2012-13: Roy Hibbert (7’2”) and David West (6’8”)
Played in 19 NBA playoff games for Indiana
Lost in Eastern Conference Finals 4-3 to Miami Heat
2012-13: Marc Gasol (7’1”) and Zach Randolph (6’9”)
Played 15 NBA playoff games for Memphis
Lost in Western Conference Finals 4-0 to San Antonio Spurs
2009-10: Pau Gasol (7’0”) and Andrew Bynum (7’0”)
Played in 23 playoff games for Los Angeles
Won Finals by beating Boston Celtics 4-3
2001-02: Chris Webber (6’9”) and Vlade Divac (7’1”)
Played 16 NBA playoff games for Sacramento
Lost in Western Conference Finals 4-3 to Los Angeles Lakers
1999: Tim Duncan (7’0”) and David Robinson (7’1”)
Played 17 NBA playoff games for San Antonio
Won Finals by beating New York Knicks 4-1
1993-94: Patrick Ewing (7’0”) and Charles Oakley (6’8”)
Played 25 NBA playoff games for New York
Lost in Finals 4-3 to Houston Rockets
1991-92: Larry Nance (6’10”) and Brad Daugherty (7’0”)
Played 17 playoff games for Cleveland
Lost in Eastern Conference Finals 4-2 to Chicago Bulls
1985-86: Hakeem Olajuwon (6’10”) and Ralph Sampson (7’4”)
Played in 20 playoff games for Houston
Lost in Finals 4-2 to Boston Celtics
1985-86: Robert Parish (7’0”) and Kevin McHale (6’10”)
Played in 18 playoff games for Boston
Won Finals by beating Houston Rockets 4-2
1977-78: Jack Sikma (6’11”) and Marvin Webster (7’1”)
Played 22 playoff games for Seattle
Lost Finals 4-3 to Washington Bullets
1974-75: Dan Issel (6’9”) and Artis Gilmore (7’2”)
Played 15 ABA playoff games for Kentucky
Won Finals by beating Indiana Pacers 4-1
1966-67: Wilt Chamberlain (7’1”) and Luke Jackson (6’9”)
Played 15 playoff games for Philadelphia
Won Finals by beating San Francisco Warriors 4-2
1963-64: Wilt Chamberlain (7’1”) and Nate Thurmond (6’11”)
Played 12 NBA playoff games for San Francisco
Lost Finals 4-1 to Boston Celtics
(It should be noted that some of playoff history’s most devastating big man tandems have been under seven feet. Detroit’s Rasheed/Ben Wallace, along with Portland’s Bill Walton/Maurice Lucas, are prime examples.)
I’ve ranked the seven-footer inclusive twin towers by statistical category – per-game averages in points, rebounds, blocks, assists, steals and turnovers. All stats come from basketball-reference.com.
Here’s how Duncan and Splitter have done in 15 games this postseason:
PPG RPG BPG APG SPG TOG [turnovers per game]
Duncan 17.9 9.5 1.8 2.3 0.8 1.9
Splitter 6.8 3.5 0.9 1.5 0.6 1.2
Totals 24.7 13.0 2.7 3.8 1.4 3.1
Duncan/Splitter’s averages would rank at or near the bottom of most of the following categories. But so do the stats of the best big-man duos in the game today – Roy Hibbert/David West and Zach Randolph/Marc Gasol. In the modern era, elite post players don’t serve as the focal point of a team’s offense to the extent yesteryear’s behemoths did.
The per-game totals from both players in each duo are shown in these rankings:
POINTS PER GAME:
Olajuwon/Sampson 46.9
Chamberlain/Thurmond 45.2
Issel/Gilmore 44.4
Parish/McHale 39.9
Nance/Daugherty 39.5
Robinson/Duncan 38.8
Divac/Webber 37.2
Ewing/Oakley: 35.1
M. Gasol/Randolph 34.6
Hibbert/West 32.9
Chamberlain/Jackson 32.7
Sikma/Webster 29.9
P. Gasol/Bynum 28.2
REBOUNDS:
Chamberlain/Jackson 40.8
Chamberlain/Thurmond 38.2
Issel/Gilmore 25.5
Olajuwon/Sampson 22.6
Robinson/Duncan 21.4
Sikma/Webster 21.2
Webber/Divac 20.1
Nance/Daugherty 19.4
Ewing/Oakley 19.4
M. Gasol/Randolph 18.5
P. Gasol/Bynum 18.0
Hibbert/West 17.7
Parish/McHale 17.4
BLOCKS:
Olajuwon/Sampson 5.3
Robinson/Duncan 5.0
Parish/McHale 4.1
Nance/Daugherty 3.7
Ewing/Oakley 3.2
Sikma/Webster 3.1
Webber/Divac 2.9
Issel/Gilmore 2.9
Hibbert/West 2.8
M. Gasol/Randolph 2.7
P. Gasol/Bynum 3.7
Chamberlain/Jackson N/A
Chamberlain/Thurmond N/A
ASSISTS:
Chamberlain/Jackson 11.0
Webber/Divac 6.4
Olajuwon/Sampson 6.0
Nance/Daugherty 5.9
Robinson/Duncan 5.3
Ewing/Oakley 5.0
M. Gasol/Randolph 4.8
Chamberlain/Thurmond 4.2
Parish/McHale 4.1
P. Gasol/Bynum 4.0
Sikma/Webster 3.8
Hibbert/West 3.5
Issel/Gilmore 3.4
STEALS:
Ewing/Oakley 5.0
Olajuwon/Sampson 3.5
Robinson/Duncan 2.4
Issel/Gilmore 2.1
M. Gasol/Randolph 1.6
Nance/Daugherty 1.4
Webber/Divac 1.4
Sikma/Webster 1.1
Hibbert/West 0.9
Parish/McHale 0.9
P. Gasol/Bynum 0.7
Chamberlain/Jackson N/A
Chamberlain/Thurmond N/A
TURNOVERS:
P. Gasol/Bynum 2.8
M. Gasol/Randolph 3.3
Nance/Daugherty 3.7
Hibbert/West 4.4
Sikma/Webster 5.0
Parish/McHale 5.1
Webber/Divac 5.2
Robinson/Duncan 5.5
Olajuwon/Sampson 5.8
Ewing/Oakley 5.9
Issel/Gilmore 6.1
Chamberlain/Jackson N/A
Chamberlain/Thurmond N/A
Evin Demirel has written for ESPN.com, SLAM, SB Nation Longform and Sporting Life Arkansas among others. Follow him on Twitter,