10 crazy numbers from the NBA's regular season
With the final NBA regular-season game in the books, here are 10 of the craziest statistics from a wild campaign:
10.1 - The Golden State Warriors' margin of victory on the season, the eighth-best mark in NBA history. Of the seven other teams with a higher MOV, six went on to win the NBA championship - the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls did it three times.
32.4 - The average number of defensive rebounds per team per game. It's the highest rate in nearly 40 years, and the fourth-highest mark all time. The Portland Trail Blazers led the way with 35.1 defensive rebounds per contest, becoming one of just 12 teams to average more than 35 per game.
71.0 - Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan's shooting percentage, the second-highest mark in league history. Jordan and Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain (72.7 percent in 1972-73) are the only qualified players to exceed 70 percent from the floor in a single season.
22.4 - The number of 3-pointers attempted per game, easily the highest mark in league history. The league-wide reliance upon the long-range shot has reached stunning proportions; teams combined to average just 15.8 attempts per game only a decade ago, and a paltry 13.7 at the turn of the century.
16 - The number of consecutive seasons in which the San Antonio Spurs have won 50 or more games, the longest such streak in NBA history. To put that into perspective, only one other team - the Dallas Mavericks (2000-11) - has had a streak of more than 10 50-win campaigns over that stretch.
11 - The number of triple-doubles recorded by Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook, the most in a single season since Jason Kidd racked up 13 during the 2007-08 campaign. Westbrook averaged a league-best 28.1 points along with 8.6 assists and 7.3 rebounds in 34.4 minutes over 67 games.
30.89 - The Player Efficiency Rating belonging to New Orleans Pelicans center Anthony Davis, the 11th-highest mark in history. He's just the third active player with a full-season PER of 30 or higher, joining LeBron James (who has done it four times) and Dwyane Wade (who posted a 30.36 PER in 2008-09).
169 - The gap in made free throws between league leader James Harden (715) and runner-up Russell Westbrook (546). It's the largest discrepancy in free throw makes between No. 1 and No. 2 since 2009-10, when Kevin Durant (756) easily outdistanced LeBron James (593).
9/8/1.5/1.5/1.5 - The stat line that has Philadelphia 76ers rookie Nerlens Noel (9.9 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.9 bpg, 1.8 spg) in exclusive company. Noel and San Antonio Spurs legend David Robinson (24.3 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 3.9 bpg, 1.7 spg) are the only first-year players to reach those benchmarks.
16.7 - Paul Millsap's season scoring average, which led 60-22 Atlanta. The Hawks are the 71st team in NBA history to record 60 victories in a season, but just the second without anyone averaging more than 17 points. Even more stunning: No Hawks player scored more than 30 points in a game all season.