Get ready for Thursday’s playoff doubleheader with five key stats to know about each matchup.
Game 3: Toronto Raptors vs. Boston Celtics (BOS Leads 2-0), 6:30 ET, NBA League Pass
- Through the first two games of the series, Marcus Smart is averaging 20 points and shooting 11-20 from beyond the arc. His five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter are tied for second most 3PM in a quarter in a playoff game, one shy of the record set by Boston’s Antoine Walker in 2002. Smart shot just 2-15 from three in Boston’s opening round sweep of Philadelphia.
- Marcus Smart is shooting 12-23 from the field through the first two games, which includes 11-29 on uncontested shots. There has been no Raptor defender within four feet of Smart on 17 of his 23 attempts in the series. Smart has shot 5-8 (62.5%) from the corners in this series; he did not attempt a corner 3 vs. Philadelphia and shot just 21-63 (33.3%) from the corners during 60 regular season games.
- After averaging 126.3 points in their four game sweep of Brooklyn in the first round, the Raptors have averaged just 96.5 points in their first two games against Boston. Toronto is shooting 11 percentage points worse from the field (38.5%) and 17 percentage points worse from beyond the arc (26.3%).
- Including the regular season, the Celtics have won five of the six meetings with the Raptors in 2019-20. Boston has outscored Toronto by 49 points over those six games for an average point differential of 8.2 PPG.
- In the opening round against Brooklyn, Fred VanVleet averaged a team-high 21.3 points per game while shooting 52.7% from the field and 55.9% from three. Through the first two games against Boston, VanVleet is averaging 15 points (4th on Raptors) and shooting 28.9% from the field and 21.7% from three on 11.5 attempts per game.
Game 1: Denver Nuggets vs. LA Clippers, 9:00 ET, NBA League Pass
- In two games against the Nuggets in the regular season, Paul George averaged a team-high 25.5 points while shooting 51.4% from the field and 58.8% (10-17) from beyond the arc. George was one of four Clippers to average at least 20 points against the Nuggets this season, while appearing in at least two games, joining Kawhi Leonard (25 PPG, 3 GP), Lou Williams (22 PPG, 3 GP) and Montrezl Harrell (21.5 PPG in 2 games).
- This matchup features the second-leading (Kawhi Leonard, 32.8 PPG) and third-leading (Jamal Murray, (31.6 PPG) scorers from the first round of the playoffs. Both players shot over 53% from the field, but Leonard has the advantage at the free throw line with 9.2 FTA per game compared to Murray’s 3.6, while Murray has the advantage beyond the arc with 53.3% shooting on 8.6 3PA per game.
- The Clippers won the season series 2-1, including a 124-111 win on Aug. 12 during the restart, behind a combined 76 points from Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Lou Williams. That was one of five times this season in which Leonard, George and Williams all scored at least 20 points in the same game; the Clippers went 5-0 in those games.
- Kawhi Leonard has scored at least 32 points in each of his last five games. The last player to score at least 30 points in six consecutive playoff games is Stephen Curry with six in a row in 2019. Dating back to the 1984 Playoffs, LeBron James has the longest single-season streak at eight straight games in 2017.
- Kawhi Leonard ranks fifth in the playoffs in drives (18.5 per game) and second in points scored off drives (15.8 per game). Kawhi is shooting 36-50 on his drives; his 72% shooting leads the 61 players with at least 20 drives in the playoffs.
