Harden these playoffs: 30.9 PER, 64.2% TS, 0.346 WS/48, 128 ORtg / 100 DRtg All career highs for him. Career playoff average: 22.6 PER, 58.2% TS, 0.177 WS/48, 114 ORtg / 107 DRtg. And he's doing this with his lowest usage in the MDA era, making it look effortless against a much-ballyhooed Harden stopper in "Need-more-license-plates" Dort. This is not your usual Harden. Houston Rockets regular season numbers: 34.5% 3PT, 26.1 FTA Houston Rockets playoffs numbers: 36.4% 3PT, 16.8 FTA (second fewest in the playoffs) NBA league average regular season numbers: 35.8% 3PT, 23.1 FTA NBA playoff average numbers: 37.4% 3PT, 24.5 FTA Whether by process of attrition (weeding out the bad teams), or by the usual factor of the playoffs being officiated differently, the whole league is shooting more FT's. Conversely the Rockets are shooting fewer, a lot fewer. If our three wins weren't blowouts, and our two losses weren't absolute buzzer thieveries, then I would tell you that this is due to small sample sizes and not the machinations of a league trying its best to make our series go on as long as possible. We all know which one it is. Insert eyeroll emoji. Similarly, the Rockets are shooting better from 3, but so is the whole league. There is definitely something to that idea that decreased travel and improved sightlines are helping teams across the board. There's no earthly reason both Utah and Denver should be shooting 43-44% on threes. At the same time, perhaps it also says that everything the Rockets have done to this point is not just sustainable, but might even have the chance to become an even bigger advantage as we start to run up against teams that simply can't hang with our outside shooting volumes. Regular season 3PA: Houston - 45.3 Clippers - 33.5 Lakers - 31.6 OKC - 30.2 Playoffs 3PA: Houston - 52.8 OKC - 37.2 Clippers - 35.8 Lakers - 35.0
