Get ready for another full day of NBA Playoff action with five key stats to know about each matchup during Thursday’s NBA League Pass quadruple-header.
Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers (MIA Leads 1-0), 1:00 ET, NBA League Pass
- Bam Adebayo finished Game 1 with 17 points and team highs of 10 rebounds and 6 assists. This was the 20th time this season that Bam has gone for 15-10-5 in a game; the Heat are 14-6 in those games.
- Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 28 points in Miami’s Game 1 win. The Pacers defended Butler with Malcolm Brogdon for 5:14 and T.J. Warren for 4:29. Brogdon held Butler to 2 points on 0-2 FG, 2-2 FT, while Warren allowed 8 points on 2-4 FG, 2-2 3P and 2-2 FT. In 3:09 against all other Pacers defenders, Butler scored 16 points on 5-8 FG, 6-8 FT.
- The Heat outscored the Pacers on second-chance points 14-3 in Game 1. Indiana finished with more offensive rebounds than Miami (7-6), but Miami took full advantage of their extra opportunities. During the regular season, both teams finished tied for 27th in second-chance points at 11.8 per game.
- Jimmy Butler (36.4%), Jae Crowder (33.3%), Bam Adebayo (35.3%) and Goran Dragic (37.5%) all held their matchups under 40 percent shooting in Game 1. The Pacers shot a combined 16-45 (35.6%) from the field and 3-12 (25%) from three against those four Miami defenders.
- T.J. Warren finished with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals for the Pacers. It was Warren’s fifth game with at least 20 points since the restart began on July 30. This was the first loss for the Pacers in those five games.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets (HOU Leads 1-0), 3:30 ET, NBA League Pass
- James Harden scored a game-high 37 points in Houston’s Game 1 win on Tuesday. In 117 career playoff games, Harden has scored at least 35 points 20 times, which is the 8th most of any player since the 1984 Playoffs and the third most of any active player behind LeBron James (56 in 240 games) and Kevin Durant (33 in 139 games).
- The Rockets shot 20-52 from beyond the arc in their Game 1 win. During the regular season, the Rockets went 12-1 when making at least 20 3-pointers.
- Jeff Green scored 22 points off the Rockets bench as Houston’s reserves outscored OKC’s 42-27, while the starters played even at 81-81 in Game 1.
- Dennis Schroder (3:44) and Terrance Ferguson (3:10) split the task of primary defender on James Harden in Game 1. Harden had 8 points on 3-4 FG, 2-3 3P against Ferguson and 6 points on 2-5 FG, 1-2 3P and 1-1 FT against Schroder. Harden also exploited switches to score in limited matchup time against Danilo Gallinari (6 PTS, 2-3 3P, 1:10) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (5 PTS, 2-3 FG, 40 sec).
- Danilo Gallinari matched his playoff career-high with 29 points in the loss for OKC. Gallinari shot 9-17 from the field, 2-5 from three and a perfect 9-9 from the line. Gallinari scored evenly against his three primary defenders: Robert Covington (7 PTS in 3:13), James Harden (6 PTS in 2:09) and Jeff Green (7 PTS in 2:02).
Orlando Magic vs. Milwaukee Bucks (ORL Leads 1-0), 6:00 ET, NBA League Pass
- Nikola Vucevic scored a playoff career-high 35 points on 15-24 shooting from the field and 5-8 from beyond the arc in Game 1. He added 14 rebounds and 4 assists in 37 minutes. It is the fifth time in his career that Vucevic has scored at least 35 points in a game; the Magic are 4-1 in those games.
- Nikola Vucevic scored 16 of his 35 points while being defended by Brook Lopez. In 6:47 of matchup time, Vucevic shot 7-12 from the field and 2-4 from three against Lopez.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points, 17 rebounds and 7 assists in the loss. Since the 1984 Playoffs, only six other players have reached those marks in a playoff game: Ralph Sampson, Charles Barkley (2x), Kevin Garnett, LeBron James (3x) and Nikola Jokic. The three most recent instances of that statline came in a loss.
- In addition to his scoring and rebounding, Nikola Vucevic had 10 screen assists in Game 1, creating 23 points for the Magic. That is in addition to his four traditional assists that led to another 11 points for the Magic.
- Throughout the regular season, the Bucks won the points in the paint battle by an average of 10.6 points per game. In Game 1 against Orlando, that margin was cut to 4 points (42-38).
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Lakers (POR Leads 1-0), 9:00 ET, NBA League Pass
- Since missing two free throws in the final minute against the LA Clippers on Aug. 8, Damian Lillard has shot 65-67 (97.0%) from the free throw line over his past five games (final three seeding games, Play-In game vs. the Grizzlies and Game 1 vs. the Lakers), with the Blazers winning all five games.
- Damian Lillard scored a game-high 34 points in Game 1 for the Blazers. Alex Caruso (6:01) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (3:59) were the primary defends on Lillard for 75% of his offensive matchup time. Lillard scored 17 points on 5-8 FG, 4-6 3P, 3-3 FT against Caruso, but only 4 points on 2-4 FG, 0-2 3P against Caldwell-Pope.
- Jusuf Nurkic and Hassan Whiteside shared the court for 10.9 minutes in Game 1. During that time, the Blazers posted a net rating of 51.4, fueled by a defense that allowed just 0.85 points per possession and a 35.7% effective field goal percentage.
- LeBron James became the first player in NBA Playoffs history to post a triple-double with at least 20 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists as he recorded his 24th career playoff triple-double, second only to Magic Johnson’s 30. LeBron’s 16 assists were a playoff career high as he created 37 points with his assists; when combined with the 23 points he scored himself, LeBron was responsible for 60 of the Lakers’ 93 points (64.5%) in Game 1.
- This was the 10th time this season (regular season and playoffs) that the Lakers were held below 100 points. The Lakers are now 4-6 in those games, having lost each of the last six instances, four of which have come since the restart on July 30.
