Better in the playoffs - Kevin Garnett or Dirk Nowitzki (alltime)

[pastis]

dirk by miles. not even close.

[raiderfan19]

Yes kg was always such a dominant defender in the playoffs... That's why dirk torched him for 33.3 ppg the one time they matched up.

Or are you admitting that kg didn't guard the opposing teams best big,(he didn't on the wolves) because if so that might seem to mitigate some of his supposed all time great d.

[tpols]

Yes kg was always such a dominant defender in the playoffs... That's why dirk torched him for 33.3 ppg the one time they matched up.

Or are you admitting that kg didn't guard the opposing teams best big,(he didn't on the wolves) because if so that might seem to mitigate some of his supposed all time great d.

stop being silly.. when youre facing a 21/9 Steve Nash, 25/7 Michael Finley, a 33ppg Dirk and a team with 5 double digit scorers of course theyre going to have him roaming/helpiung /trapping to spread his impact over all the players.

Unfortunately when wally scerbiak, a young chauncey billups, and rasho Nesterovic are your best defenders by your side theres not much you can do to stop what was basically an offensive all star team.

[houston]

dirk of course

[Harison]

stop being silly.. when youre facing a 21/9 Steve Nash, 25/7 Michael Finley, a 33ppg Dirk and a team with 5 double digit scorers of course theyre going to have him roaming/helpiung /trapping to spread his impact over all the players.

Unfortunately when wally scerbiak, a young chauncey billups, and rasho Nesterovic are your best defenders by your side theres not much you can do to stop what was basically an offensive all star team.

Interestingly, KG in his prime was usually outscoring Dirk H2H, not even speaking about rebounds, assists, defense, etc.

However its funny how Dirk homers take 3 games sample as a definite proof of anything. Its mildly speaking not very smart. KG wasnt even defending Dirk, and you are right - KG faced stacked All-star offensive team on fire, not much one can do about that.

Following Dirk's fans logic, Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson >> Dirk, when they outplayed and handed one of the biggest upsets in NBA history to 1st seed and MVP Dirk in '07. Many funny instances can be found once one takes Dirk homers logic (or lack of it).

[raiderfan19]

Kg didn't consistently outscore dirk in his prime .

[moaz]

Harison vs. Truth Round 2
(2014 Edition)

[eklip]

Dirk's stats are better.

Garnett has a better impact on defense even if you ignore the stats (pick and roll defense, interior defense, anchoring the defense, etc.).

Dirk has a better impact on offense even if you ignore the stats (spacing, double teams leading to hockey assists, being one of the best closers and go-to guys of all-time, etc.).

I think it's pretty obvious that Dirk was the better playoff performer. The only pro Garnett argument is that he missed playoffs during his prime and didn't had the opportunity to show himself as much as Dirk in the playoffs.

If you go through some of Dirk's best series, it's hard not to pick him. Garnett wasn't efficient on offense, especially if he had to carry the offense. Dirk had so many super efficient series. If you go by playoff runs, it's also Dirk with his 2006 and 2011 playoff performances.

Just some examples:
2002 against Garnett (3-0), already posted:
33.3 pts / 15.7 reb /0.7 ast / 3 stl on .686 TS%.

2006 against Duncan and the 2005/2007 Champs (4-3):
27.1 pts/ 13.3 reb / 2.7 ast on .654 TS%

In his playoff loss against the nuggets in 2009 (1-4) he put up 34.4 pts / 11.6 reb / 4 ast on .660 TS%.

2011 he was great against the Lakers and OKC (>30 pts and >0.700 TS% against OKC)

There are players who drop off in the playoffs and I think Garnett is one of them, at least offensively. Karl Malone is another good example.

Dirk didn't really had more trouble scoring against better teams. Obviously he had bad shooting nights and from time to time a bad stretch of games like every player has, but it was hard to stop him when he was his usual self. Dirk's rebounding numbers were great earlier in his career but dropped off later, so did his steal and block numbers.

Before Dirk's prime or at the start of his prime there was always a discussion who was the best player on the Mavs (Finley, Nash or Dirk). In the playoffs it was always Dirk who stood out when the other two struggled.

[stevieming]

Dirk no question.

Off topic - man, how epic and good match it would have been to have KG and Dirk on the same team....

KG holds down the D and rebounds, adds in a dash of O and Dirk to close out and provide the scoring.

That would have been the ultimate twin tower right there.....in fact now that i think about it, Dirk and KG would have beaten the lakers of Shaq and Kobe in my opinion. Well...maybe...

[BlackWhiteGreen]

New thread is new.

The people arguing it's not even a question are the biggest idiots here. I'd take Garnett, for obvious reason, but I get why you might take Dirk. He has been to the playoffs more and does score better/more efficiently (although his efficiency is down to the fact he shot 3s).