Last night, the NBA treated basketball fans on Reddit to a handful of promotional infographics going into detail about tonight’s NBA Finals matchup between Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors and LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers. From pop culture-inspired shot charts to a graph hinting at just how exciting the games are expected to be, we break down each of them below.
LeBron and Curry are both elite-level players, but they have entirely different methods of scoring. This shot chart divides their favoured zones into Game of Thrones-inspired kingdoms. The King commands the court inside the arc, aptly dubbed LeBron’s Landing, with 22-for-57 shooting under the post and 65.4 per cent shooting off the board. Curry of Dub Nation dominates everything further out.
It’s no surprise that ever NBA Finals has gotten crazier than the last, especially for a certain LeBron James, but this chart proves it. Since 2007, his average points per Finals game has increased 28 per cent, while he’s also seen a 9.4 per cent increase in court time. James’ scoring ways will prove highly entertaining—if he can keep up with the extra responsibility he’s shouldering.
Both teams’ backcourts received some love, too. In this graphic, the NBA compares the Cavs’ Timofey Mozgov to the Warriors’ Andrew Bogut—ranked second and first respectively, they’re both postseason leaders when it comes to defending at the rim.
Ah, homecourt advantage: one of the most debated phenomena in basketball. Proving the pundits right, the association shows that playing at home dramatically improves either team’s chances of winning. That’s bad news for the Cavs, who will be traveling to the Bay Area for the first two games of the series.
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Save the date
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We could be here a while
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Steph Curry, for one
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