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	7.6
Stephon Curry*	25.3	18.8	4.5	4.1	6.6	3.9
Russell Westbrook	31.8	26.0	10.7	6.9	10.4	11.0
Klay Thompson	22.5	24.3	3.7	3.7	2.1	2.3
DeAndre Jordan	12.6	11.7	13.7	16.3	1.2	1.8
Dwight Howard	13.4	13.2	12.9	14.0	1.4	1.6
Draymond Green	10.2	14.9	8.0	9.5	7.1	5.8

* denotes player was injured for part of the postseason.