3 Statistics that defined the Golden State Warriors’ first-round series win

The Golden State Warriors secured their path into the second-round of the NBA Playoffs on Sunday, defeating the Sacramento Kings in a do-or-die Game 7 behind Stephen Curry’s record-breaking 50 points.

In a back-and-forth matchup, the Warriors capped it off with the road team winning each of the last three games. After holding a 2-0 series lead, the Kings’ lack of playoff experience eventually came to bear in the second-half of Game 7.

The Golden State Warriors-Sacramento Kings first-round series was defined by individual brilliance, specific matchups, and poor team shooting.

The Warriors will now face the Los Angeles Lakers in the second-round of the postseason, with that series starting at Chase Center on Tuesday. But before we look ahead to that series, let’s look at three statistics that came to define the exciting, high-quality first-round battle against Sacramento.

29

That’s how many more rebounds Kevon Looney had than Domantas Sabonis in a matchup that not only illustrated the series overall, but more importantly the second-half of Game 7 as the Warriors destroyed the Kings on the glass.

Looney had 106 rebounds for the series to Sabonis’ 77, including a six-board advantage on the offensive end. As The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson put it, Looney’s performance has greatly altered the perception of Sabonis moving forward.

30.6

That’s the percentage Sacramento shot from three-point range over the course of the series. It was an element discussed after Golden State had tied it at 2-2, and although the Kings heated up a little to win Game 6, their percentage from deep hovered at the same level.

Sacramento ranked in the top ten for three-point shooting during the regular season, knocking down their shots from deep at 36.9%. None of their recognized shooters ever really got going across these seven games though.

Keegan Murray shot a respectable 37.5% but that was still well below his regular season mark. Harrison Barnes had a series to forget shooting just 24.5%, while starting shooting-guard Kevin Huerter was downright abysmal in shooting 20.5%.

24.6

The number of field-goal attempts Curry averaged across the seven games — the most he’s averaged in any playoff series where he’s played at least three games. Sunday was the final stamp on an aggressive series for the two-time MVP as he attempted a career-high 38 shots.

Knowing he was in a dogfight just to advance to the second-round, this was Finals MVP-level Curry who understood and played to the enormity of the occasion. He’ll need some greater scoring production from his teammates moving forward, but for now he was enough to get past the Kings.