High-five for the NBA Finals

North American sports fans are always trying to put a statistic on something. We are obsessed with numbers and we are always craving new statistical information so that we can more “accurately” judge our favorite team or players performance.

Well, The Wall Street Journal is apparently keenly aware of this fact. They recently recorded every high-five in the first three games of the NBA Finals. Although the statistic is ridiculous, the disparity between the two teams totals is telling.

The Mavs play much more team-oriented basketball while the Heat win with individual performances. I am in no way saying that the amount of high-fives is a determinant of who will win the series, but it is very interesting to see the results so far. Unfortunately for the Mavs, I have always believed that the NBA is the only league where two or three superstars can carry a whole team to a championship. This same strategy does not work in baseball, hockey, football or soccer.

Although the Mavs lost two of the first three games in the series, they recorded many more high-fives and appear to have the momentum after a crucial game 4 victory. It will be interesting to see if the high-fiving friendly Mavs can keep winning by playing team basketball.