ESPN isn't afraid to make absurd statistical comparisons

When Germany scored 4 goals in a span of 6 minutes against Brazil yesterday, the stat-loving gears in my head immediately started turning.  The first thing I thought of was to try to relate that to the NBA.  Here's what I came up with:

Two goals is about average for the winning team in a World Cup match, and Germany netted double that in only 6.67% of the total game time (6 of 90 minutes).  There are 48 minutes in an NBA contest, and 6.67% of that is three minutes and twelve seconds.  NBA teams put up roughly 100 points per game, so by that logic Germany's outburst in the World Cup semi-finals would be like if the Heat had scored nearly 200 points in a 3 minute span during an Eastern Conference Finals game last spring against the Pacers.

Unfortunately that's obviously impossible.

Soccer and basketball are different sports, and the comparison just isn't feasible with the way scoring works (it does relate to baseball though, where it might be like a team getting 10 runs in a single inning).

Considering all this, I have to admit I was a little surprised to see this graphic on SportsCenter today:

Thanks ESPN, let me know when that 484-point NBA game happens...


Also I first wanted to write about the Celtics' trade today, and then the Red Sox cutting A.J. Pierzynksi, but this took precedence.  More on those in the coming days...

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