third highest point performance in playoff history, behind only Boobie Gibson's 31 point "where the hell did that come from?" in 2007 over the Pistons, and Ben Gordon's pair of dazzling performances over the Wizards in 2005 .
Dragic also had the second lowest minute total of any player scoring 20 points as a reserve under 24.
So Dragic's job really was a stunning performance given his circumstances. It's unlikely that Dragic will repeat his performance, but those are the kinds of things that a team needs as it seeks to get to the Western Conference Finals, for unlikely role players to step up. And it's another sign that everything is going Phoenix's way in this series.
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