The box score is weird
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:15 am
The Celtics had 42 rebounds + 8 team = 50.
The Pistons had 25 + 12 = 37.
The Celtics had 2 more TOs than the Pistons.
Hence, one would think the Celtics would have had approximately 11 more possessions.
The Celtics had 6 more FG attempts than the Pistons. So to a first approximation they should have had 10 or so more FT attempts than the Pistons. However, they actually had 8 FEWER free throw attempts.
I can only think of a few ways anomalies like that can come in. First, on possession count:
1. Jump balls -- but I don't recall any, and I missed only a few plays of the whole game.
2. Possessions at the end of a quarter -- but there are at most 4 of those.
3. Possessions that end on made FTs (and not on 3-pt plays).
4. "Team TOs" -- three-second violations or something.
Second, not all FTs are created the same way. And-1s, technicals, and 3-shot fouls all invalidate a strict "2 FTs = 1 possession" rule.
Still, that seems like a huge swing from what one would naively expect (10 more FTs) to what actually happened (8 fewer). Pretty much all the anomalous factors must have pointed in the same direction ...
5. FTs that
The Pistons had 25 + 12 = 37.
The Celtics had 2 more TOs than the Pistons.
Hence, one would think the Celtics would have had approximately 11 more possessions.
The Celtics had 6 more FG attempts than the Pistons. So to a first approximation they should have had 10 or so more FT attempts than the Pistons. However, they actually had 8 FEWER free throw attempts.
I can only think of a few ways anomalies like that can come in. First, on possession count:
1. Jump balls -- but I don't recall any, and I missed only a few plays of the whole game.
2. Possessions at the end of a quarter -- but there are at most 4 of those.
3. Possessions that end on made FTs (and not on 3-pt plays).
4. "Team TOs" -- three-second violations or something.
Second, not all FTs are created the same way. And-1s, technicals, and 3-shot fouls all invalidate a strict "2 FTs = 1 possession" rule.
Still, that seems like a huge swing from what one would naively expect (10 more FTs) to what actually happened (8 fewer). Pretty much all the anomalous factors must have pointed in the same direction ...
5. FTs that
