Time for Camakazee’s neat-o stats of the night.
Wrap Up.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were all business Sunday afternoon, clamping down in the second half en route to their fourth win of the postseason and their first sweep of the Pistons. In fact, this is the earliest the Pistons have hit the golf courses since the 2001 playoffs. Here are some notables from the sweep over Detroit:
- The Cavs became only the third team in NBA history to win every game of the series by double-digit points. Here is a look at how their four wins matched up against the other two teams that accomplished such a feat:
1980 Boston Celtics – 113.0 points per game, Houston Rockets – 94.5 points per game (+18.5 points). Largest Margin of Victory – 20 points (game 2).
2004 Indiana Pacers – 101.3 points per game, Boston Celtics – 84.5 points per game (+16.8 points). Largest Margin of Victory – 23 points (game 3).
2009 Cleveland Cavaliers – 93.5 points per game, Detroit Pistons – 78.0 points per game (+15.5 points). Largest Margin of Victory – 21 points (game 4).
- As many of you already know, LeBron became only the third player in NBA history to average 30+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 7+ assists in a playoff series. The other two players were hall-of-famers Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird. Here are LeBron’s gaudy numbers from round one:
LeBron James (4 games): 32.0 points, 11.3 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 turnovers on 50.6% shooting and 79.7% free throw shooting.
- It should be noted that LeBron’s points per game, rebounds per game, turnovers per game, shooting percentage, and free throw percentage numbers are all currently career playoff highs. Also, here is a look at his assist-to-turnover ratio compared to the other four NBA players in the top 5 in assists per game this postseason:
Deron Williams (5 games): 54 assists, 21 turnovers (2.57 A-T ratio).
Chris Paul (4 games): 42 assists, 21 turnovers (2.00 A-T ratio).
Rajon Rondo (4 games): 40 assists, 7 turnovers (5.71 A-T ratio).
Andre Iguodala (4 games): 30 assists, 17 turnovers (1.76 A-T ratio).
LeBron James (4 games): 30 assists, 6 turnovers (5.00 A-T ratio).
- As you may have read on ESPN, this is the fifth time under head coach Mike Brown that the Cavaliers have clinched a series on the road. Prior to Coach Brown, the Cleveland Cavaliers had only won one road playoff game in order to win a series. Here is a closer look at Mike Brown and LeBron James’ Cavs when they look to close out a series on the road:
Record: 5-2.
Cavaliers: 93.7 points per game, shooting 48/133 (36.1%) from three.
Opponent: 88.1 points per game, shooting 30/111 (27.0%) from three.
LeBron James (7 games): 31.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.9 steals, shooting 66-83 from the free throw line (79.5% as opposed 74.0% from the free throw line in his other 43 playoff games).
- Lastly, it is important to note that Mike Brown’s record of 5-2 (WP: 71.4%) in road playoff games that could clinch the series is very impressive. By contrast, since arriving to the Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson is 7-7 (WP: 50%) in road games that present a chance to close the series, losing two such games in a single series versus the Suns in the 2006 playoffs.
Above Average Averages.
Needless to say, winning the series versus the much maligned Detroit Pistons in only four games was an above average feat. However, it is hard to accomplish such a feat without above average contributions. Here is a look at some stellar accolades from the series:
- The Cleveland Cavaliers were able to defeat the Detroit Pistons seven times in a season for the first time in franchise history. The Cavs beat the Pistons by 21 on two different occasions, defeated them by double-digits in six of the seven wins, and held them below 100 points every game (below 85 points in seven games).
- ABC managed to continually flash a graphic expressing LeBron James’ dominance over the Detroit Pistons starting frontcourt. However, here are some other “neat-o” stats that they failed to mention:
LeBron James’ fewest points in a game was a 25 point outing in game three. Tayshaun Prince, on the other hand, only managed to score 15 points in the entire series. While LeBron did double Prince’s regular season PPG average, scoring 14.2 points per game more than him, he managed to outdo that and score 28.2 points per game more than Prince in the first round of the playoffs.
In the beginning of the series, I showed a graphic that highlighted the fact that LeBron James and Wally Szczerbiak averaged only 0.1 point per game less in the regular season than Detroit’s big man-center rotation (McDyess, Wallace, Maxiell, Brown, and Johnson). Once again, LeBron managed to surpass his regular season averages.
= 32.0 points.
= 30.8 points.
13.0 PPG + 6.5 PPG + 3.8 PPG + 3.8 PPG + 3.0 PPG + 0.7 PPG
- Surprisingly, outside of LeBron James, Joe Smith was the only Cavalier to average more points per game in the first round of the post season than during the regular season. Joe is averaging his second most points per game and third most rebounds per game in a post season, this being his eighth post season. Ultimately, he has put up solid numbers all while being relegated to a bench role with shortened minutes. Here are his playoff numbers adjusted for 36 minutes:
Joe Smith (4 games, per 36 mins): 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds.
- Furthermore he is shooting 50% from the field and 88.2% from the line so far in the playoffs (48.6% fg, 63.6% ft last post season with the Cavs).
View from the other side:
- Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey managed to break out of his shell and take the floor as the aggressive go-to guard despite the fact Detroit was easily contained. He raised his scoring average of 8.2 points per game in last years post season (his rookie year) to a solid 15.0 points per game, shooting 2.2% better from the floor and averaging 1.9 more assists per game.
