Justin Kubatko: Bam Adebayo (23 years, 71 days) is the second-youngest player to record at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in a win that clinched a trip to the NBA Finals. Only Rick Barry (23 years, 15 days) did so at a younger age.
Statistics Rumors
Justin Kubatko: Erik Spoelstra is the eighth coach in NBA history to make at least five Finals appearances: 13 – Phil Jackson. 11 – Red Auerbach. 9 – Pat Riley. 6 – John Kundla. 6 – Gregg Popovich. 5 – K.C. Jones. 5 – Steve Kerr. 5 – Spoelstra.
Ohm Youngmisuk: Pat Riley has reached the Finals in 6 straight decades (1970s as a player, 1980s and 1990s as a coach, 2000s as a coach/executive, 2010s and 2020s as an executive per @ESPNStatsInfo
Justin Kubatko: This is the 10th time LeBron James has led his team in total points during the regular season and advanced to the Finals, the most such seasons in NBA history: 10 – James. 7 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 6 – Michael Jordan. James is the only player to do so with three different teams. pic.twitter.com/VKpSg9ExUj
“I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed a guy take over the game the way he did in the fourth quarter tonight in person,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “It was remarkable. … Obviously, taking over down the stretch, possession after possession after possession of big shots, big plays. Just a remarkable performance.” James is 16-1 in closeout games since 2015. In those 16 victories, he averages 29.1 points, 10 rebounds and 8.1 assists while shooting 51.9% from the field and 35% on 3-pointers. The Nuggets weren’t a match at this point for James on this stage.
Justin Kubatko: LeBron James is just the second player in NBA postseason history to record at least 35 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists in a series-clinching win. The first player to do so was another Laker, James Worthy (June 21, 1988).
StatMuse: LeBron James has 15 career 30-point triple-double in the playoffs, the most in NBA history and more than the next two players combined. 15 — LeBron. 8 — Oscar. 6 — Russ pic.twitter.com/4tzB1W59xv
Tim Reynolds: Marcus Smart, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler all had 8 rebounds and 8 assists last night. The last time a non-OT playoff game had three players with at least that many reb/ast was a Knicks-Celtics game in 1969. (Only other time in playoffs since? A 2OT Nets-Heat game in 2005.)
Justin Kubatko: Jayson Tatum is the third player in NBA postseason history to record 25 or more 20-point games before turning 23 years old: 32 – Kobe Bryant. 29 – LeBron James. 25 – Tatum
Kevin O’Connor: Jae Crowder is shooting 18% from 3 on his 33 attempts since Game 2. Before that in the playoffs, he had hit 42% of his 84 attempts. The regression is here.
