Matthews Steal Highlights Top Plays of NBA Weekend, Gives Trail Blazers 3-1 lead

Wesley Matthews’ fourth steal of the game just after 1 AM EST Monday morning with two seconds to play gave the Portland Trail Blazers a 3-1 series lead heading to Houston Wednesday. The Trail Blazers were the only team with five of the top 50 players this weekend on the table below, while LeBron James leads the list (30 points + 10 rebounds + 6 Assists + 2 Steals + 0 Blocks – 8 Missed Shots – 1 FT Missed – 2 Turnovers = 37 Efficiency), and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was the 165th and worst player this weekend. Breakdowns of all eight series follow, but first, the worst players this weekend:

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Miami 98, Charlotte 85: Heat can sweep Monday in Charlotte: The NBA Efficiency rating used by NBA coaches takes a point away for mistakes (turnovers, missed free throws for field goals), while adding a point for every rebound, assist, steal or point scored. Kidd-Gilchrist missed five shots and three free throws to go along with four turnovers while he scored only three points as part of a -3 Efficiency rating for the game.

Portland 123, Houston 120 (OT): Trail Blazers can win 4-1 in Houston Wednesday. LaMarcus Aldridge (pictured) opened the series with 46 points to give Houston an overtime win, but Sunday was part of a much more balanced attack. He had the 10th best weekend performance, while Matthews came in #23 with four rebounds, three assists and 21 points to go along with his four steals.  Robin Lopez ranked 29th despite only six points because of his 11 rebounds and no missed shots. James Harden missed 12 shots and turned the ball over five times to drop to a respectable but not dominant 30th.

Dallas 109, San Antonio 108: Mavs can take 3-1 lead in Dallas Monday. Vince Carter wasn’t one of the four Mavs on the list, but his buzzer beater from the corner overcame 13 rebounds by Tiago Splitter (9th best performance) and 22 points by Tim Duncan (13th best) for the Spurs.

Oklahoma City 92, Memphis 89 (OT): winner in OKC Tuesday will lead 3-2. Reggie Jackson turned in the fourth best performance of the weekend by scoring more points than Kevin Durant (54th due to 16 missed shots and five turnovers, with only 15 points) and Russell Westbrook (18 missed shots, seven turnovers, 15 points).

Washington 98, Chicago 89: Wizards can win series 4-1 in Chicago Tuesday. Trevor Ariza (5th, 30 points) to help the Wizards win again without Bradley Beal (25th) or John Wall (47th) having one of their dominant games.

Golden State 118, LA Clippers 97:  Winner Tuesday in LA takes 3-2 lead. Stephen Curry was second to only James with a 33 point, seven rebound, seven assist game, and he received plenty of help from Andre Iguodala (22 points on only two missed shots to rank 8th). The Clippers were distracted by the news barrage over their owners comments.

Toronto 87, Brooklyn 79: winner Wednesday in Toronto takes 3-2 lead. The Raptors did not have a top 25 performance, but had the defensive performance of the weekend with only 79 points allowed. Paul Pierce (19th) was the only Nets player in the top 50.

Indiana 91, Atlanta 88: winner Monday in Atlanta takes 3-2 lead. The Indiana trio of Paul George (7th, 24 points, 10 rebounds), George Hill (24th, 3 steals) and David West (26th, five rebounds, three steals) had just enough to hold off Atlanta and even the series. The Hawks Paul Millsap (6th) put in 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds to almost give the Hawks a 3-1 lead.

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