Okay, so I wanted to dig into the player stats for that Timberwolves versus Pacers game the other night. Didn’t catch the whole thing live, just saw the final score pop up and got curious about how the individual matchups went down, you know?
First thing I did was grab my tablet while kicking back on the couch. Usually, I just punch ‘NBA scores’ into the search bar and pick one of the first big sports sites that shows up. Did that. Found the game pretty easily on the list of scores for that day.
Then, you gotta find that ‘Box Score’ or sometimes it’s hidden under ‘Game Details’ or something similar. Clicked through on that. Took a second to load, usual stuff. Websites are always packed with ads these days, gotta scroll past those.
Looking at the Numbers
Alright, so the box score finally loaded up. You get the main table, right? Players listed down the side, then columns for minutes played, field goals, threes, free throws, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers, points… the whole nine yards.
My eyes went straight to the main guys. For the Wolves, obviously wanted to see what Anthony Edwards put up. Checked his points, field goal attempts, see if he was efficient or just chucking. Then looked over at KAT’s numbers, rebounds especially. Gobert too, defensive stats mainly, blocks and boards.
Flipped over to the Pacers side. Had to check Haliburton’s assists, that’s his game. And points, see if he was scoring too. Then Siakam, see how he fit in, what his contribution looked like. Turner’s always interesting too, see if he stretched the floor with any threes or got some blocks.
- Minutes: First column I usually scan, see who got the heavy load.
- Points: The glamour stat, always look at the top scorers.
- Efficiency: Compared field goals made vs attempted (FG M/A). Tells a better story than just points sometimes.
- Rebounds/Assists: See who was controlling the boards and distributing the ball.
- Bench: Scrolled down past the starters to see if either team got a big lift from their reserves. Sometimes that’s the difference maker.
Spent maybe ten minutes just scrolling up and down, comparing guys, looking at the plus-minus stat too, though I don’t put massive stock in that for a single game sometimes. It gives you a quick snapshot though. Saw some guys had good nights, others were kinda quiet. Standard game flow stuff when you look at the numbers.
So yeah, that was my process. Just a quick dive into the stats sheet to get a feel for who showed up and who didn’t in that specific matchup. Nothing too fancy, just pulling up the box score and taking a look. Done deal.
