Defense can be a fleeting thing. Once an NBA team has it, it holds on tight to keep it. But so few do anymore. Not only from game-to-game, but from season-to-season.
Two of the more eyebrow-raising starts this season involve teams that had success last season – the and Portland Trail Blazers. Both were playoff teams. Both advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Now? Both were expected to be among the better teams in their respective conferences but are struggling to maintain .500 records.
It doesn’t take a lot of digging to understand why: Defense. Last season, the Hawks led the NBA in field-goal percentage allowed. They were 22nd in that category coming into the weekend. Portland’s drop wasn’t as stark, but it was down, going from 16th last season to 23rd so far this season.
The Hawks and Blazers are the hamsters in this column’s case study, but they are by no means twisting out there alone in rough defensive waters. Defending in the NBA is more difficult than itap ever been.
“The scoring numbers per team and for individuals,” said defensive-minded Nuggets coach Michael Malone, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Rules changes benefitting the offensive player and small-ball lineups are part of the issue. But in general, offenses are just more powerful than ever. Coming into the weekend, 24 of the 30 NBA teams averaged at least 100 points per game. Five teams average 110 or more points per game. Just two did last season. On the flip side, six teams last season allowed fewer than 100 points per game. That list has shrunk to four so far this season.
Defenses are stretched to its thinnest margins ever as more spacing, faster pace and more 3-point shooting — even in transition — make keeping control of any player or any team on a given night a Herculean task. Eight teams are allowing 10 or more 3-pointers per game so far this season. Only one did last season.
Individuals are soaring as well. Through Dec. 15, there were already 28 triple-doubles. There were four 50-point games, including Klay Thompson’s 60-point outburst in an unheard of 29 minutes.
Is it impossible to guard anyone anymore?
“Judging by the years that (Russell) Westbrook, (James) Harden and (Anthony) Davis are having; those three come to mind, I would say itap looking like it is impossible,” Malone said. “Game one for us, Anthony Davis scores 50 against us. … I don’t know how you guard Russell Westbrook. I really don’t. With the rules and the respect that he gets from the referees, itap almost impossible to guard guys.”
Itap been so tough at times Malone has had to devote some thought to using a zone defense. If there’s anything anyone who knows Malone understands, itap that he pretty much never wants to use a zone defense.
“It is a discussion that we’ve had, about the potential of using it at some point,” Malone said.
There are teams defending well. Milwaukee, Utah, Memphis, Golden State and Detroit entered the weekend as the top five teams in field goal percentage allowed, ranging from 42.9 percent allowed to 43.9 percent allowed. And, no surprise here: all have winning records. But defending well in this league is a struggle. If your team has it, cherish it. It might not last long.
SPOTLIGHT ON: The Incredible Flying Three-Ballers: AKA the
Background: On Friday night the Rockets blasted off to uncharted starry skies, launching 3-pointers as if it was the last night the line would exist, and in the process setting an NBA record for treys made in a game: 24.
Whatap up: The Houston Rockets are an analytic junkies’ Holy Grail team. And that sect has always lived by this sentiment, among others: If you shoot a billion threes, it doesn’t matter if the percentage is low, the three points for a made shot makes it worth it. Well, not only are the Rockets eschewing most other shots for the trey, they’re making nearly 40 percent of them. Four of the top nine players in 3-point attempts are Rockets. The Golden State Warriors last season were the first team to ever make more than 1,000 threes (1,077). That team made 13.1 per game. These Rockets check in at 14.8, and that would obliterate the record for made threes per game in a season. They’re on a pace to make more than — sit down for this — 1,200 3-pointers. And they’re on pace to shoot more than 3,100 in the season, becoming the first team to eclipse the 3,000 3-point shot barrier. The Rockets have already set the record for 3-point attempts in a game twice this season — first with 50 in a game, then with 61 Friday night in a 122-100 win over New Orleans. They are dizzying numbers to see on paper, much less watch it all go down on the court on a nightly basis.
Dempsey’s Take: The D-League experiment has finally reached the NBA. Two years ago, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s D-League affiliate, gained notoriety for playing “threes and dunks” basketball. The pace was the fastest of any professional team in two decades, nearly half the shots taken were from the 3-point line and the master plan was to get that style to the NBA. And here we are. As of Saturday, the Rockets were taking a ridiculous 44 percent of their shots from the 3-point line. And? Itap working. Houston was 20-7 headed into the weekend, with 400 made 3-pointers.
