Monday, April 29, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Celtics vs. Knicks Stat Pack
*Coming into Sunday, J.R. Smith had scored double-digit points in his last 22 combined regular season and postseason games, the longest streak of his career.
*The Celtics’ assist-to-turnover ratio is 0.90, by far the worst of any team in the 2013 NBA playoffs.
–New York’s 11.3 steals per game lead all teams this postseason.
–Boston has now turned the basketball over 17 times per game in this first-round series while New York has less than 12 per contest in the previous three games.
*Via Elias: The Celtics have scored just 225 points in the first 3 games vs. Knicks this series, their fewest in a 3-game span in a single postseason in franchise history.
*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. Knicks
–Including the regular season and playoffs, the Celtics have lost 6 consecutive games to the Knicks, tied for the 3rd-longest streak in franchise history.
*Milestone Watch:
–All-Time Playoff Defensive Rebounds–
7. Hakeem Olajuwon 1150
8. Scottie Pippen 1117
9. Magic Johnson 1116
T-9. Kevin Garnett 1116 (Garnett needs 1 to tie Pippen for 8th place)
–All-Time Playoff Defensive Rebounding Percentage–
2. Marcus Camby 28.73
3. Carlos Boozer 28.23
4. Kevin Garnett 26.48
5. Dave Cowens 26.43
–Celtics History: All-Time Regular Season and Playoff Wins–
1. Red Auerbach 885
2. Tommy Heinsohn 474
3. Doc Rivers 473 (Rivers needs 1 to tie Heinsohn for 2nd place)
Friday, April 26, 2013
Celtics vs. Knicks Stat Pack
*The Celtics have been by far the worse offensive team in the 2013 NBA playoffs.
–Their 84.0 points per 100 possessions in the first two games of the series is more than 13 points worse per 100 possessions than the Washington Wizards’ 30th-ranked efficiency during the regular season.
*Including the playoffs, the Celtics are 3-7 in April.
*The Celtics have outscored the Knicks by a combined 10 points in the first half this series, but a few historically bad quarters doomed the men in green at Madison Square Garden.
–According to Elias, Boston is the first team in the shot-clock era to score 25 or fewer second-half points in consecutive regular season or postseason games.
*The Knicks are the first team to win consecutive games with fewer than 88 points scored in the last 6 postseasons.
*Just as he did during the regular season, Jeff Green has been a stronger player in the first 2 quarters of the game than he has in the final 2.
–He has continued this trend against the Knicks: in 40 second-half minutes played, Green has scored only 8 points on 1-of-11 shooting (0-3 on 3-pointers).
–Green’s combined first halves this series (40 minutes): 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting (3-of-3 on 3-pointers).
*Out of almost 250 teams to go down 2-0 in a best-of-7 series, just 15 have come back to win the series.
–Last year, the Thunder became just the 15th team in NBA history to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-7 series in the playoffs.
–The Celtics have not done so since the 1969 Finals.
*Jason Terry, who was the only positive plus/minus player for the Celtics in Game 2, is now finding his stroke.
–He made 3 straight 3-pointers for the first time since March 29.
–He has had an odd postseason thus far from 3-point (5 straight misses, then 3 straight makes and then 3 straight misses).
*How about all the charges Paul Pierce has taken thus far?
–The Truth took 6 charges during the 2012-13 regular season.
–Pierce has taken 4 charges thus far this series.
*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. Knicks
–The Celtics have lost 5 consecutive games to the Knicks (including the regular season and playoffs), which is Boston’s longest losing streak to New York since 1998 (21 straight games).
–The 5-game losing streak is also tied for the Celtics’ 4th-longest losing streak to the Knicks in franchise history.
*Milestone Watch:
–All-Time Playoff Defensive Rebounds–
7. Hakeem Olajuwon 1150
8. Scottie Pippen 1117
9. Magic Johnson 1116
10. Dirk Nowitzki 1114
11. Kevin Garnett 1104 (Garnett needs 10 to tie Nowitzki for 10th place)
12. Patrick Ewing 1098
–All-Time Playoff Defensive Rebounding Percentage–
4. Dave Cowens 26.43
5. Ben Wallace 26.36
6. Kevin Garnett 26.35
7. Dennis Rodman 26.20
–Celtics History: All-Time Regular Season and Playoff Wins–
1. Red Auerbach 885
2. Tommy Heinsohn 474
3. Doc Rivers 473 (Rivers needs 1 to tie Heinsohn for 2nd place)
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Celtics @ Knicks Stat Pack
*Out of almost 250 teams to go down 2-0 in a best-of-7 series, just 15 have come back to win the series.
