It has been an up and down first round for the USC Trojans in the NBA playoffs. The majority of these alumni are either a vital factor for their respective teams, or role players whose number will be called upon. Both Evan Mobley and Onyeka Okongwu need to step up and provide their team much more production.

Here is how each USC Trojan fared this past week of the NBA playoffs:

This past week in 3 games, Onyeka has come up short in his matchup vs Karl Anthony Towns. Towns has gotten the best of him, and Onyeka has failed to eat on the glass and has a dominant offensive showing. He has been a nice complementary piece, even having 4 steals in the last game vs the Knicks. Yet much more is needed from Onyeka, who is averaging 13.8 points per game this postseason.

Little by little, Bronny is getting more minutes. In the past game, he got 15 minutes, but mostly due to the game getting away from the Lakers. Bronny has still made the most of his time, and in less than 10 minutes, he goes out and provides 5 points and rest to someone like Marcus Smart, who is out there playing at least 33 minutes a game.

Nikola Vučević has not been the scoring threat he has shown he can be in the playoffs, but he still has provided a great impact on the Celtics bench. In game 3, Nikola Vučević had 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He can make an impact deeper than drilling 3s. For a Boston team that is not as deep as they have been in recent years, he will have his number called a lot as this postseason continues. Right now, he is not required to do as much, but very soon, I expect to see his role increase.

Last Monday, Evan Mobley started the week off with a 25-point night, shooting 11-13 from the field, and had 8 rebounds. That type of production propelled the Cavs to a dominant 2-0 start. In the last 2 games, Mobley has struggled. His efficiency is down scoring-wise, but he remains impactful in other categories. In game 3's loss, he had 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. In the most recent game, although he had 9 rebounds, the Cavs' offense is not as effective if he only posts 8 points and shoots 0-3. The final score of 93-89 was a direct correlation of that. The Cavs have their next game at home, and game 7, if he goes, will be at Cklevbeland as well. Evan Mobley will need to get back to how domiant he was in games 1-2 for Cleveland to get past a frisky Toronto Raptors team.

In the first round, the most impactful and important player has been Evan Mobley. If Mobley has a good night, the Cavs get a commanding win over Toronto. If he has a poor performance, the Raptors pull off the upset. The rest of this series is predicated on how good Mobley is. I think that is how it will be the rest of the playoffs for Cleveland. That is a big responsibility for Mobley, but he has shown he is more than capable of meeting those expectations.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC basketball winners and losers in 2026 NBA playoffs - April 29