Eye-opening Numbers from The Sixers Win

Posted by Brian Robb on Dec 23, 2010 129076 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F12%2F23%2Feyeopening-numbers-from-the-sixers-win%2FEye-opening+Numbers+from+The+Sixers+Win2010-12-23+17%3A24%3A46Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D12907

The C’s didn’t play last night like they wanted to win for the majority of the four quarters last night, but they still managed to pull out their 14th straight W. After the bizarre contest on so many fronts (offense, officiating, etc.) I couldn’t help myself from digging back into the numbers to find some hidden “gems” from last night.

C’s Offense
* Paul Pierce missed his first 7 shots.
* The C’s shot just 38.8 percent, their lowest percentage on the year.
* The Celtics won despite shooting just 25 percent from the field (4 of 16) in the fourth quarter.
* Through three quarters, Philadelphia held a 29-7 edge in free throw attempts

How did the C’s win despite those horrendous numbers, especially during those final 12 minutes? A couple things.

* The C’s only had 10 turnovers for the game, with just two of those coming in the second half. That’s their 3rd lowest total on the season.
* Boston also grabbed 12 offensive rebounds, their second highest number on the year.

So what can we learn from all of this? In essence, this is really the perfect indicator of the offensive four factors and how much of an effect they can have on a game. The C’s generally shoot the ball tremendously, but struggled mightily last night. In turn, historically Boston is terrible on the offensive glass and turning the ball over (bottom 3rd in both categories for the league). Last night, when the shot wasn’t working they picked up the slack in both of those departments as seen above with some season-best performances, as well as in getting to the line (12/14 from charity stripe in 4th) when it mattered the most.

Put it all together and you can enough production of the four factors for a win over a mediocre opponent.