When the Pistons won the 2004 NBA title, the NBA’s playoff offense was awful

I created a series of charts for Basketball Prospectus about how the playoffs look compared to the regular season in a dozen factors each year since the NBA playoffs expanded to 16 teams. It’s a premium article, so you need a subscription to see all the charts.

But to give you a sample, here’s offensive rating. The 2004 season, when the Pistons won the title, stands out here especially, but it also is an outlier on several of the other charts, too.

The regular season is blue, and the post season is orange.