In the history of the NBA, going way back beyond '91, facing elimination, Dirk has 13
30+ point performances. Only Wilt the Stilt, tied at 13, and Jerry West at 14, have achieved similar results.

How many other players in NBA history have been asked to single-handedly carry a franchise to the extent Dirk has? Maybe that further contributes to him having by far the highest # of performances on here...he and he alone has always had to save Mavs teams that otherwise arguably wouldn't have even been in these positions without him(as someone pointed out, Jordan hardly ever faced elimination after '91-he was great, his teams were good/great) from the brink of elimination, literally. Maybe this terribly bias (I am, admittedly, a huge Mavs fan), but we have 10 straight 50-win seasons, and who's the reason why?

With the three other teams that have achieved that tremendous 50-win/10-year feat, there was always more than one superstar.

1) LA of the 80's had Magic and Kareem as superstars and a host of stars (Worthy, Scott, etc) to back them up.

2)Spurs, of course, have had that (if you'll excuse my frustration) damned 3-headed monster Ginobli, Parker and Duncan (not to mention David Robinson at first, one of the all-time greats).

3) Celtics of the 60's are the closest to the Mavs situation in that it was Russell who was the one main component throughout. Of course, he did have HOFers Cousy, Havlicek, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinsohn, and Sam Jones throughout most of it (Cousy the first half, Havlicek the 2nd).

Now, I'm not trying to compare the 00's Mavs teams to those teams bc that would be ridiculous. Those teams won championships. I am saying that maybe if Nowitzki would have had a little more help (like maybe Cuban not letting Nash go in '04), he'd probably have a few rings by now. The list above about clutch performances and many other statistical measurements prove that Dirk is a helluva player, esp in the playoffs. Did I mention he's one of only 5 players EVER to average 25/10 in the postseason?? Who's not on that list? Larry Bird, David Robinson, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt f'n Chamberlain!, just to name a few. That should put it in perspective for everyone. It did for me.

Alternatively: Doesn't this list update automatically?

Jordan's game 7 against NY in '92 doesn't even make the top 100? LMAO"

What is more telling about that performance is that Jordan played close to his pre-Wizard career average; that a slightly above career average game is among the absolute best games played in a recent elimination game is amazing.

Also, credit his lack of appearances on this list as a result of small sample size; he only played in two other elimination games since '91 for the Bulls, one of which was in his return against the Magic in '95, and the other was as a 35 year old in '98.

Both Ewing and Isiah appear from a 5th game NY/Det finale in '92.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199205030NYK.html

In '93, Reggie, Detlef, and Rik all went off in staving off defeat:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199305040IND.html

One of Reggie's entries is the only game he played in the '96 playoffs; failing to stop the 3-2 loss to Atl.