Pour one out for Denver. Their comebacks against Utah and the Clippers said as much about those two teams as it did Denver, but still it was something special to watch. I think of them as the Celtics spiritual cousins in the west, one of the few teams that can match Boston's combination of youth, potential and productivity. I took a quick looked at the age of the 8 teams that made the second round, weighted by minutes played and points scored (not counting tonight's game):
The numbers bear this out: The Celtics and Nuggets are the two youngest teams to win a round, by a decent margin. The Celtics' rotation is slightly younger, while the Nuggets scorers are slightly younger. The next youngest teams are the Raptors (somewhat surprising) and the Heat, while the oldest team by either measure is the Rockets.
Team | Weighted Minutes by age | Weighted Points by age |
Bucks |
29.85 |
29.24 |
Raptors |
27.13 |
27.25 |
Celtics |
25.04 |
24.72 |
Heat |
27.17 |
27.11 |
Lakers |
29.27 |
29.37 |
Clippers |
27.95 |
28.19 |
Nuggets |
25.20 |
24.35 |
Rockets |
30.19 |
30.14 |
The numbers bear this out: The Celtics and Nuggets are the two youngest teams to win a round, by a decent margin. The Celtics' rotation is slightly younger, while the Nuggets scorers are slightly younger. The next youngest teams are the Raptors (somewhat surprising) and the Heat, while the oldest team by either measure is the Rockets.