–Last year, the Thunder became just the 15th team in NBA history to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-7 series in the playoffs.
–The Celtics have not done so since the 1969 Finals.
*Saturday was the first time in 88 career playoff games that Jason Terry was left scoreless.
–Previous low: 2 points (April 29, 2010 at Spurs).
*The Celtics had just 8 points with their 8 turnovers in Saturday’s 4th quarter.
–The Knicks had zero turnovers in Saturday’s 4th quarter loss.
–The fewest points that were ever scored in a playoff quarter: 5 by the Portland Trail Blazers at Utah in the 4th quarter on May 18, 1999 (via http://www.nba.com/history/records/playoffs_game_points.html).
*After scoring 53 points in the first half, the Celtics then scored just 25 in the second half. It was Boston’s lowest total in a half in any of its 592 playoff games. (all of this 2nd half/4th quarter information via ESPN Stats & Info).
–Boston also tied a franchise playoff record with its 8 points in the 4th quarter, which was its 2,368th quarter in those 592 playoff games.
–The only other time that the Celtics scored 8 points in a quarter in a playoff game came in the first of those 2,368 quarters (1st quarter of a 79-72 loss to the Chicago Stags on March 28, 1948).
*It is being magnified that the Celtics defended the Knicks’ 3-pointer well, but the Knicks also defended the Celtics’ midrange jump shot well.
–The Celtics shot 7-of-19 (.368) on midrange shots in Game 1, which ranks 10th out of the 16 NBA teams thus far in the playoffs.
–During the regular season, the Celtics owned a .438 field-goal percentage on midrange shots, the best in the NBA.
*“When J.R. Smith shot 50 percent or better from the field this season, the Knicks went 22-3” (all of this Smith information via ESPN Stats & Info).
–They won the last 13 regular-season games in which he made at least half his shots.
–Not surprisingly, when Smith was cold, the Knicks did not win as much. They went 12-11 when he shot below 35 percent from the field.
–Smith was the first player to win the Sixth Man averaging at least 18 points and 5 rebounds in 20 years. The last was Clifford Robinson in 1992-93.
*It was tough for the Celtics to lose when doing pretty well in the rebounding battle.
–Coming into this game, they were 18-6 during the regular season when either tying or winning the rebounding battle.
–Of those 24 games, the Celtics were 5-6 on the road (13-0 at home).
*Only once in the regular season did the Celtics turn the ball over more than 20 times in regulation.
–Then on Saturday, the Celtics committed 21 turnovers.
–The Celtics are now 2-9 when committing at least 18 turnovers in 2012-13 (including the regular season and playoffs).
*The Celtics went 19-of-19 from the free-throw line on Saturday.
–The last team to do go perfect from the line with more than 15 free-throw attempts in the playoffs: 2009 (Lakers).
–The last time a team lost a playoff game when being perfect from the free-throw line with at least 19 free-throw attempts was 1992 (Game 6 of NBA Finals).
–The Celtics’ .776 free-throw percentage during the regular season was the 6th-best one in the league.
*Milestone Watch:
–Celtics History: All-Time Regular Season and Playoff Wins–
1. Red Auerbach 885
2. Tommy Heinsohn 474
3. Doc Rivers 473 (Rivers needs 1 to tie Heinsohn for 2nd place)
–All-Time Playoff Defensive Rebounds–
11. Patrick Ewing 1098
12. Kevin Garnett 1093 (Garnett needs 5 to tie Ewing for 11th place)
13. Charles Barkley 1072
Monday, April 22, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Celtics @ Knicks Stat Pack
*Since the All-Star break, the Knicks are 12-2 (.857) at home with a +11.4 point differential per game.
–They are 1 of only 5 NBA teams that had a winning percentage of at least .850 at home since the All-Star break (Nuggets, Heat, Lakers and Grizzlies).
–They are 1 of only 3 NBA teams that had a point differential of at least 11 points per game at home since the All-Star break (Thunder and Nuggets).
