Experience is highly valuable in the NBA playoff atmosphere.
But not always.
The 2022 NBA playoffs have already featured four tremendous scoring performances, but none of them came from experienced veterans.
Instead, four players under 22 years old made playoff history by scoring 30 or more points in the same postseason: Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant, Tyrese Maxey and Jordan Poole.
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Edwards, the 20-year-old wing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, made his playoff debut on Saturday against Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. The 2020 No. 1 overall pick dropped 36 points on 12-for-23 shooting to lead the upset win.
Morant, who was on the opposite side of Edwards on the court, also posted solid numbers despite the loss. He made his playoff debut last year but started this year strong with a 32-point outing on 8-for-18 shooting.
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Switching over to the Eastern Conference, second-year guard Maxey came up big to lift the Philadelphia 76ers over the Toronto Raptors in Game 1. He dropped 38 points in 38 minutes on 14-for-21 shooting to relieve the pressure on Joel Embiid and James Harden.
Then in the last game of the day, Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole splashed home 30 points to drown the Denver Nuggets in his playoff debut. He shot 9-for-13 overall and 5-for-7 from 3-point range in a game that provided some much-needed time for Stephen Curry to rest up as he suited up for the first time since March 16.
All this scoring happened on just the first day of the playoffs. Let’s hope there are more memorable performances on the way.
