The 13-point advantage for the Hawks in Q4, broken down by who added (or subtracted) how much?

The Rockets had 21 offensive boards to the Lakers' 3 in Game 1. The Rockets lost, of course. I looked at how often a team outrebounded their opponents by 12+ net points and it was 75%.

On the other hand, the Lakers won shooting by 30 net pts. Teams doing that won 100% this yr.

Overshadowed by Victor Wembanyama, but Deni Avdija had a good playoff debut, too, last night.

espnanalytics.com/nba-box?id=2...

Jay Bilas keeps calling Tyrese Maxey a Speed Merchant.

We called him "Speed Demon" in our rankings of best transition offensive players.

espnanalytics.com/nba-award-le...

Stephon Castle got a lot better on offense this year. Here's how.
- Half court 3s, where he went up 5%
- Smaller effect: layups and FTs
- Putback opportunities and transition both up
- More assists were offset by more turnovers

Among players with 10+ passes for shots yesterday, LeBron had the 2nd lowest shot quality at 47%. His teammates outshot that, making 63% effective.

(per GeniusIQ)

A table showing how well the Hornets and Magic starting lineups play on average by 4-minute segments within the game.

Looking ahead at Charlotte-Orlando.

I looked at segments of the game and who played well/badly.

The Hornets starters are good through most of Q1

The Magic starters have a lot of red in Q1, except Franz.

Timeline for LaMelo Ball and Charlotte in their first play-in game, with a highlight on the first four minutes, where he was good.

This is LaMelo's timeline to start the first play-in game. He was good, though the team was down.

I felt like LaMelo started off games well and, sure enough, he is the best on offense in the NBA in the first 4 minutes of the game, adding +37 net pts on the year, +6.6 per 48 min.

Awards and Magic player values in loss to Philly. Banchero was at -8.7 net points.

Timeline of Banchero, Bane, and Suggs through Magic loss to Philly. Decline in Banchero's numbers through the game correlating to team's decline.

At ESPN Analytics, we highlight the good awards most of the time. But last night's Orlando loss merits the bad ones, namely Banchero being bad.

(Oubre and George mostly matched up on him and both did well. Not just a Draymond on him.)

espnanalytics.com/nba-box?id=2...

Timeline showing Clippers' downturn coinciding with Kawhi Leonard's downturn in last night's game vs the Warriors

Net points for the Clippers in last night's game

Kawhi Leonard was worth -8.3 net points in the second half, a half they lost by 13, with 5 tovs and just 20% usage. He was worth -6.9 in a game they lost by 5, a threshold loss.

Draymond held him to ZERO pts in his HC matchup in the 2nd half (GeniusIQ).

Top clutch offensive players from yesterday.

Showing Herro's timeline, too, with making shots and drawing the 3pt foul. He wasn't great before then.

NBA playoffs 2026: Previewing all 20 teams still vying for the title Everything you need to know for the Thunder, Pistons, Spurs, Celtics and 16 other teams chasing the 2026 NBA title.

www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Phoenix-Portland.

Players who can swing their play-in game.

Portland's first round pick goes to Chicago if they get through the play-in games. Hopefully that has no impact.

NBA playoffs 2026: Previewing all 20 teams still vying for the title Everything you need to know for the Thunder, Pistons, Spurs, Celtics and 16 other teams chasing the 2026 NBA title.

For more info

www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Players who have the power to swing series in the Heat/Hornets matchup. Brandon Miller for Charlotte (inconsistency), Bam Adebayo for Miami (pride after last year).

Heat-Hornets

Players who can swing the first round... We're still in the play-in, but Miller's inconsistency is relevant. Inconsistent as a favorite is dangerous.

Remember when LaMelo Ball "was open" to be traded and the market was supposedly weak ... back in November.

The Hornets were 4-11. These were the numbers for their guys.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd9p...

Read this for the stars and the stats. But the best part may be top rookie in each category. Fascinating stuff!

A list of Net Points award winners. Toumani Camara - Ball Hawk Luka Doncic - Darth Fader Ajay Mitchell - Spark Plug Cade Cunningham - Facilitator Jamal Murray - Rain Maker SGA - Surgical Spida - Soft Touch Giannis - Juggernaut Amen Thompson - Glass Cleaner Jalen Duren - Cleanup Crew Tyrese Maxey - Speed Demon SGA - Cold Blooded Wemby - Stopper SGA - MVP

This is the season version of what we do on a daily basis to measure the value of players in different categories.

If you don't like it, blame me

www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Actually, one thing that has helped both these teams is that they themselves have been healthy. The gap between the blue/gray lines indicate injury issues and both don't have much since the deadline.

Not a full check on what you said, but I looked at BPI, which adjusts for missing players. It's been going up steadily for both teams, implying that they've been better, even accounting for injuries.

Graph showing the total net points for the Charlotte and Atlanta starting units through time.

Two of the best lineups in the league are the starters for Charlotte and Atlanta. Neither was together when the season began.
- 800+ poss for each
- Both are outshooting opponents by 8+% on 3s, which is some reflection of luck, but they'd still be good.

List of best players in last 8s of quarters, Pritchard, Zion, Spida, Anunoby, Danis Jenkins, Brunson, Powell, AR, Butler, Monk, Dylan Harper

I saw the highlights around Donovan Mitchell being great at the end of quarters, as he was last night. Well, last night was his best of the year, adding +2.7 net points in the last 8 s of quarters.

But Mitchell is one of the best for the season, too.

Graphic showing the most productive offensive Lakers per 100 poss.

The Lakers have to make up for the loss of those top two guys in this chart. LeBron has played well, +4.4 oNet Pts/48 min, without them. Even assuming that's stable, it makes up for AR, but not Luka. And someone else needs to step up.

A comparison for Yaxel Lendeborg came to mind last night: Obi Toppin. Both older power forwards who were great their draft year. I haven't checked the numbers on the similarity, but Obi's been about an average player.

Luka Doncic's half court shot chart with net points per game by region.

Luka is the same way.

But notice that he's really efficient outside the rim area but still in the paint, adding +0.81 net pts/G on shots from there vs 0.78 on shots at the rim. (Halfcourt only).

Halfcourt shot chart for LeBron James, showing net points/game from different regions.

I hadn't noticed that LeBron was taking so many of his shots from the left side of the floor, twice as many as from the right. Generally, though, getting most of his shot value at the rim.

Timeline of Knicks' net points on 4/6 against Atlanta. It shows Jalen Brunson rising late in the game as well as Karl-Anthony Towns pretty flat, but the team going up like Brunson.

On the other hand, this shows the Knicks' side of it, specifically that it was a lot of Brunson (purple) in the clutch to win it for the Knicks.

Best players through the Men's NCAA Tournament, using total schedule-adjusted net points.
- Cadeau's +7.0 net pts game last night propelled him into the top 5
- Yaxel had his worst game of the Tournament last night after some great ones.

Timeline of aggregate net points for the Hawks, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Jalen Johnson last night vs the Knicks.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a great game last night, but struggled down the stretch. His plot is in green here.

It seems to be a this-year trend for him, too. Whereas Jalen Johnson has been good in the clutch, NAW has struggled.

Shot chart for Darius Garland showing his net points per game in different sections of the court.

Since joining the Clippers, Darius Garland has led the NBA in net points per game on 3s. He's shooting above 39% in every segment above the arc. He's adding +1.1 net pts/G on straightaway 3s. Inside the arc, he's negative everywhere but at the rim.