In NBA 1 & done/win or go home games the ball seems to get bigger & the rim seems to get smaller for 3’s!

After watching both the Boston Celtics and the Houston Rockets on their home floors shoot themselves out of the only true one and one or win or go home games in the Eastern & Western Conference championship games it shows again “if you live by the 3 you may die by the three” even for the best shooters in the world and that is exactly what happened to the Rockets and Celtics as the ball seemed to get bigger and the rim seemed to get smaller for both teams as the Celtics were 7 for 39 for 17.9% for 3 pointers and Houston went 7 for 44 for 15.9% for 3’s and missed 27 3’s in a row going from 6 for 13 to 7 for 28 before they made a three after missing the 27 in a row.

Boston took 39 of their 85 field goal attempts as threes for 45.8% and Cleveland took 53% of their FGA’s as 3’s on 35 of 66 and combined both teams took 74 3 attempts out of 151 FGA’s for just under 50% at 49% of their FGA’s as 3’s.

It’s great when the ball is going in when taking and relying on 3’s, but it is just the opposite if it isn’t going in.

These two conference final best 4 of 7 championship games turned into mostly 3 point shooting contests as in the Celtics-Cavaliers game the Cav’s shot 9 for 35 for 25% and they combined for 14 for 83 for 17.1%.

In the Rockets-Warriors game they both combined to take over half of their FGA’s as 3’s on 87 3 attempts out of 170 FGA’s for 51.2%. The Rockets were just 7 for 44 for 15.9% and took 44 3 attempts out of their 90 FGA’s taking 48.5% of their FGA’s as 3/s. The Warriors went 16 for 39 for 3’s for 41.2% and took 39 of their 80 FGA’s as 3’s which means they took 48% of their FGA’s as 3’s. Combined they made 23 of 83 3’s for 27.7% and combined they took 87 of their 170 FGA’s as 3’s or 51.2%

Combining both games the 4 teams made 39 3’s out of 168 FGA’s for just 22.3% and took 83 of their 168 FGA’s as threes for 48.1% of their FGA’s were 3’s.

The Warriors with 3 outstanding veteran 3 point shooters in Curry, Thompson and Durant and have been in these conference final series 4 times in the past 4 seasons. The Warriors and LeBron and company also have been in their conference finals four times the past 4 years and both have been in the NBA championship series against each other with the Warriors winning 2 and the Cavaliers have won 1 so they had the needed experience to get by the Celtics and the Rockets who were not as experienced in these types of games and it showed as both Golden State and Cleveland out shot Boston and Houston from beyond the 3 point line which for the Celtics and Rockets were way below their usual 3 point shooting percentages from behind their ART-tic line as they were as cold from beyond the arc together as they were as cold as a referees heart from behind the 3 point line shooting 14 for 83 for just 16.9% to the Warriors and Cleveland being 25 for 74 for 33.7%.

The Celtics and Rockets took 83 3 attempts out of 168 field goal attempts meaning they took 49.4% of their FGA’s as 3’s. While the winning Warriors and Cavaliers took 74 3 attempts out of 156 FGA’s thus taking 47.4% of their FGA’s as 3’s.

Again, “figures don’t lie”, which again proves that “if you live by the three, you can also die by the three”, especially in one and done or win and go home in a 7 final game series.
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