From a top candidate for MVP to two of the top three players on the favorites to win the Eastern Conference, it's a big year for newcomers to the NBA's postseason.
As part of a changing of the guard, players such as Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are showing their wares on the big stage for the first time. With the first weekend of the playoffs in the books, let's take a look back at the 10 best debuts as measured by John Hollinger's game score.
1. Anthony Davis
New Orleans Pelicans
2012 draft: No. 1 pick
24.9 game score
At the end of the third quarter Saturday, when Davis had 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting and New Orleans trailed by 18, I told a colleague, "The playoffs have a way of exposing you like that." All the fourth quarter exposed was Davis' brilliance. Unshackled from foul trouble, "The Brow" made seven of his 10 shots en route to scoring 20 of the Pelicans' 33 points in the period as they made things interesting for the host Warriors. Per Basketball-Reference.com, Davis' final total of 35 points was the most by a frontcourt player in his playoff debut since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1970.