Is there no more defense in the NBA? Were defenses much better in the past, or were offenses simply less sophisticated? On February 24, 2023, the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers scored 351 points (176-175), the second most points scored in an NBA game. This detailed film breakdown & scouting report examines how the Kings and Clippers scored so many points, and why offenses are so efficient today compared to the past.
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Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.
Stats courtesy:
http://www.pbpstats.com @bballport
https://www.basketball-reference.com
https://stats.nba.com
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Footage in this video is owned by the NBA and its partners. It is intended for critique and education.
Music by csus (instrumental)
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32 Comments
ive been watching nba games for over thirty years watch the detroit pistons with rasheed wallace ben wallace and those guys who beat the lakers thats how you play defense not standing around and watching like these guys do today
if you were over the age of 15 T boss you would know that
150+ points before OT that makes perfect sense
i watched about 1 minute of it and seen all 5 players on defense not guard the ball or there man todays nba in a nutshell
and btw as a lakers fan i watched the russel westbrook lakers beat the bucks who were the #1 defense in the nba we scored 132 pts
Simply put this game was anomaly. The fact is offense fills seats and the NBA has bent the rules to favor offensive players. You can't block the lane, touch the ball handler, etc. The fans want high scoring, highlight heavy games as most fans are casual. It is not going to change.
At 3:36 why is it kawhi who should roster to huerter? That seems like a defense lapse on Morris Sr. Kawhi was already down that lane watching HB.
I think this video is so so well crafted. Each point is perfectly illustrated by the clip you play while you make it. It just makes it difficult to disagree with anything you've said in this video… well done!
Maybe defense isn't played as much because smart coaches know not to let the defense get setup.
This was the single greatest offensive game I've ever seen in my life. Keep in mind both teams were on the second night of a back to back too
Would love to see you do a retro breakdown of the Phoenix/Denver game from early in the 1990-1991 season. In today's environment, making no three-pointers and committing 27 turnovers often results in a 30-point loss, but for Phoenix they did that and won by 30, scoring 107 points by halftime and 173 total. If the game were any competitive, maybe Phoenix scores 190 points. Truly the most amazing box score of all time.
It explains the trash defense being played
I was saying a similar point to my friend when we talk about "the big 3 era"
I said big 3 era is dead because modern NBA makes it impossible for anyone to guard even just 2 player
Back then guys like duncan or mutombo basically guard 3 player with their rim protection and the opponent lack of 3pt
And the problem with having a "superstar big3" is that the rest of the roster is a minimum salary guys, and most of minimum salary guys is not that good in defense or they r awfully bad at offense
In conclusion whether it be due to quality of offense or defense it's way too easy to score in today's NBA.
This video is an excellent breakdown.
It’s amazing how ppl will watch games nowadays & think the defense is “bad”.
It’s not that the defense is bad, it’s that the offenses are so good, and there isn’t much you can do.
Adding back hand checking wouldn’t solve any of this — my only suggestion is to get rid of the defensive 3 second rule. It serves no purpose anymore & was put there specifically to ‘open up the game’.
There are usually 4-5 shooters on the floor at a time, so why restrict teams from keeping a guy down there to protect the rim?
remove the lane. back to the russell era
Please do the next video on how terrible Marcus morris is and how ty lue refuses to play Covington
Do a video on Marcus Morris he has no right being an nba player at this point in his career
It's both, it's a shooters league today…all you need to be able to do is do Meadowlark Lemon circus shots and your in, never mind if you palm and carrying and take 5 steps, all they care about is the ball going in, I can't watch the NBA no more, haven't watched a full game in about 5 years.
So being tough and gritty doesn't compare to pure athleticism and skill. Surprise, surprise. You "old heads" need to get off your high horses. Modern players are faster, stronger and better in every way imaginable. Folks like Barkley and Karl Malone wouldn't even sniff the g league in this Era, hand checking or not
I'd rather have good offense if it's a young team defense…and older team should play methodical basketball
Its just the offense that became too good for the defense to keep up. The nba can bring back the hand check rule it wont make a drastic change in lowering scoring but it will shut up all the old heads critics saying there is no defense in todays nba
Get rid of the three point line. Ridiculous. Bring back elbows and those face masks too.
great video!!💪
The one thing I rarely hear mentioned is that today's offensive spacing is a natural evolution from the rule change eliminating illegal defense in 2001. Offenses in the illegal defense era did not have to create their own spacing; the rules provided that for them. The Rockets won two NBA championships because Hakeem could not be guarded one on one and teams had to fully commit to a double team leading to an open three for Cassell/Horry/Smith/Elie. If a defensive player did not fully commit to a double team, that was an automatic tech and free throw. Today's offenses had to evolve to create their own spacing and that comes in the form of movement combined with ample shooting on the floor. As someone who has watched the NBA since 1982, I much prefer this era over the illegal defense era. The skill level on the floor has never been higher.
Absolutely loved this. I hate when everyone says defense has just gotten super soft. Obviously there are rules changes that benefit the offense, but stuff like zone defense is actually helpful for defenses. But offenses have just gotten so much better. Spacing the floor and actually running plays are the two keys. On JJ Reddick's podcast a while ago, KD said it's way easier to score now than when he first came into the league because teams actually run stuff to get their best guys open shots instead of just isolating all the time.
I think you absolutely have to get rid of defensive 3 seconds for defenses to have any hope and that's not nearly enough #NBA-I❤This Game
Absolutely loved this. I hate when everyone says defense has just gotten super soft. Obviously there are rules changes that benefit the offense, but stuff like zone defense is actually helpful for defenses. But offenses have just gotten so much better. Spacing the floor and actually running plays are the two keys. On JJ Reddick's podcast a while ago, KD said it's way easier to score now than when he first came into the league because teams actually run stuff to get their best guys open shots instead of just isolating all the time.
I think you absolutely have to get rid of defensive 3 seconds for defenses to have any hope and that's not nearly enough #NBA-I❤This Game
I can't wait for the playoffs, where a modicum of defense is played.
It's funny because I actually had the good luck of tuning into this game live, at least everything from the beginning of the 4th and on. It was honestly insane to see what was unraveling in front of me, especially since I was only planning to watch like a solid 6-7 minutes of basketball between two solid teams, instead I got to see overtime no. 1 and overtime no. 2, I honestly was expecting a third overtime haha. Was def expecting this channel to make a vid about it, and thankfully they did. High quality content as always, thank you TB.
what I have keep seeing is they all love stay in zone. and the funny thing is, once they got attacked in the zone, there is no hard foul there is no anything physical there is kinda nothing, offender just finish scoring easily. I don't know what is bad defense if u don't call that bad defense.
You know KD and kyrie are saying "oops".
I was getting confused at times and I’m just sitting at home watching slowed down and reversed film breakdown from a broadcast angle from a professional analyst spoon-feeding me what’s going on…I can only IMAGINE how difficult it is for the actual players lmao.
Insanity