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Playoff Revelations honors playoff players without big names, but who are having a big impact in the postseason.

His line isn't going to blow you away, and at no point did any viewer ever think to themselves, "Andrei Kirlenko's back," but ... as much attention as his crying's gotten, I thought it only fair to point out when Andrei Kirilenko plays a decent game. He was decent last night.

His help defense on Yao (among others) was very valuable. He ended up with three blocks, and helped force a handful of Houston's 16 turnovers. He had five assists on the evening, too, including 2 passes to Carlos Boozer in the 4th quarter that were both aesthetically pleasing and clutch. One got Boozer a lay-up, and the other was a nearly impossible 'oop pass with little margin for error.

He finished with 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Six of those points came in a third-quarter burst where Kirilenko hit three straight jumpers. He was approaching, for the first time in quite a while, something that might qualify as a hot streak.

All in all ... 8 points, 5 assists, 3 blocks, 4 rebounds (still quite light in this area). This would qualify as a pretty good game from a role player ... for a guy making $12,000,000, though ... you'd like a little more. Still, he contributed enough that it might be something to build on, get some confidence back, and bring a little more in the crucial Game 6 in Utah.