Following Wednesday night, every team in the 2024 NBA playoffs has now played two games. And while that puts us halfway to potential sweeps, it's also early in the NBA postseason, which requires its champion to win 16 times.
With that in mind, let's look at the early trends from a first round that has favored the higher seeds more than expected thus far. The average of 6.25 wins ahead in the standings for the eight teams with home-court advantage in the first round was tied for the lowest in an 82-game season since the NBA went to its current playoff format in 1984, yet those teams swept Game 1s at home.
There's plenty of time for things to change as the matchups shift toward the lower seeds' hosting starting Thursday night. Which notable statistics from the first few days of the 2024 playoffs -- including a precipitous drop in points per game, Jalen Brunson's poor shooting and Pascal Siakam leading all players in scoring -- might continue and which are more likely fluke than reality?
