NBA News and Views, Week 3: Statistics and Opinion with an Abacus Slant
Following Friday’s lackluster loss, their sixth in a row, the Charlotte Bobcats got a visit from the boss—a fella named Michael Jordan.
The team that averaged fewer than 80 points per in its previous four games, then rang up 38 in its next twelve minutes of play en route to a victory for the first time in 10 days.
But the two losses immediately preceding the executive involvement were eerily similar in their ugliness, both on the floor and in the box score.
In each game, the Bobcats struggled to exactly 81 points, hindered by woeful one-for-eight three-point shooting and 12 turnovers. The games also had matching totals in free throws— 14-for-16—and successful field goals—33.
Improbable, huh?
Charlotte clamped down a little more on defense Friday, losing by only 17, but MJ still felt obliged to address the boys.
The good news for the Bobcats is that Tuesday’s tussle in Orlando will end a tough stretch of 11 games in 15 days.
The bad news is that they begin a six-in-eight on Saturday.
For more stat-based opinion like no other, read on.
Stealin’ Wins
1 of 3The most successful teams in any sport become accomplished in the fine art of “Finding a Way to Win,” even when they get outplayed.
No matter how deep the hole, the home crowd is teetering in one of two directions—either gleefully anticipating the inevitable comeback, or dreadfully fearing the inevitable comeback.
You often have to scratch your head reading the box score the next morning, wondering how your boys won by four while being out-shot and out-rebounded... and you saw the game!
Chicago has been the season’s most prolific team at winning when it’s not supposed to. Three times they stole games when their opponent graded out as being more efficient. The Thunder and Clippers, also current division leaders, have turned the trick twice.
Conversely, contenders Atlanta, Denver, the Lakers and (believe it or not) Miami have each twice managed to lose games where the numbers show they played better.
Maybe Kwame Fisher-Jones is right about those Nuggets after all.
In 19 of the league’s 180 games, the “wrong” team won, not the one who played better that night.
Rather than being a flaw, this quirk is one of those wonderfully unpredictable inconsistencies that make and keep us fans.
And Abacus has not even told you the most improbable little tidbit about game swiping.
The Nets, not yet of Brooklyn, are the fourth and final team with multiple stolen victories this season. That’s right, these Nets should have lost two of the three games they happen to have won in three weeks of accelerated play.
Either Avery Johnson has a simmering juggernaut ready to explode right past good and straight-to-elite status, or the Flipper and his Wizards ought to have company in Dregsville.
Is It Still Barnstorming When They Use a Team Plane?
2 of 3Other than the insufficient preparation time afforded by the hurried start to the season—there had to be dribbles and dunks with your drumstick and dressing, right?—the Gripe of the Year so far is the condensed nature of the schedule and its consequent toll on the players.
Head (Andrew Bogut), Shoulders (Al Horford), Knees (Eric Gordon), and Toes (Derrick Rose) has ceased to be just a kiddie ditty.
This 66-game schedule calls for teams to play roughly one-third of their games on tired legs—as many as 23 games for several squads, as few as 17 for one.
Logically, since playing ON tired legs is a detriment, the playing AGAINST tired legs should provide an edge, wouldn’t you think?
Did the NBA’s schedule-maker monitor this component for equitable distribution?
Let’s look at the facts through three weeks of play.
Nine teams seem on par, having played about one in three games against teams who’d played the previous day—Indiana, Milwaukee and New York in the East; Denver, the Lakers, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Portland and Sacramento out West.
A dozen teams, from division leaders to cellar dwellers, have faced even less-sturdy opposition, led by Utah, which has squared off with a rested foe in less than half its games.
The other nine, including surprising Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia, have been opposed by a rested team in at least two-thirds of their outings.
Orlando and New Jersey have each faced only one weary adversary; the Cavaliers will not face an opponent who’d played the night before until Jan. 21.
Here’s the skinny through Saturday’s games—we’ll continue to monitor this for balance.
| Team/Rec. | Tired Foes/% | Team/Rec. | Tired Foes/% | ||
| #1 | Jazz (7-4) | 6 -- 55% | #15 | Nuggets (8-4) | 4 -- 33% |
| #2 | Spurs (8-4) | 6 -- 50% | #15 | Blazers (7-5) | 4 -- 33% |
| #2 | Rockets (5-7) | 6 -- 50% | #15 | Knicks (6-6) | 4 -- 33% |
| #4 | Hawks (9-4) | 6 -- 46% | #15 | T'wolves (4-8) | 4 -- 33% |
| #4 | Mavs (8-5) | 6 -- 46% | #20 | Thunder (11-2) | 4 -- 31% |
| #4 | Raptors (4-9) | 6 -- 46% | #21 | Lakers (9-5) | 4 -- 29% |
| #4 | Bobcats (3-10) | 6 -- 46% | #22 | Grizzlies (5-6) | 3 -- 27% |
| #8 | Warriors (3-8) | 5 -- 45% | #22 | Boston (4-7) | 3 -- 27% |
| #9 | Clippers (6-3) | 4 -- 44% | #24 | Hornets (3-9) | 3 -- 25% |
| #10 | Bulls (12-2) | 6 -- 43% | #25 | Suns (4-7) | 2 -- 18% |
| #11 | Pistons (3-9) | 5 -- 42% | #26 | 76ers (9-3) | 2 -- 17% |
| #11 | Wizards (1-11) | 5 -- 42% | #26 | Heat (8-4) | 2 -- 17% |
| #13 | Kings (4-9) | 5 -- 38% | #28 | Magic (8-3) | 1 -- 9% |
| #14 | Bucks (4-7) | 4 -- 36% | #29 | Nets (3-10) | 1 -- 8% |
| #15 | Pacers (9-3) | 4 -- 33% | #30 | Cavs (5-6) | 0 -- 0% |
Back-to-Back-to-Backs
3 of 3Five teams experienced the joy of an NBA three-fer during Week 3, three of whom—Minnesota, Philly and Toronto—will get a reprise later in the season.
The Bulls became the second team, along with OKC, to sweep the series. It took that iconic intervention to keep the Bobcats from becoming the first team to draw a blank.
Last week’s trifecta quintet pulled out eight of their 15 games, leaving the three-fer teams with an overall 19-14 (.576) slate.
In case you were wondering how teams were scoring in the three consecutives, wonder no more.
| Result | Points For | Points Against | |
| Hawks | 2-1 | 320 | 306 |
| Thunder | 3-0 | 315 | 285 |
| Rockets | 2-1 | 293 | 282 |
| 76ers | 2-1 | 287 | 256 |
| Kings | 1-2 | 282 | 323 |
| Bulls | 3-0 | 281 | 232 |
| T'wolves | 1-2 | 280 | 280 |
| Nuggets | 2-1 | 279 | 268 |
| Lakers | 1-2 | 274 | 259 |
| Bobcats | 1-2 | 274 | 309 |
| Raptors | 1-2 | 266 | 278 |
Not surprisingly, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant have been the most prolific individual scorers in these game sets, with 83 and 74 points respectively.
Bet you can’t guess who ranks third. Here’s a hint—he plays in the Southwest Division.
This week features only two three-bees, as both Orlando and the Clippers—who’ve had a cakewalk up to now, playing just nine games—play Monday through Wednesday.
If Magic GM Otis Smith really wants to be mean, he should trade Dwight Howard to a team that has a back-to-back Thursday and Friday. That would show him, wouldn’t it, score some brownie points with the league office as well, huh?
Guess which team—there’s only one—plays Jan. 19 and 20.
The Lakers.
Now wouldn’t that really be starting something?
