There's one huge difference between regular season and playoff basketball, and that is how defense is played. Players hustle, defend the paint, and get back during transition play. The game tends to be played in the half-court. This translates to fewer fast breaks and easy baskets. So what impact does this change in play have on actual scoring statistics in the NBA postseason?
See below for how some top NBA players performed in the 2015-16 postseason compared to their 2015-16 regular season averages.
| Player | Reg PPG | PS PPG | Reg RPG | PS RPG | Reg APG | PS APG |
| Lebron James | 26.3 | 26.3 | 8.6 | 9.5 | 8.7 | 7.6 |
| Kevin Durant | 25.3 | 28.4 | 8.2 | 7.1 | 4.8 | 3.3 |
| Kawhi Leonard | 25.7 | 22.5 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 3.6 | 2.8 |
| Chris Paul* | 18.1 | 15.8 | 4.9 | 2.7 | 9.5 | 4.8 |
| DeMar DeRozan | 27.0 | 20.9 | 5.3 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 2.7 |
| Kyrie Irving | 25.0 | 25.2 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 5.8 | 4.6 |
| Kevin Love | 19.1 | 14.0 | 11.0 | 8.3 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
| James Harden | 29.2 | 26.6 | 8.1 | 5.2 | 11.2 | ... |