NBA PLAYOFFS
The game at a glance
J.A. McCreery – supported by data from Grayson Anderson
THE CONFERENCE FINALS HAVE BEEN IN FULL SWING THE LAST WEEK; THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS TAKING ON THE DENVER NUGGETS IN THE WEST AND THE BOSTON CELTICS TAKING ON THE MIAMI HEAT IN THE EAST. Sweeps are looming in both series, the Lakers down 0-3 and the Celtics 0-2 as of 21/5, yet the fight continues and wins must still be pried from the clutching hands of determined foes.
The playoffs are a time which exposes those with championship metal, and those without. Funnily enough the coaching staff have been exposed most this postseason. Already three coaches from eliminated teams have been fired, Doc Rivers, Monty Williams and Mike Budenholzer all going down, ironically, because someone else couldn’t do their job.
That’s just the start of the madness.
One of the greatest rivalries in NBA history unfolded yet again as Lebron and Curry clashed; the worst postseason upset ever as Jimmy Butler decides he’s prime MJ; and Nikola Jokic on a mission to prove he is the best player on the planet.
- Suns vs Nuggets
The Suns exited the playoffs in horrific fashion, Denver winning 4-2 and completely outplaying the Sun’s with a historic run from the Joker himself.
Jokic put up near 35 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists per night, all while shooting 60% from the field. This is a historic effort, Jokic’s postseason box plus minus at ridiculously high levels (see above in gold). A double digit BPM Indicates an MVP calibre player but Jokic has blown that standard out of the water with an average BPM of 14.3.
This series also proved you can’t win a playoff series with just two players. Despite losing Devin Booker and Kevin Durant combined for the most points per game by two players in the playoffs in over 60 years (62.7 PPG), just the two of them made up for over half the Sun’s points.
- GSW vs Lakers
Six games was all it took for the defending champs to have their reign come to an end, perhaps ending one of the greatest sporting dynasties ever at the hands of the King.
The all time three point leader was unable to carry the offensive load enough for his team to get by. Remarkably, the best shooter of all time is also now 0-12 for go ahead shots with less than 45 seconds left in the game after missing a buzzer beater in Game 4. This is also the first time the Warriors have lost a series to another western conference team since Steve Ker took on the coaching job 9 years ago.
Lebron had the last laugh in his near decade long rivalry vs Stephen Curry. They have shared 28 playoff games despite being in different conferences for the vast majority of their careers (you may only play a team from another conference in the finals postseason). This dwarfs the number of games shared by Steph and any other star, Chris Paul, although being in the same conference for 15 years, has only shared 18 playoff games and Russel Westbrook has only faced Steph 7 times.
Anthony Davis has been another, interesting dynamic to watch unfold. Alternating between an MVP and a G-League player. Above is a graph which plots points + rebounds per game. The inconsistency is staggering and ironically, consistent!
- Knicks vs Heat
A quick note on the Heat’s first round. They clashed with the Milwaukee Bucks, first seed and near betting favourite to win it all, headed by 2 time MVP and 6 ’11 Greek demigod Giannis Antetokounmpo – an insurmountable challenge that somehow, someway (Jimmy Butler) they won. In just 5 games! That means the Bucks take the title as the worst 1st seed in NBA history, with only 1 playoff win.
With such momentum the Heat easily rolled over the Knicks who were counting themselves lucking to be in the playoffs in the first place.
- Celtics vs Sixers
This series captured the thought that James Harden and Joel Embiid struggle deeply in the playoffs. The regular season MVP did not perform to standard throughout the series nor did his partner, choking some clutch moments and also being blown out in the final game, losing 112 – 88.
The Celtics campaign was marred by Davis-esque inconsistencies, yet ultimately they were able to pull it together, capping off the contest with a 51 point masterclass by Jayson Tatum.