The recipe for the new-look Cavs to beat the Bulls
May 4, 2015Analytics and odds are still on the Cavs’ side despite injuries, suspensions
May 4, 2015His 2014-15 season wasn’t his strongest, but LeBron James still earned a top-three finish in NBA MVP voting. James received 552 total voting points, including five first-place votes. Golden State guard Stephen Curry won the award with 1198 points on the strength of 100 out of 130 first-place votes. Houston Rockets guard James Harden finished second and received 25 first-place votes.
First-place votes were worth 10 points, second-place votes were 7, third-place votes were 5, fourth-place votes were 3, and fifth-place votes were worth a single point.
The full results, from the NBA’s official release:
In 69 games this season, LeBron averaged 25.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 1.6 steals. He shot .488 from the field — his lowest FG% since 2008-09 — as well as .354 on three-pointers and .710 from the free throw line. His 25.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game were both the lowest marks since his rookie season.
It’s a testament to LeBron’s brilliance that this year’s numbers seem ordinary. He has averaged better than 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in each of his 12 NBA seasons, and his career average in those categories is 27.3, 7.1, and 6.9.
Curry won behind per-game averages of 23.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 2.0 steals. He shot .487/.443/.914,1 leading the league in free throw percentage and shooting the fourth-best mark from long range. He led the league in three-pointers made as Golden State won an NBA-best 67 games.
Harden led an injury-riddled Rockets team to a 56-26 record (second in the West), averaging 26.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. He shot .440/.375/.868. He led the league in total minutes played and points scored, as well as free throws made and attempted.
The Cavs open their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Chicago Bulls Monday night in Cleveland.
[The recipe for the new-look Cavs to beat the Bulls]
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- Field goal, three-point, and free throw percentage, respectively. [↩]
1 Comment
surprised to see that. And also never realized that LeBron basically had better stats than Curry. Assists and steals were close but he blew Curry out in boards, and had a definitive advantage in points.
Anyways, we all know who the real MVP is….