Get ready for Wednesday’s playoff doubleheader with five key stats to know about each matchup.
Game 2: Miami Heat vs. Milwaukee Bucks (MIA Leads 1-0), 6:30 ET, NBA League Pass
- Jimmy Butler scored 15 of his playoff career-high 40 points in the fourth quarter to help the Heat hold off the Bucks and earn a Game 1 win. Butler ranks 10th in the postseason in fourth-quarter scoring (7.4 PPG), just behind his teammate Goran Dragic (7.6 PPG).
- Wesley Matthews defended Jimmy Butler for a team-high 5:32 of matchup time and held Butler to 6 points on 1-4 FG, 4-4 FT while forcing a turnover and blocking 2 shots. However, Matthews only played 2:42 in the 4th quarter.
- In Game 1, the Heat held Giannis Antetokounmpo to 18 points on 6-12 shooting from the field. In the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting from the field and had 3 turnovers.
- Bam Adebayo posted his fourth double-double of the postseason in Game 1 with 12 points and 17 rebounds. He also dished out 6 traditional assists (which produced 15 points) and 7 screen assists (which produced 16 points).
- The pace of Game 1 (99.0) was more in line with Miami’s style of play (98.70 pace in regular season, 4th slowest in league) compared to Milwaukee’s (league-high 105.51 in regular season).
Game 7: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets (Series Tied 3-3), 9:00 ET, NBA League Pass
- Chris Paul led all players in clutch scoring during the regular season with 150 total points in 168 minutes on 52.2% FG, 37% 3P and 92% FT shooting splits. In the playoffs, Paul has scored 18 points in 15 clutch minutes with 50-50-100 shooting splits.
- The Rockets had four players defend Chris Paul for at least 2 minutes of matchup time in Game 6, led by Danuel House at 2:51. Paul scored 12 points on 4-4 FG, 1-1 3P and 3-3 FT against House. James Harden defended Paul for 2:10 and allowed zero points and only one shot to his former teammate.
- During the regular season, the Rockets led the NBA with 39.8% of their points coming off 3-pointers. They have raised that mark by 10 percentage points in the playoffs with nearly half of their points (49.8%) coming off of 3-pointers. Their attempts have increased by 6 per game, from 45.3 in the regular season to 51.3 in the playoffs.
- Robert Covington is averaging 8.5 points per game on catch-and-shoots with an effective field goal percentage of 77.3%, which is the fifth-highest mark among the 50 players with at least 20 catch-and-shoot attempts in the playoffs. Covington shot 5-6 on uncontested shots in Game 6.
- Part of OKC’s edge in Game 6 came from the play of their bench, which contributed 22 points and 20 rebounds, compared to 15 points and 9 rebounds from the Rockets reserves. This series, the Rockets rank third in starters’ scoring (85.3 PPG), while the Thunder rank 13th (73.0 PPG).
.
