A Dominant Team by Any Other Name … - basketball playoff teams: statistics

Basketball Digest, Summer, 2001 by David Friedman

WHEN MICHAEL JORDAN announced "I'm back" late in the 1994-95 season, soon leading the Chicago Bulls to another three straight championships, many observers proclaimed his Bulls the greatest team ever. Others preferred the Bill Russell-era Boston Celtics, the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers, the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, the Magic Johnson-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers, the Larry Bird-Kevin McHale-Robert Parish Celtics, or the Moses Malone-Julius Erving 76ers.

While it's fun to imagine certain matchups, there is no objective way to determine how these teams would fare against each other. It's obvious that any comparison of teams that played in different eras is pure speculation, but even statistically sizing up teams from the same era is an inexact science. Magic's Lakers and Bird's Celtics tweaked their rosters as players emerged (James Worthy, McHale) and declined (Abdul-Jabbar, Cedric Maxwell), making it difficult even to select the best Lakers and Celtics teams of the '80s, let alone the greatest team of all time.

While evaluating greatness is elusive and subjective, dominance can be found in the record books in several places. There are particular numbers that indicate which championship teams obliterated all contenders and which ones barely snatched the brass ring from their rivals. In short, the most dominant team is the team that stood out the most from the pack in a given season.

The most direct measure of dominance is points per game (PPG) differential. Since the 1954-55 season (the first of the shot clock era), 35 of 46 NBA champions and seven of nine ABA champions finished third in the league or better in this category.

Two other measures of dominance are rebounds per game (RPG) differential and field goal percentage (FG%) differential; the NBA has only kept these records since the 1970-71 season, while the ABA did so in all nine of its seas Almost every champion of the past 30ons years ranked at or near the top of the league

in both areas.

Of these champions, only 11 achieved a PPG differential of nine or better. The first of those was the 1961-62 Celtics, the fifth of Russell's 11 title teams. Six Celtics averaged double figures in scoring, five of whom were later inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Russell (23.6 rpg) finished second in the league in rebounding and Bob Cousy (7.8 apg) was third in assists.

The 1966-457 76ers showcased the all-around brilliance of Wilt Chamberlain, who led the league in rebounding (24.2 rpg) and field goal percentage (68.3%) and finished third in both scoring (24.1 ppg) and assists (7.8 apg). The 76ers beat the San Francisco Warriors for the title despite Rick Barry's then-record 40.8 ppg outburst in the Finals.

Everyone has seen footage of Willis Reed limping onto the floor for the 1969-70 New York Knicks in Game 7 of the Finals, but how many people remember that Walt Frazier posted 36 points, 19 assists, and seven rebounds in that game? Reed ranked among league leaders in scoring and rebounding that season, while Frazier placed second in assists, eighth in field goal percentage, and 20th in scoring.

Even on a list of dominant teams the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks stand out, with a 12.2 ppg differential, a .085 FG% differential, and a then-record 20-game winning streak. In the postseason, the Bucks posted a remarkable 14.5 ppg differential on the way to a then-best 12-2 playoff record. Abdul-Jabbar led the league in scoring while placing second in field goal percentage and fourth in rebounding. Oscar Robertson ranked among league leaders in assists, field goal percentage, and free throw percentage.

Remarkably, many of the records set by the 1970-71 Bucks were broken the very next year by the 1971-72 Lakers, who posted a best-ever 12.3 ppg differential and won 33 straight games. Gail Goodrich and Jerry West provided most of the scoring punch (ranking fifth and seventh in the league respectively) and Chamberlain led the league in rebounding and field goal percentage.

Bird captured his third straight NBA MVP with the 1985-86 Celtics, ranking among league leaders in scoring, rebounding, free throw percentage, three-point percentage, and steals. McHale, Parish, and Bill Walton rounded out one of the most impressive front-courts in league history, while perennial All-Defensive Team selection and former playoff MVP Dennis Johnson provided steady play at guard.

Magic Johnson led the league in assists and posted a career-high 23.9 ppg for the 1986-87 Lakers, and his self-titled "junior, junior skyhook" spelled doom for the Celtics in the Finals. Worthy, Abdul-Jabbar, and Byron Scott each averaged at least 17 ppg.

The Portland Trail Blazers won two more games than the 1990-01 Bulb but fell to the Lakers in the playoffs. Jordan's first NBA championship team romped to a 15-2 playoff record, with both losses by only two points. Jordan led the league in scoring and ranked third in steals, while Scottie Pippen followed a fine all-around season (17.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 6.2 apg) with an even better postseason (21.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 5.8 apg). Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright provided rebounding and toughness.