The stats
It should be no surprise, Michael Jordan was two of the three highest-scoring players in the first round of this tournament. The 1990-91 version of Jordan scored 36.9 points per game and 1995-96’s edition scored 31 points per game. They sandwiched 2005-06 Dwyane Wade and his 32 points per game.
Dennis Rodman led the league in rebounds at 20.2 per game, followed closely by Bill Russell with 19.8. 2000-01 Kobe Bryant averaged 29.4 points per game.
Regardless of the era, elite bigs like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaq thrived with 26.7 points and 17.5 rebounds and 27.2 points and 17.4 rebounds respectively.
The 2000-01 Lakers were the most dominant team with a +16.4 net rating against the 2004-05 Spurs. The Lakers held the Spurs to just 94.4 points per 100 possessions. The 1986-87 Lakers and 2010-11 Mavericks both won their series in seven games in spite of having negative net ratings.
Matched up against the 2015-16 Cavs, the 1964-65 Celtics only shot 3.8 3-pointers per game, followed by the 1988-89 Pistons at 5.1 and the 1970-71 Bucks at 9.5 per game. The 2010-11 Mavs led by a wide margin with 38.7, followed by the 2015-16 Cavs at 32.4 per game.
Let’s take a look at how the second round will break down.