Celtics Stat of the Day: 12/20/09

14" of snow. Nope, that's not the stat of the day, but I just thought I'd throw it in.

82games.com is the statistical site that contains numerous statistical breakdowns for the five-man player combinations that play the most minutes for their teams. The 10 leading combinations for each team (in
terms of minutes played) are presented.

• Only five combinations have played more than 24 minutes together (all season long) for the Celtics:

511 minutes: Rondo, Ray, Pierce, KG, Perk
72 minutes: House, Ray, Daniels, Williams, Wallace
57 minutes: House, Daniels, Pierce, Williams, Wallace
54 minutes: Rondo, Ray, Pierce, KG, Wallace

• For those who think the starters might play better with Wallace than with Perk, think again:

+/- per minute played including Rondo, Ray, Pierce, KG and Perk: +.085 points
+/- per minute played including Rondo, Ray, Pierce, KG and Sheed -.079 points

• There are only three 5-man combinations with positive +/- stats for the Celtics. Ray is the only player in all three:

+.49 points per minute played: House, Ray, Daniels, Williams, Wallace
+.31 points per minute played: Rondo, Ray, Pierce, KG, Perk
+.21 points per minute played: House, Ray, Pierce, KG, Wallace

• However, some of the +/- stats may be unduly influenced by one or two unrepresentative games. In terms of "winning" battles with opponents' counterparts, there are four 5-man combinations that have won more "playing stints" than they've lost for the Celtics. Interestingly, Pierce, KG, Ray and Sheed are each in three of those four "winning" combinations. The #1 combination doesn't even have a positive overall +/- stat (-.37 points per minute played to be exact). As much as I hate to say it (not being a devotee of the three-pointer), an argument could be made that having as many perimeter threats as possible on the floor simultaneously offers the best chance of winning matchups:

80% "victory" percentage for House, Ray, Pierce, KG, Wallace
77% "victory" percentage for House, Ray, Daniels, Williams, Wallace
75% "victory" percentage for Rondo, Ray, Pierce, KG, Perk
71% "victory" percentage for Rondo, Daniels, Pierce, KG, Wallace

• There are only three Celtics 5-man combinations that garner more than 50% of the available rebounds when they (the players, not the rebounds) are on the floor. KG and Pierce are the only players in all three of these combinations. Notice once that the Celts' arguably strongest "perimeter combo" excels in more than simply shooting threes:

56.5%: House, Ray, Pierce, KG, Wallace
52.0%: Rondo, Daniels, Pierce, KG, Wallace
51.0%: Rondo, Daniels, Pierce, KG, Perk

Sam