Five guys, other than stars, to watch in NBA playoffs

• These top players don%27t always grab the headlines%2C but deserve notice
• At any point%2C these guys could take over a game

It's a no-brainer that the success of the Miami Heat depends on the performances of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Same for the New York Knicks with Carmelo Anthony, the Oklahoma City Thunder with Kevin Durant and the San Antonio Spurs with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker.

Dig deeper, and there is a player or two on each team, such as the Thunder's Russell Westbrook or the Boston Celtics' Jeff Green, whose postseason production — or lack thereof — will go a long way in determining how long, or short, his team lasts in the playoffs.

USA TODAY Sports spotlights five of those players as the 2012-13 playoffs open Saturday and Sunday.

Russell Westbrook

It's that time of the year for the Thunder guard.

Every shot he takes and every pass he makes is dissected. He is one of the league's most polarizing players.

His aggressive offensive game is loved and despised, sometimes on consecutive possessions. There is good Russell Westbrook and bad Russell Westbrook — the Westbrook who shoots 15 of 27 with 37 points and the Westbrook who goes six of 22 from the field.

The Thunder and Westbrook are tired of that narrative, but it will come up throughout the playoffs when Westbrook has an off night.

"His style of play is always going to draw scrutiny, especially with the great point guards we have today," ESPN analyst and former NBA player Bruce Bowen said. "He's different than any other point guard. Chris Paul can affect the game without scoring. One of the best attributes of Russell Westbrook is his attacking style. So many times we find fault with that, but that's what actually works for the Thunder."

One factor his supporters can take solace in: Westbrook's number of bad games has decreased this season as he put together the kind of season that might land him on the all-NBA first team.

Westbrook averaged 23.2 points, 7.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds – one of four players who averaged at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists this season. He shot 43.8% from the field and 32.2% on three-pointers as his shots per game decreased and assists increased this season.

The Thunder ride with Westbrook because he does exactly what they want from him.

Chris Bosh

For an All-Star center-forward who averaged 16.6 points, 6.8 points and 1.7 points and shot a career-high 53.5% from the field for the team with the best record in the league, the Miami Heat's Chris Bosh is perhaps the most quietly effective player in the league.

That's what happens when fellow All-Stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade dominate headlines and highlight reels. But Bosh understands his role, and it's not always about the spotight.

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra goes out his way to call Bosh Miami's most important player. Not best, but most important.

The Heat's early offense often flows through Bosh at the high post where he is a rare-triple threat at 6-11. He can shoot the mid-range and long jumper, including the occasional three-pointer, drive to the basket or pass to the open man.

On defense, Bosh anchors the back line and helps teammate decipher what play the opponent is running.

"In many ways, he's the key to their team," TNT analyst and former NBA executive and player Steve Kerr said, "because you always know what you're going to get from LeBron and Wade. When Bosh plays at a high level, they're almost unbeatable."

Joe Johnson

When the Brooklyn Nets acquired Joe Johnson last season and paired him with point guard Deron Williams, the Nets trumpeted what looked like one of the best backcourts in the NBA.

Nets general manager Billy King said as much at the time of the trade and when training camps opened in September.

However, the "best backcourt" label never materialized this season. Williams was bothered by ankle pain the first half of the season, and Johnson was bothered down the stretch with a right quadriceps contusion.

Johnson's statistics were fine: 16.3 points, 3.5 assists and three rebounds per game, but he also shot just 42.3% from the field – the lowest Johnson has shot since 2002-03, his second year in the league.

With Williams playing his best basketball of the season, fourth-seeded Brooklyn needs Johnson to find his stride it wants to go deep into playoffs and perhaps meet Nets owner and Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov's stated goal of reaching the Eastern Conference finals.

"He has to make shots, and he has to create shots at the end of the shot clock when things are bogging down offensively," Kerr said.

Stephen Curry

You want fun? You want entertainment? You want pull-up three-pointers in transition? Then tune into the Golden State-Denver series and check out Warriors guard Stephen Curry.

The sharpshooter, 25, set an NBA record with 272 made three-pointers this season, beating the mark of 269 set by Ray Allen in 2005-06.

Curry, the son of former NBA three-point specialist Dell Curry, is much more than a volume shooter. He is accurate, making 45.3% of his threes this season. What makes Curry so effective is his ability to create just a modicum of space and shoot three-pointers in any situation.

"The combination of the ball-handling skills and the shooting ability is so rare," Kerr said. "Very few players have that combination. He's one of the most entertaining players in the league."

He shoots threes off the dribble going right or left, off of screens and if the defense falls asleep, he can spot up and nail it. Curry took a league-high 7.7 threes per game and made a league-best 3.5 per game.

Curry made at least five three-pointers in 20 games this season, including 11 against the New York Knicks when he scored 54 points.

Jeff Green

On March 10, Boston forward Jeff Green made 2-of-11 shots and scored just eight points in a 91-79 loss to Oklahoma City.

Eight days later, Green scored 43 points on 14-of-21 as the Celtics almost ended the Miami's winning streak at 22 games.

The Celtics know they can't expect 43 points or even 30 a game from Green. But they need more than eight points and lackluster shooting from the fifth-year forward who missed all of last season with a heart condition.

When Green is engaged, he is more aggressive and more productive. That's partially on the Celtics to get the ball to him and partially on Green to look and call for the ball.

Green's pre- and post-All-Star statistics are stark. Before the break, he averaged 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and one assist. In 29 games after the break, Green averaged 17.3 points, five rebounds and 2.7 assists.

If Boston is going to upset New York, it needs post-All Star-Green.

"He's got to be the difference for them. We've seen him be brilliant at times," ESPN analyst and former NBA player Jon Barry said. "We tend to forget he came back from heart surgery. There has to be some trepidation. He disappears and doesn't play with aggressiveness. When he has those nights, it will be difficult for Boston to win."

Green has the added burden of going one-on-one vs. Carmelo Anthony.

"He has his hands full," Barry said.