11) Omri Casspi: Casspi logged about 15 minutes against the Cleveland Cavaliers last Saturday, and had five more turnovers than points. Related: he had five turnovers. Last night he had five more points than turnovers. Related: he had five points. What does this mean? Nothing. But I enjoyed typing it.

10) Isaiah Canaan: Well, would you look at that! After Patrick Beverley sprained his knee during the second quarter of last night’s game, Isaiah Canaan did some real stuff non-garbage time minutes! Houston extended their lead from about three to double digits at half time, and Canaan’s tenacious play on both ends was partly responsible. He knocked down a contested three-pointer, took a steal the other way for a dunk (that almost didn’t go in), and generally looked like a player who belongs. Fun, fun, fun.

9) Jordan Hamilton: Hamilton barely averaged 11 minutes per game this week, and he shot 25% from the field. Not great. [read more…]

The Rockets did what they were supposed to do, and handed the 76ers their 26th straight loss (tying an NBA record), though halfway through the second quarter the Sixers and Rockets were tied at 43.  The Rockets looked like they were sleepwalking, calling it in.  Then they woke up and outscored the Sixers by 22 to finish out the game.  And, that’s 11 wins in a row at home for Houston.

James Harden had a triple double (his second of his career) in only 31 minutes and was able to rest the whole 4th quarter.  He went for 26 points, 10 boards and 10 assists.  Our MVP is still ascending, he’s handing out lots of assists, hitting deep 3’s, his step back shot is nearly unstoppable and he’s become a lot more confident in his teammates.  Harden’s demeanor and leadership is a solid anchor for this young team and he’s getting better.

[read more…]

I think I’ve read this about a dozen times by now. I love it for the simple reason that it does exactly what analyzing data is supposed to–allow us to see what we would otherwise be unable or unwilling to see. The author also had the guts to break out some bigger statistical guns and use multiple regressions, a technique I’ve also used before.

As the nerdy stat head data junkie of this blog, I want to take this opportunity to really emphasize the most fundamental premise of data-based analysis. Data is non-partisan. People are not.  When you hear the terms data-driven or data-based decision-making, that means the data comes before the decision, not vice versa. The worst, and unfortunately most common, mistake when working with data is to use data analysis to reinforce an already formed conclusion, or at least a very desired conclusion. In such a scenario, the person who thinks his/her opinion is slighted simply dismisses the results of the data analysis as opposed to rethinks his/her original conclusion.

And that makes sense. If you poured $20 million dollars into a program to improve urban poverty, but the data say your program has not improved anything, it’s hard to simply accept that. It’s much easier to call the data analysis baloney and keep believing that your program is doing well. But we can all see why such a decision would be dangerous and potentially financially calamitous. The same thing goes for basketball. If you refuse to buy into data simply because you disagree with the results, are you doing yourself (or others if you’re in such a position) any favors? Do you have the balls to eschew your pre-formed opinions and allow the data to inform new ones? It’s not easy, but if we can’t or refuse to then there is absolutely no need to do any more data analysis on anything.

Onto steals.

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Teams: Philadelphia 76ers (15-56) @ Houston Rockets (48-22)
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Toyota Center
Television: CSN Houston

Notes:

• The Rockets lost their first matchup with the 76ers, as Tony Wroten had a triple-double (18 pnt, 10 reb, 11 ast) and one-time Rocket James Anderson had career-high 36 points.

• James Harden missed that game with a bruised foot, but Jeremy Lin filled in admirably with 34 points on 10-19 shooting (9-15 from 3!).  He also had 11 assists and 5 rebounds, although he did commit 8 turnovers.

• The previous matchup with the 76ers was also the last straw for Omer Asik after moving out of the starting lineup.  He refused to dress-out for the Rockets’ next two games after playing only 4 minutes in the loss to Philadelphia.

• Since December, James Harden’s 3pt% has risen from 30% to 34% in January, 42% in February and now 46% in March.

• A loss for Philadelphia tonight would tie them with the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers (26 straight) for the longest losing streak in NBA history.

Rockets a win vs 76ers tomorrow shy of home sweep of East. Would be first to sweep opposing conference at home since Dallas in 04-05.

— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) March 26, 2014

Injuries:

Dwight Howard knocked knees with Terrence Jones in practice on Wednesday, and sat out the rest of practice as a precaution.  It was not serious and he will be in the lineup tonight.  

Francisco Garcia is still being listed as “day-to-day” due to personal reasons.  He has missed two straight games and his availability for tonight’s game is unknown.

As for Philadelphia, other than Nerlens Noel’s continued absence, no other Sixer is listed on the injury report.  [read more…]