Enjoy Basketball: NBA Finals By The Numbers

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Welcome back fellow Basketball Enjoyers!

Let's just take a moment to appreciate these times. Summer weather is rolling around, vacations are getting planned, and we're in the middle of a wild Finals series. Life is good. Now just don't think about how there could possibly be only two more NBA games this season if the Celtics win out.

With no game last night, we're using this newsletter to dive into the stats and numbers that have defined the Finals so far. But before we get in to that, a word from todays sponsor, PrizePicks.

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+24.4

The Warriors net rating this series when running the five man lineup of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Otto Porter Jr, and Draymond Green. In the 13 minutes they've played together against Boston, the five have averaged over 143 points per 100 possessions while boasting a true shooting percentage north of 77%. Boston were able to dominate the offensive glass in game three because the Warriors weren't able to effectively punish the Celtics larger lineups with Robert Williams and Al Horford. Look for Steve Kerr to utilize this lineup more in game four to force Horford and Williams to come out on the perimeter more often.

5

The number of players on the Celtics hitting more than 40% of their three pointers this series (minimum 2 attempts per game), tied for the most in Finals history with, coincidentally, the 2016 Warriors. The challenge for Golden State all series has been the sheer amount of threats Boston has from long range, six different Celtics players have made multiple threes in at least one game. It's helped open up the floor immensely for Tatum and Brown as the series has gone along, with the two combining for 53 points on Wednesday night.

41.7%

The combined three point percentage of the Celtics and Warriors through the first three games, the highest in NBA Finals history. Not only that, but their combined 32.6 made three pointers per game would also be the highest mark in Finals history. During a season where it seemed that, at times, the three point shots importance in the game was finally starting to stagnate, it comes as a bit of a surprise to see it being launched more efficiently and at higher volume than ever before on the biggest stage. Leading that charge? Its Steph of course. Curry is on pace to break his own record of 32 made threes in an NBA Finals sometime during game six and has shown no signs of slowing down as the series nears its theoretical halfway point.

"Very disgusting" - Coach Kerr, Klay, Greens wife, all take offense to Boston's anti-Draymond chants

I think it's fair to say that the city of Boston doesn't like Draymond Green very much, and they made that known on Wednesday night with plenty of expletive-filled chants directed at him. Green didn't seem to mind very much, even saying he was happy that his son heard the chants coming from the Boston crowd.

But plenty of others, including his wife, were less than pleased.

Steve Kerr and Klay Thompson both criticized the crowd during the postgame press conference with Kerr sarcastically calling them "very classy" and Klay saying the Warriors have "played in front of rude people before."

But it was Green's wife, Hazel Renee who really went off on the crowd in an Instagram post later that night.

'Tough loss tonight BUT in NO WAY, shape or form should fans be allowed to chant obscenities at players!' said Renee. ""My kids were at the game tonight hearing that mess! Very DISGUSTING of you little Celtics fans Just shameful!"

LeBron suggests desire to own NBA franchise in Las Vegas

LeBron's done a bit of thinking about what he wants to do once he calls it quits in the NBA, and it looks like he wants to follow the Michael Jordan route and own an NBA franchise.

But to take it a step up, James doesn't just want to own any NBA franchise, he wants to own one that doesn't even exist yet, a future team in Las Vegas. Las Vegas has been talked about as a potential expansion city for years thanks to its large population and it already being the host of the NBA Summer League and the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces.

“I want to own a team,” James said. “I want to buy a team for sure. I want a team in Vegas. I want the team in Vegas.”

LeBron may need to wait a while though as, even though it looks incredibly likely that Vegas will get a team at some point in the future, there is currently no plan to expand the league at this time.

Utah Jazz start interviews for head coaching gig

The Jazz are coming off a Quin Snyder era defined by it's playoff futility as much as it's regular season success. With Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert still in town for the time being, Utahs door to contend remains open, and they'll need to make a good hire here to keep it that way.

They're bringing in plenty of faces for this first round of interviews, but two that stick out are Terry Stotts and Frank Vogel.

Stotts is coming off a successful tenure as Portland Trail Blazers head coach which saw the them make eight consecutive playoff appearances and the 2019 Western Conference Finals. He got a lot out of one score first guard in Damian Lillard so the Jazz would be hoping he could do it again with Donovan Mitchell.

Frank Vogel brings obvious championship pedigree and plenty of experience building stalwart defensive squads. He's dealt with multiple stars before on the Lakers, and his aggressive defense-first mindset will pair well with Rudy Gobert's dominating interior presence.

2022 NBA Mock Draft: How 3 Trades Can Shake Up the Top 10 - Greg Swartz (Bleacher Report)

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham unfazed by daunting task of restoring team to glory - Jovan Buha (The Athletic)

How Ime Udoka became face of the ‘new generation' of coaches - Michael C. Wright (NBA.com)

Jeremy Sochan, a 'citizen of the world,' sets course for the NBA - Ethan Fuller (Basketball News)

Golden State Warriors @ Boston Celtics - 9:00 p.m. EST

There were a surprising amount of encouraging signs for Golden State despite the 16 point loss in game three. The Warriors shot well to the tune of 46/38/87 splits, Steph and Klay both were effective scorers, and they had their third straight strong third quarter showing. With some more work on the offensive glass and a bit better shooting from the wings, Golden State has what it takes to even the series heading back to the Bay.

That'll be all from us today, make sure to take time to enjoy your weekend before the next game. And shoutout to Kenny for the love on the Pat McAfee show.

Until next time,

-Spencer Poole

Last Trivia Answer: The answer to Wednesdays trivia question is Giannis Antetokounmpo and Steve Nash! Both MVP's were drafted with the 15th overall pick.

Trivia Question: Steph Curry is making his presence felt, averaging over 31 points per game despite the Warriors being down 2-1 in the series. But there have been even more heroic finals performances that ended up being for naught. Two players in NBA history have averaged over 40 points per game in a losing Finals effort. Both happened in the 1960's. Who are they?