Smooth Performance of the Night: Gortat the unsung hero in Wizards' Game 3 win

On a night when Paul Pierce hit a game winning buzzer-beater and Otto Porter played the game of his life off the bench, it was Marcin Gortat who quietly went about his business as perhaps the best player on an NBA court on Saturday.

The Washington Wizards big man, who remained glued to the bench in far too many regular season fourth quarters, continues to play some of the best basketball of his career in the 2015 playoffs, posting 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal on 6-of-7 shooting in Saturday's Game 3 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Gortat's latest hyper-efficient offensive performance has the 31-year-old shooting 69 percent from the field through seven postseason contests, with a Player Efficiency Rating approaching 23.

Gortat and frontcourt partner Nene also did a number defensively, neutralizing the usually potent Hawks' duo of Al Horford and Paul Millsap.

With Gortat on the court, the trio of Horford, Millsap and Pero Antic, who started in place of an under the weather Millsap, shot 6-of-21 on Saturday, compared to 2-of-2 in a smaller sample with Gortat on the bench.

That two-way play helped Gortat finish with a team-high plus-minus of plus-12 in his 34 minutes of Game 3 action, which was also a game-high among the 13 players who logged at least 17 minutes in the contest.

It's no wonder that for the postseason, the Wizards are performing 14 points per 100 possessions better with Gortat on the court as opposed to on the bench, with 6-1 Washington actually being slightly outscored per 100 possessions with Gortat riding the pine.

Trusting in Gortat - and having The Polish Hammer reward that trust - has been as integral to Randy Wittman's sudden playoff success than anything else.