If you want to start a fight in a Los Angeles sports bar or a Boston pub, just bring up the 2010 NBA Finals stats. Seriously. It was ugly. It was slow. It was basically a 1990s wrestling match disguised as a basketball series.
Kobe Bryant shot 6-for-24 in Game 7. People forget that. Or maybe they don't, but they use it to poke holes in his legacy without looking at the rest of the box score. Ray Allen set a record for threes in Game 2 and then literally couldn't hit the side of a barn for the rest of the series. Pau Gasol was arguably the best player on the floor, yet he didn't get the MVP. The numbers from this series are weird, man. They don't make sense if you’re used to the "everyone-scores-130" pace of the modern NBA. This was the last gasp of the "slug-it-out" era, and the data reflects a level of physical exhaustion you just don't see anymore.
The Offensive Struggle Was Real
The Lakers won the title despite shooting 32.5% from the field in the deciding game. Think about that for a second. If a team did that today, they’d lose by forty. But in 2010, the pace was a glacial 82.5 possessions per game. By comparison, modern teams often cruise past 100. Every single shot felt like it carried the weight of the world.
Kobe Bryant finished the series averaging 28.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. On paper? Elite. In reality? He struggled immensely with the Celtics' "overload" defense designed by Tom Thibodeau. Kobe shot just 40.5% from the floor over the seven games. He was forced into contested long twos and fadeaways because Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins were camping in the paint.
Boston wasn't much better. Paul Pierce averaged 18 points but was hounded by Ron Artest—who we now know as Metta Sandiford-Artest—the entire time. Artest was the secret sauce. He wasn't just a defender; he hit the biggest shot of Game 7. His stat line for that final game? 20 points, 5 steals, and a three-pointer that shattered Boston's heart.
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Breaking Down the 2010 NBA Finals Stats by the Numbers
Let's get into the weeds of the 2010 NBA Finals stats because the discrepancy between the stars is fascinating.
Pau Gasol was a monster. He averaged 18.6 points and 11.6 rebounds, but it was his 2.6 blocks per game that changed the geometry of the series. While Kevin Garnett was still a force, he wasn't the "2008 KG" who could jump out of the gym. He averaged 15.3 points and 5.6 rebounds. For a guy of his stature, getting out-rebounded that badly by Gasol and Lamar Odom (who chipped in 6.6 boards a night) was the quiet death of the Celtics' chances.
Rajon Rondo was the engine for Boston. He nearly averaged a triple-double in the playoffs, but in the Finals, his lack of a jump shot started to haunt them. He put up 12.1 points, 7.6 assists, and 6.3 rebounds. The Lakers started "sagging" off him, daring him to shoot, which clogged the lanes for Ray Allen and Pierce.
Speaking of Ray Allen, his stats are a rollercoaster.
In Game 2, he went 8-of-11 from three-point range. A record at the time.
In Game 3, he went 0-of-13 from the field. Total.
That's the kind of variance that defined this series. It wasn't about who was better; it was about who survived the shooting slumps.
The Rebounding Gap
If you want to know why the Lakers have those rings, look at the offensive glass. Los Angeles grabbed 18 offensive rebounds in Game 7 alone. Boston had 8. That’s 10 extra possessions in a game that was decided by four points.
Kendrick Perkins tearing his PCL and MCL in Game 6 is the "what if" that Boston fans still cry about. Without Perk, the Celtics had to rely on a slowing Rasheed Wallace. Sheed played his heart out, but he wasn't a glass-cleaner. The Lakers out-rebounded Boston 52-40 in the final game. Gasol had 9 offensive rebounds by himself. That is pure "will to win" territory.
Defensive Ratings and the "Ugly" Factor
We talk about "Efficiency" today like it's the only thing that matters. In 2010, efficiency went to die in the Staples Center. The Lakers' defensive rating for the series was roughly 104, which would be league-leading today, but it felt even more suffocating then.
The Celtics held the Lakers to under 90 points three times.
The Lakers held the Celtics to under 80 points twice.
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It was a defensive masterclass. You had Kobe guarding Rondo to roam as a free safety. You had Tony Allen coming off the bench to play "Kobe Stopper" minutes. It was chess, but played with sledgehammers.
Derek Fisher, the veteran heartbeat, averaged only 8.7 points, but he hit a layup in Game 3 that basically saved the Lakers' season. His stats won't wow you in a spreadsheet. He shot 42% from the field. But he didn't turn the ball over. In a series where every possession was a war, Fisher’s 1.4 turnovers per game compared to Rondo’s 3.0 was a massive, quiet advantage.
Why These Stats Matter for Legacy
This series cemented Kobe Bryant as a top-10 player of all time for many, despite the poor shooting. Why? Because he found other ways to impact the game. In Game 7, when his shot wasn't falling, he grabbed 15 rebounds. Fifteen. For a shooting guard. That's insane.
It also highlighted the end of the "Big Three" era in Boston as a championship-winning force. They got back to the ECF later, but this was their peak. Ray Allen’s 36.7% shooting from the floor over the series was a sign that the Lakers' length—Odom, Gasol, Bynum—was just too much for the aging Celtics guards to finish over.
Andrew Bynum was playing on one leg. He averaged 7.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in less than 25 minutes a game. If he was healthy, this series probably doesn't go seven. But his presence alone changed how Boston attacked the rim.
Actionable Insights for Basketball Historians
If you're looking back at the 2010 NBA Finals stats to understand how the game has evolved, don't just look at the points per game. Look at the "Four Factors" of basketball:
- Effective Field Goal Percentage: It was abysmal. Both teams were under 50% for the series.
- Turnovers: The Celtics were actually better here until Game 7, where they coughed it up at crucial moments.
- Offensive Rebounding: This is where the Lakers won. They had a 31% offensive rebound rate.
- Free Throw Rate: The Lakers lived at the line in Game 7, shooting 37 free throws compared to Boston’s 17.
To truly grasp this series, you have to watch the third quarter of Game 7. It’s a clinic in high-stakes pressure.
Next Steps for Deep Research:
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- Compare the "Contested Shot" data from 2010 to the 2024 Finals; you'll see how much more space modern players have.
- Analyze the "Clutch Time" stats for Ron Artest; his 4th quarter performance in Game 7 is one of the highest "Game Scores" in Finals history for a role player.
- Check the lineup data for when Kendrick Perkins was on vs. off the floor to see the true impact of his injury on the Celtics' defensive rebounding percentage.
This wasn't a series of highlights. It was a series of bruises. The stats prove that sometimes, the best team isn't the one that plays the "best" basketball, but the one that refuses to break.