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EnergizedLib

(2,287 posts)
Thu Jan 9, 2025, 10:02 AM Jan 9

The Cavs are for real

Did anyone else see that incredible game last night? I’d reckon that’s been the Game of the Year so far, with the possible exception of Lakers/Warriors on Christmas.

I love how there were constant lead changes, back-and-forth, how Jarrett Allen showed up big time in rebounds on both ends of the floor, the excitement, neither team really building that big of a lead on the other all night. Donovan Mitchell had a quiet scoring night and they still got the job done.

Now, I will say, Cleveland will have to knock off Boston, especially if fully healthy, but it’s time to start believing this is a team that can win the NBA Championship. They showed it last night.

JB Bickerstaff has a great argument, but I’d have to give Coach of the Year to Kenny Atkinson at this point. What a job he’s done.

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The Cavs are for real (Original Post) EnergizedLib Jan 9 OP
Probably a prelude of the finals. Mosby Jan 9 #1
That Chart Is Odd ProfessorGAC Saturday #2
The net is point differentials. Mosby Sunday #3
Thanks ProfessorGAC Sunday #4

ProfessorGAC

(71,052 posts)
2. That Chart Is Odd
Sat Jan 11, 2025, 06:45 PM
Saturday

It's not clear how the "net" is derived.
And, there are some fairly pronounced differences between team with the same record. (Spurs compared to Warriors, or Lakers to Bucks). The Kings rate higher than the Mavs while Dallas has a better record.
It feels like someone digging into stats without understanding context.
The teams at the extremes seem tautological.
The chart seems like the answer to a question nobody asked.

Mosby

(17,798 posts)
3. The net is point differentials.
Sun Jan 12, 2025, 01:22 PM
Sunday

The defense/offense numbers are rank orders from best to last.

So the chart is showing where a teams point differential is coming from, more from defense or offense or a mix of both.

For example, CLE is +11.5 and OKC is +12. Very close but got their in very different ways. CLE is 123/111 (off/defense) and OKC is 116/104. CLE 123 ppg is the best in the league, and OKCs opponent ppg is essentially tied with ORL as best. Thing is that ORL averages 105 ppg.

Point differentials correlate very closely to win loss records. In the east all the top six teams have positive diffs, starting with CLE at number one. Same is true in the West. As the season progresses, the Law of large numbers works it's magic and the correlation moves closer to 1.

There have been teams where this correlation is weak, GS a few years back used to blow out teams fairly frequently, but also lost a lot of close games. So the diff was not very accurate because it was skewed by the blowouts.

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