Good defense, better offense

The stats clearly show that since the NBA started its seeding process at the Lake Buena Vista “bubble” near Orlando, teams are shooting the lights out. There are 22 of the league’s 30 teams playing in the “bubble” and only five are averaging less than they did in the regular season before the restart with one of them, the Los Angeles Lakers, doing load management to preserve LeBron James for the playoffs.

Cranking out the numbers, winning teams averaged 125.51 points in the first 37 games of the “bubble” while losing teams hit at a 110.89 clip.  The margin of difference was 14.62 points. Of those 37 games, only twice did the winning team score less than 100. In terms of three-point shooting, the winning teams took an average of 34.4 triple tries and the losers, 33.8. In Houston’s 120-116 win over Milwaukee, the Rockets took 61 triple attempts. When Milwaukee beat Brooklyn, 119-116, both teams took a combined 108 heaves from rainbow distance.

In contrast, winning teams averaged 115.7 points in the 78 games that were played last March up to when the NBA suspended the season. Losers averaged 107.5 for a margin of 8.2 points. Winning teams took 35.5 attempts from triple range and losers, 37.5. The figures indicate that winning teams are giving more importance to shooting from distance in the “bubble” than before and that’s because offense is at a premium during the seeding games.

While scoring is on the rise in the “bubble,” it doesn’t mean that teams are playing less aggressive defense. It certainly doesn’t mean that players are avoiding contact because of fear of contamination. The quality of defense is good but the quality of offense is just better. Several coaches and players analyzed why this is happening. The consensus is players are geared up for every game unlike in the pre-“bubble” games where they had to contend with the exhaustion factor of flying from city to city. They’re all in one 89-hectare location and they don’t need to endure tiring flights to get ready for a game. The “bubble” atmosphere also allows players to be more focused in the playing environment, eliminating unruly crowds and distractions. Conditions in the three playing arenas are “relatively close to identical” so there is no unfamiliarity when players see action from one place to another, lending to a higher level of consistency.

The seeding schedule ends tomorrow (Saturday in Manila) and play-ins are set on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) and Sunday (Monday in Manila). The playoffs begin on Monday (Tuesday in Manila). The conference semis reel off on Aug. 31, the conference finals on Sept. 15 and the finals on Sept. 30.

The Eastern Conference has settled which teams will advance to the playoffs. But in the Western Conference, the fight for eighth place is going down to the wire. Right now, Portland is No. 8 (34-39), Memphis No. 9 (33-39), Phoenix No. 10 (33-39) and San Antonio No. 11 (32-38). The rule stipulates that if the No. 9 team is four games or less behind No. 8, there will be a play-in where the No. 8 team enjoys a twice-to-beat advantage. Phoenix is the hottest and only unbeaten team in the “bubble” with a 7-0 record. The Suns close out their schedule against Dallas today (tomorrow in Manila). They’re only a half a game behind Portland.