X’s and O’s for all their splendored glory don’t ever tell the full story. In the “dominoed” arrangement of basketball tactics, they may reign supreme but not unaided. See, every playoffs matchup, not to mention the championship bout, is marked by an assortment of numbers that fill in the crevices the X’s and O’s can never account for.
With Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals later tonight, we run down some of the more colorful numbers of this quest for the chip.
14-2 – You can tell a lot about the San Antonio Spurs organizational culture from this one. Since the 2002-2003 Playoffs, all other teams have posted a losing record (61-75) when on the road in a series-clinching game. The Spurs are are 14-2. (h/t ESPN)
January 10th – Is the last time the Miami Heat lost two in a row. With their backs against the wall, they’ll hope to avoid ending that streak tonight – which has run longer than the record-breaking 27-game one did. If they don’t, it’s lights out in South Beach.
7-3 – Since the Finals went to the 2-3-2 format, winners of Game 5’s have won seven out of 10 series. San Antonio took Game 5; history is on their side.
65.8% – Green’s kill rate. No, seriously, his sniping prowess from behind the three-point line has caused a slew of casualties. He’s launching mortars, rockets, and fire-tipped arrows and they’re all hitting.
6-0 – In these playoffs, the Heat are perfect after a loss. Can they make it 7-0 tonight against the Spurs, who have the glimmer of the Larry O’Brien in their eyes?
Top-5 – You must be a special player if everyone under the sun is calling out your talents, and you’re in the top-5 rankings of every major category in the 2013 NBA Finals. Through five games, LeBron leads all scorers (21.6 PPG), is second in rebounds (10.8 RPG), has been the most unselfish (6.8 APG), trails only his buddy Wade in steals (2.2 STLPG), and is tied with Flash for 4th in blocks (1.0 BLKPG).
4/4 – Duncan and Pop have a perfect track record in the Finals. If they can win tonight, their success remains unblemished on the grandest stage.
43.6% – LeBron’s field-goal percentage in five games. He shot 56.5% for the season.
4-0 – In Game 5’s of finals, the Spurs don’t know how to lose.
4 – In Game 1, the Spurs set a Finals record by protecting the rock like it was classified information. [Insert NSA PRISM jokes here].
25 – The amount of made threes by Danny Green. On top of setting an NBA record, which amounts to a quarter of a hundred 3-pointers and 75 points, the 25 zingers have only emboldened the Spurs offense. They no longer just have to poke the bear, they now have a whole Swiss Army knife of tools to exploit on the beast. Green is also a ripe 25 years old.
2-3 – Only three teams have been able to climb out of a 2-3 hole in the current 2-3-2 NBA Finals format. The ‘88 Showtime Lakers, the Dream Shake-anchored ‘94 Rockets, and the 2010 Lakers. This team is on par skill wise with some of those three, but it is also playing disrupted and hasn’t been able to dominate the Spurs in succession.
2nd – If the Spurs lose tonight, it would only be the second time they let a finals series go to seven games. Not comforting news for the Heat, or TV ratings.
1.6 – Danny Green isn’t just an offensive monsoon, he’s also playing like the Bruce Bowen mold he’s supposed to be. With 1.6 blocks per game, he’s only ranked under Duncan for frequency of stuffs. Good stuff.
