Numbers Preview: Western Conference Finals Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors

Rockets playoff notes – Defense:

1. The only team that has been better than the league average in each of the defensive four factors in the playoffs.
2. Disregarding opponent, were the most improved defensive team from the first round (105.1 points allowed per 100 possessions) to the conference semifinals (99.1).
3. 14.5 percent of their opponents’ possessions, the highest rate in the playoffs, have been isolations. And on those isolations, they’ve allowed just 0.78 points per possession, tied for the lowest rate in the playoffs.
4. Have allowed their opponents to take 39 percent of their shots from the restricted area, the highest opponent rate in the playoffs.
5. 31 percent of their opponents’ 3-point attempts have come from the corners. That’s the highest opponent rate in the playoffs.

Rockets playoff notes – Individuals:

1. Ryan Anderson (from 26.1 to 11.2) and Joe Johnson (from 21.9 to 7.3) have seen the two biggest drops in minutes per game from the regular season to the playoffs among players who have played in at least 40 regular-season games and at least four playoff games.
2. Trevor Ariza has taken 75 of his 76 shots from the restricted area (19) or 3-point range (56). That (99 percent) is the highest rate among 85 players with at least 50 field goal attempts in the playoffs.
3. Ariza leads the postseason in total plus-minus at plus-120. The Rockets have been 26.4 points per 100 possessions better with Ariza on the floor (plus-18.0) than they’ve been with him off the floor (minus-8.4). That (26.4) is the biggest on-off NetRtg differential among players who have played at least 100 minutes in the playoffs.
4. Clint Capela has taken 86 percent (87/101) of his shots in the restricted area, the second highest rate among 85 players with at least 50 field goal attempts in the playoffs.
5. Capela ranks fourth in the postseason (and first among players on teams that are still playing) in rebounding percentage, having grabbed 21.2 percent of available boards while he’s been on the floor.
6. Capela leads the postseason with 28 total blocks and is one of two players with multiple games of five or more blocks in the playoffs.
7. Eric Gordon has an effective field goal percentage of 44 percent, down from 54 percent in the regular season. That’s the fourth biggest drop among 82 players with at least 300 field goal attempts in the regular season and at least 50 in the playoffs.
8. Gerald Green has taken 80 percent of his shots from 3-point range, the second highest rate (lower than only that of Kyle Korver) among 85 players with at least 50 total field goal attempts in the playoffs. Ariza (74 percent), P.J. Tucker (73 percent) and Gordon (60 percent) have the third, fourth and 10th highest rates, respectively.
9. James Harden ranks second in the postseason in usage rate, having used 37 percent of the Rockets’ possessions while he’s been on the floor. He ranks in the top 10 in points (fourth), assists (eighth), steals(third), 3-pointers (fourth) and free throws (third) per game.
10. Harden has averaged a postseason-high 10.0 isolation possessions per game. His 1.04 points per possession on isolations ranks ninth among 21 players who have averaged at least three isolation possessions per gameand is down from a league-best 1.22 in the regular season.
11. Harden has 37 assists to Capela. That’s the second most assists from a player to a single teammate in the playoffs, behind the 43 from Rajon Rondo to Anthony Davis.
12. Chris Paul leads the postseason with 11.2 points per game scored as a pick-and-roll ball-handler (Harden ranks third at 9.6) and has committed a turnover on just 7.6 percent of his pick-and-roll possessions, the lowest rate among players who have averaged at least 5.0 pick-and-roll ball-handler possessions per game.
13. Paul has scored 1.23 points per possession on isolations, the second best mark among 21 players who have averaged at least three isolation possessions per game. His 3.5 isolations per game are down from 5.1 in the regular season.
14. Paul has assisted on 18 corner 3-pointers, six more than any other player in the playoffs.
15. Tucker leads the postseason with 18 corner threes (five more than any other player) and has an effective field goal percentage of 65 percent, up from 52 percent in the regular season. That’s the fourth biggest jump among 82 players with at least 300 field goal attempts in the regular season and at least 50 in the playoffs.
16. See Rockets-Jazz preview for first round notes and Rockets-Wolves preview for regular season notes.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (58-24, 8-2)

First round: Beat San Antonio in 5 games.
Conf. semis: Beat New Orleans in 5 games.
Pace: 101.8 (3)
OffRtg: 108.8 (4)
DefRtg: 99.3 (1)
NetRtg: +9.5 (1)

Regular season: Team stats | Advanced splits | Player stats | Player shooting | Lineups
vs. Houston: Team stats | Advanced splits | Player stats | Player shooting | Lineups
Playoffs: Team stats | Advanced splits | Player stats | Player shooting | Lineups

Warriors playoff notes – General:

1. Have outscored their opponents by 26.9 points per 100 possessions in the third quarter, the best mark in any quarter among the four teams that are still playing.
2. Best rebounding team of the four remaining, having grabbed 53 percent of available rebounds.
3. Lineup of Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Durant and Green has outscored its opponent by 41 points per 100 possessions in its 54 minutes, the best mark among 17 lineups that have played at least 50 minutes in the playoffs. It leads those same lineups in assist percentage (having assisted on 75 percent of its field goals)and DefRtg (having allowed just 87 points per 100 possessions). It has also played at a pace of 114 possessions per 48 minutes, by far the fastest of any of those 17 lineups.
4. Lead the playoffs in aggregate bench NetRtg (plus-5.1 points per 100 possessions).

Warriors playoff notes – Offense:

1. Rank 11th in the playoffs in player movement (6.5 miles travelled per 24 minutes of possession) and first in ball movement (390 passes per 24 minutes of possession), according to Second Spectrum tracking.
2. Have assisted on 70 percent of their field goals, the highest rate in the playoffs. Have had five games of at least 30 assists, more than all other teams combined (four). Also lead the postseason in secondary assists(3.9 per game) and assist/turnover ratio (2.15). The Rockets (2.12) are the only other team above 2.0 in the latter.
3. Rank 15th in 3-point percentage at 32.9 percent, and have seen the biggest drop in 3-point percentage from the regular season, when they led the league at 39.1 percent.
4. Have scored 1.26 points per possession in transition, the highest rate in the playoffs. Their 17.6 fast break points per game are 7.4 more than any of the other three remaining teams have averaged in the playoffs.
5. Have averaged only 4.6 shots per game in the last four seconds of the shot clock, fewest in the playoffs.
6. Have averaged just 20.5 drives per game, fewest in the playoffs. Their 37.6 points in the paint per game is tied for last in the postseason.
7. Have averaged a postseason-high 25.1 mid-range shots per game and have been the best mid-range shooting team in the playoffs by a wide margin at 51.0 percent.
8. 12.4 percent of their possessions, the highest rate in the playoffs, have been via cuts.
9. See more play type data from the Rockets and Warriors in the NBA.com/stats preview.