DENVER (AP) — Unlike all of these high-scoring games, the NBA still plays defense.
Seriously, they are.
It’s just that the task of stopping two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid or anyone else in the league has become more difficult than ever.
Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle perhaps best summed up the challenge of blocking a top or even reserve player: “It’s a wild, hot mess right now in the NBA to try to defend,” he said.
A combination of rule changes, changes in play style, continued fondness for the three-point shot, and more have resulted in the game being heavily skewed towards the offensive player.
Someone will win Defensive Player of the Year this spring, even after a season where it seems like no one can stop someone with the ball. It is almost certain that more players will average 20 points per game than ever before. Ten years ago there were about a dozen players. This season 50 is not out of the question (last season it was 27 and in the 2020/21 season it was 31).
The NBA will analyze all variables after the season. But since the point is that fans love to score, and there’s nothing to contradict that position, a massive swing in the rules pendulum to help defenders seems unlikely.
“For me, as a fan, the level of talent is just off the charts, and it has a lot to do with what we see,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last week in Paris. “Of course, a huge increase in three-point shooting will also lead to an increase in scoring, especially when these guys, even the big men, are shooting three-pointers as well as they are.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily a case of defense not getting the attention it deserves, like it used to,” Silver added. “I’ve been in the league long enough to remember when it was said that guys didn’t play defense at all, so they played pretty good defense.”
From zone defense to constant rotation, teams are trying a little bit of everything to slow down attacking stars. However, the stars are shining. January alone Donovan Mitchell of Cleveland scored 71 points on January 2; Zach LaVine of Chicago hit 11 3s on January 6; and Miami’s Jimmy Butler hit 23-of-23 from the free-throw line on January 10.
Playing defensively is harder these days, but not impossible.
“It just requires real defensive connection,” Carlisle explained.
This season, performance is on the rise again, with teams averaging more points (114.1) than at any time in the league in the past half century. Sacramento leads with 120 points per game, with six players averaging 12 points or more.
Longtime NBA veteran Ish Smith will hardly be surprised by the fact that 44 players are currently averaging at least 20 points per game.
“I guarantee you that when I come over and show my kids the game in 10 or 15 years, we’ll be talking about it could be 100 guys who are now averaging 20,” said Smith, the Nuggets defenseman who broke into the league. in 2010 year. “This is just a tribute to the guys who are recovering. Everyone can dribble, shoot, pass, and that makes it harder.”
Bottom line: great people just do what they do best: stand out. Doncic and Embiid lead in points per game (33.6), Jokic in triple-doubles (14), Shai Giljeus-Alexander in two-point field goals (398) and Buddy Heald in three-pointers (181).
“The league is in such a great place and people love to watch highlights and see high scores for fun,” said David Adelman, Nuggets assistant coach and son of longtime NBA coach Rick Adelman. “I don’t think the NFL is any different. I mean, it’s hard to be a defender these days. This is probably the hardest job in the sport.
“So I don’t see the (NBA) changing that. My son is 9 years old and loves to watch the NBA because we score 130 points. The way it is”.
Given the enforcement of rules designed to allow greater freedom of action both at the post and on the perimeter, it is only natural to expect the number of free throws to rise. This season has averaged 23.8 line attempts (until Sunday), the highest since the 2010-11 season (24.4).
“Usually when you look at some of these very, very explosive individual performances where the guys put up huge numbers, I think you can immediately look at the free throw line. There is always a connection,” explained Chicago coach Billy Donovan. “Free throw and fouls have been a real challenge because the minute you get into people’s hands, these elite scorers know how to manipulate and draw fouls.”
The league has tried to keep it to a minimum, at least when it comes to shooters looking to draw attention to their 3-pointers. But the NBA knows that any change or rule change is always countered in some way by smart players who just find another way to get where they want to go.
“I remember people saying, ‘It’s all about dunking and guys can’t throw.’ Now it’s: “They shoot too well.” It should be more of an inside game,” Silver said. “We will continue to look at it.”
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AP Basketball writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.
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