Get ready for Tuesday’s playoff doubleheader with five key stats to know about each matchup. The action tips off with the Heat and Celtics meeting in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals (6:30 ET), marking the first time since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984 that the East Finals did not feature a No. 1 or No. 2 seed.
That is followed by the fourth Game 7 of the 2020 Playoffs with the Nuggets looking to complete their second 3-1 comeback of the playoffs, while the Clippers look to advance to the Conference Finals for the first time in team history (9:00 ET).
Game 1: Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics, 6:30 ET, NBA League Pass
- Miami has the most balanced offense of any of the five teams still alive in the playoffs. The Heat have six players averaging in double figures, with five players averaging between 12 points and 22 points per game. Jimmy Butler leads the Heat in scoring in the postseason (21.8 PPG) but ranks 15th in the league.
- The Heat are shooting 38.0% from 3-point range in the postseason, which is the third-highest mark of any team. The Celtics have the top 3-point defense of the playoffs, holding opponents to just 30.5% from three, which is 7.1 percentage points below their opponents’ normal average.
- Jayson Tatum enters Game 1 having posted four straight double-doubles. It is the longest streak of his career and the longest such streak for a Celtic in the playoffs since Kevin Garnett had five straight in 2013.
- In three games against the Heat this season, Jaylen Brown averaged a team-high 24.7 points on 49.2% FG and 40.9% 3P. Bam Adebayo defended Brown for 11:26, which is the second most matchup time on Brown of any player in the NBA this season. Brown scored 19 points on 6-12 FG, 3-5 3P and 4-4 FT against Adebayo.
- Jimmy Butler appeared in two of the three meetings with Boston this season and averaged 28.5 points on 53.1% FG and 42.9% 3P. It was Butler’s second highest scoring average against any team this season and highest among teams he faced more than once.
Game 7: Denver Nuggets vs. LA Clippers (Series Tied 3-3), 9:00 ET, NBA League Pass
- The Nuggets are the only team in NBA history to come back from down 3-1 to force a Game 7 in back-to-back series, according to Elias Sports Bureau. In the first round against Utah, the Nuggets became just the 12th team in NBA history to win a series after trailing 3-1 and have a chance to become the only team to accomplish the feat twice. Dating back to last season, this is the fourth straight Nuggets playoff series to go to seven games.
- Through the first six games of this series, the Nuggets have been outscored by 36 points in the first half, but outscored the Clippers by 24 points in the second half. Denver has overcome second-half deficits of 16 and 19 points, respectively, in the past two games.
- Nikola Jokic finished Game 6 with 34 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists in just under 40 minutes. Between the points he scored himself (34), created with his traditional assists (19) and his screen assists (9), Jokic was involved with 62 of Denver’s 111 points (55.9%).
- Jamal Murray is averaging 10 more points per game in the Nuggets’ three wins in this series (24.7) than in their three losses (14.7). In Denver’s wins, Murray is shooting 47.5% from the field and 52.9% from beyond the arc. Those marks are 13.5 and 19.6 percentage points better, respectively, than his shooting in Denver’s losses.
- In Game 6, the Clippers and Nuggets both attempted 47 uncontested shots. LA shot 20-47 (42.6%), while the Nuggets shot 25-47 (53.2%). Prior to Game 6, the Nuggets had shot just 43.0% on uncontested shots in this series.
