Ray Allen isn't getting a great deal of credit for his Game 6-saving 3-pointer in the NBA Finals.
At least in the realm of analytical thinking.
The Miami Heat veteran guard got a pass off an offensive rebound from teammate Chris Bosh, stepped back and hit a 3-pointer that tied Tuesday night's game against the San Antonio Spurs at 95 with 5.2 seconds left in regulation.
Had Allen missed the shot, the Spurs likely would've won the game and the series 4-2 and would be celebrating their fifth world championship right now.
According to NBA analytics expert John Schumann, however, Allen's shot was not the most important play in Game 6. It wasn't even in the top three, according to hangtime.blogs.nba.com.
The website, citing a process that the league uses to figure out which play had the biggest impact in a game, said Allen was, indeed, involved in the most important play in Game 6 at American Airlines Arena in Miami.
His strip of Spurs guard Manu Ginobili with less than five seconds left in overtime increased Miami's chances of winning by 30.8 percent, according to the NBA analytics. When the play started off Dwyane Wade's missed jumper with 12 seconds left in overtime, the Heat had a 60.1 percent chance of winning the game, Schumann said.
After Allen caused the turnover, Miami's chances of winning went up to 90.9 percent. The Spurs, however, argued that Allen fouled Ginobili on the play.
"We thought it was a foul going down the middle," Tim Duncan said afterward, according to the blog. "We get two free throws and we're talking about something different here, if that happens."
Allen's 3-point shot near the end of regulation increased Miami's chances of winning by 10.8 percent to 32.7 percent at that point. The analytics pointed to the fact that San Antonio still had 5.2 seconds left to make a game-winning shot in regulation and had the advantage.
A non-analytic term called "momentum" may have an argument with the analytics. Allen, however, can take solace in the fact that none of teammate LeBron James' plays made the top three, either.
To his credit, Schumann did call Allen's shot "the biggest play" of the game.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