*Since Avery Bradley played his first game of the season (January 2), the Celtics have the league’s best defense against the 3-pointer (32.4 percent).
–In addition, the Celtics have the 3rd-best defense overall (43.3 percent) in that span.
*In games since Rajon Rondo tore his ACL (January 25), the Celtics own the league’s 5th-best 3-point percentage (38.2).
–The Knicks are 11th at 36.9 percent in that span.
*The Celtics this season own a 43.8 field-goal percentage on midrange shots, the best in the NBA.
–2nd-best: Spurs (42.3%).
–The Celtics’ 2,195 midrange shots attempted were the 5th-highest among all teams in 2012-13.
*Coming into Saturday, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have started a combined 255 playoff games while the players in the projected Knicks starting lineup (Raymond Felton, Iman Shumpert, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Copeland and Tyson Chandler) have played in just 122 postseason contests overall.
*Pierce and Garnett each started the first 54 games this season, but then sat out a combined 17 games over the last couple of months.
–When Garnett is on the bench, Boston is 9 points worse per 100 defensive possessions compared to when he plays.
–In addition, the Celtics are more than 5 points worse per 100 offensive possessions when Pierce is sitting.
*Since 1973-74, the Knicks’ regular-season turnover percentage of 11.7 is the 17th-best by any team for a single season (via http://bkref.com/tiny/CfeUx).
*The Knicks have allowed opponents to shoot 62 percent from 5 feet and closer this season, which is 5th-worth in NBA.
*The Knicks are 5.2 points worse per 100 possessions without Pablo Prigioni (sprained ankle) on the floor in 2012-13.
–Specifically, the Knicks are 4.6 points worse per 100 defensive possessions without Prigioni on the court this season.
*Carmelo Anthony became just the 2nd winner of the scoring title in franchise history as he made a career-best 2.3 shots from 3-point distance per game this season.
–The Celtics have held Anthony to just 35 percent shooting in 4 games this season, his worst against any Eastern Conference opponent.
*Tyson Chandler missed the last 6 games of the season as well as 16 of the team’s final 20 contests.
–Tyson Chandler’s career playoff offensive rebounding percentage of 13.22 is the 3rd-best in NBA playoff history (1st: Moses Malone 15.05 … 2nd: Dennis Rodman 15.01).
*Kenyon Martin, who is no spring chicken, will also need to find his rhythm after playing just 18 minutes in New York’s last 8 games of 2012-13.
*Jordan Crawford scored at least 15 points in each of his final 3 games of the regular season.
–That was the first stretch of back-to-back 15-point games for Crawford as a Celtic.
–The Celtics are a much stronger offensive scoring team when Crawford is on the floor. They are more than 4 points better per 100 offensive possessions with him out there.
*The Knicks have made 10.9 shots from 3-point distance per game and have attempted 28.9 per game, both the most in a single season in NBA history.
–891 made 3-pointers and 2,371 attempted 3-pointers are also single-season records.
–The 2012-13 Rockets are 2nd in all 4 of those categories. I guess we will call this the season of the 3-pointer.
*The 3-pointer is also important for the Celtics.
–They are 9-1 this season when making double-digit 3-pointers this season (4-0 when making more than 10).
–They are 8-2 this season in games in which they shoot at least 50 percent on 3-pointers.
*Recent Meetings: Celtics vs. Knicks
–The Celtics have won at least one playoff series each of the previous five postseasons while the Knicks have not won a playoff series since 2000. The 1999-2000 season was also the last time that New York won at least 50 games.
*Milestone Watch:
–Celtics History: All-Time Regular Season and Playoff Wins–
1. Red Auerbach 885
2. Tommy Heinsohn 474
3. Doc Rivers 473 (Rivers needs 1 to tie Heinsohn for 2nd place)
–All-Time Playoff Defensive Rebounds–
11. Patrick Ewing 1098
12. Kevin Garnett 1084 (Garnett needs 14 to tie Ewing for 11th place)
13. Charles Barkley 1072
–All-Time Playoff Free Throw Percentage–
2. Calvin Murphy .932
3. Brandon Bass .921
4. Bill Sharman .911
–All-Time Playoff Defensive Rebounding Percentage–
5. Ben Wallace 26.36
6. Kevin Garnett 26.23
7. Dennis Rodman 26.20
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