Okay, let’s talk about how I actually went about digging into the stats for that New Orleans Pelicans vs Chicago Bulls game. It wasn’t anything too fancy, just my usual routine when I wanna get a feel for a matchup.
First off, I just popped open my laptop. Had my coffee ready. Went online, you know, opened up my web browser. I’ve got a couple of sports sites I usually bounce between for stats, the ones that seem to have reliable numbers without too much clutter. Didn’t go anywhere special, just one of the big names everyone uses.
Once the site loaded, I navigated straight to the NBA section. Sometimes it’s right on the front page, sometimes you gotta click through a ‘Scores’ or ‘NBA’ tab. Found the main league page. Then, I looked for the schedule or scoreboard for the day the game was happening or the upcoming games list.
Scrolled down until I spotted the Pelicans vs Bulls game. Easy enough. Clicked on that specific matchup. That usually takes you to a sort of game center page. Lots of info there – betting lines, previews, sometimes injury news. But I was laser-focused on player stats.
I looked for tabs or links like ‘Box Score’, ‘Team Stats’, or ‘Player Stats’. Often, I start by looking at the season averages for the key guys. So, I started pulling up numbers for the Pelicans first.
- Looked up Zion Williamson’s points, rebounds, shooting percentage.
- Checked Brandon Ingram’s stats too – scoring, assists.
- Didn’t forget about guys like CJ McCollum or maybe Herb Jones for his defense.
Then, I did the same thing for the Bulls.
- Pulled DeMar DeRozan’s numbers – points, assists, free throws attempted.
- Checked on Zach LaVine’s status and stats (always gotta see if key guys are actually playing!).
- Looked at Nikola Vucevic’s rebounding and scoring.
- Maybe checked Coby White or Alex Caruso depending on recent performance.
Comparing the Numbers
Now, just looking at individual stats isn’t the whole picture. I started comparing them directly. How does Zion’s scoring average stack up against the Bulls’ interior defense? What about the guard matchups? How efficient are both teams from three-point range based on their main shooters’ percentages?
I wasn’t doing complex math or anything. Just mentally lining up the numbers, sometimes I might jot down a few key stats on a piece of scrap paper next to me. Like: Player A (Points/Rebounds/Assists) vs Player B (Points/Rebounds/Assists). Simple stuff.
I also made sure to look beyond just scoring. Things like:
- Turnovers: Which team or player is more careless with the ball?
- Rebounding: Who controls the boards? Vucevic vs Valanciunas (or Zion crashing) is a key thing to check.
- Shooting Efficiency: Field goal percentage, three-point percentage. Are they taking good shots?
- Minutes Played: Who carries the heaviest load? Are key players playing heavy minutes recently?
Spent a good chunk of time, maybe 20-30 minutes, just clicking between player profiles, team stat pages, and maybe a recent box score or two if they played recently. It’s about getting a gut feeling based on what the numbers are telling you. Who’s hot, who’s not, where the potential advantages might be. That’s basically it. Just digging through the readily available data until I felt like I had a decent handle on the player dynamics for the game.
