SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – The two best teams in the NBA’s Western Conference are on a collision course for Game 1 of the Conference Finals on Tuesday morning, May 15, Manila time.
The first-seeded Houston Rockets are set to defend their home court against the fully-healthy defending champion Golden State Warriors.
Here are the numbers you need to know heading into the clash of Western giants.
23
It’s been 23 years since the Houston Rockets hoisted the Larry O’Brien NBA championship, and they’re surely hungry for their next. Under the leadership of the Dream Shaking Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, the Rockets won back-to-back titles in the 1994 and 1995 NBA Finals, which plugged the gap between Michael Jordan’s double 3-peats with the Chicago Bulls.
For context, leading MVP candidate and team captain James Harden was just 5 years old back then. (LOOK: 2018 NBA conference finals schedule, Philippine time)
46
Both teams have no shortage of star power for this series, as their rosters combine for 46 total All-Star appearances, with steady veterans Chris Paul (9) and Kevin Durant (9) both leading the tally. Other multi-time All-Stars include James Harden (6), Steph Curry (5), and Klay Thompson (4). Draymond Green, David West, Andre Iguodala and Joe Johnson each have appeared at least once in their careers.
In comparison, only 4 active players in the Eastern Finals series have even been in the All-Star Game, for a total of 25 appearances: LeBron James (14), Kevin Love (5), Al Horford (5), and Kyle Korver (1). Inactive All-Stars include Kyrie Irving (5) and Gordon Hayward (1).
1,256
After the Warriors found massive success in completely embracing the use of the 3-point shot, the Rockets copied their style and went into overdrive.
This season, the Rockets drained an NBA record 1,256 3-pointers on 3,470 attempts – also an NBA record. Incidentally, they posted a 65-17 win-loss record for the regular season, which is their best in franchise history.
As a final symbol to emphasize the dawn of the 3-point era, the 2017-2018 Rockets are also the first team ever in league history to have more triples attempted (3,470) than two-pointers (3,436). To put that into perspective, the NBA record for the most two-pointers attempted belongs to the 1995-1996 Dallas Mavericks, who attempted 5,392 – nearly 2,000 shots more than the ’17-’18 Rockets.
One team started the 3-ball trend and started winning. Another rode the bandwagon and also started winning. Both now go head-to-head for a spot in the NBA Finals.
15
The Warriors have won 15 straight playoff games at home, matching the record set by Jordan’s Bulls in the 1990-1991 season. They can break the record in Game 3.
They last lost a playoff game at home in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, where they bowed to the Cavaliers and became the first team in league history to blow a 3-1 Finals lead. But they’d rather not remember that.
0
In his 13-year career, Rockets point guard Chris Paul has not appeared in a single NBA Finals. In fact, Game 1 will be his first-ever Conference Finals appearance, after failing to do so in his time with the New Orleans Hornets and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Also, there are 35 players in NBA history who have at least 9 All-Star appearances. Paul is the only one in the list who has not experienced a single NBA Finals. He’ll surely be looking to change that, and soon. – Rappler.com
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