It’s tougher to play better in the postseason because the competition is generally better than the regular season and the games are more intense. That said, there are 26 players (of the 98 who have played at least 90 minutes in the playoffs) that are actually faring better statistically on a per minute basis.

I calculated Efficiency Per Minute for both the regular season (EPMr) and playoffs (EPMp) and took the difference as a percentage of their performance during the regular season. The resulting percentage is the gain (or drop) in their statistical production in the postseason.

Here are 26 players that have stepped up their games in the playoffs:

A few random thoughts:

— Jamal Crawford can thank his blistering 52% 3PT shooting for his spot atop this list. He hit just 35% on the season.

— Ron Artest isn’t playing outstanding in the postseason, but his play is decent, which is more than we can say about his performance in the regular season. He’s averaging 13-5 on 52% shooting in the postseason after averaging 8-3 on 40% shooting during the season.

— You’ll notice that there aren’t a lot of superstars in the Top 20. That’s because those players typically are great during the regular season which makes raising their games to another level in the postseason even tougher. So Chris Paul’s presence at #8 is that much more impressive. After averaging 16-4-10 on 46% shooting in the regular season, he’s averaging 24-6-12 on 56% shooting against the Lakers.

— Serge Ibaka’s FG% has dropped from 54% in the regular season to 45% in the postseason, but all his other numbers are up. He’s averaging 12-12 with 3.8 blocks per game against the Nuggets.

— Wondering why the Grizzlies are up 3-1 on the Spurs? Credit Marc Gasol more than any other Memphis player. He’s averaging 16-11 on 57% shooting after posting 12-7 on 53% shooting during the regular season. The fact that he’s doing it against a good Spurs defense makes it that much more impressive.

To have winners, you have to have losers, so here are the 25 players whose games have fallen off a cliff in the postseason:

— Wes Matthews deserves some credit. His shooting numbers are actually up in the postseason, but he’s just not getting as many attempts per game, so his EPM numbers are a little misleading.

— It’s not a good sign for the Heat that their two point guards (Mike Bibby and Mario Chalmers) are both at the bottom of this list.

— Wilson Chandler is shooting 21% from the field in the playoffs. Ouch.

— When 3PT shooters go cold, things get ugly. That explains why Bibby, J.J. Redick, Ryan Anderson, Hedo Turkoglu, Marco Belinelli and Juan Jose Barea are on this list.

A few other notable names: Dwyane Wade (-1%), Russell Westbrook (-1%), Kevin Garnett (-2%), Derrick Rose (-3%), Dwight Howard (-5%), Chris Bosh (-8%), Paul Pierce (-13%), Zach Randolph (-14%), Tim Duncan (-16%), LaMarcus Aldridge (-18%), Manu Ginobili (-18%), Dirk Nowitzki (-19%), Kobe Bryant (-20%), Andre Iguodala (-26%) and Joe Johnson (-27%).