The Golden State Warriors have broken the record for most consecutive games with at least 100 points, and players across the league are getting paid more than ever thanks to a new collective bargaining agreement. The NBA has been called out by critics for its lackluster defensive approach to slowing down their opponents, but it may be too soon to judge.
In March (it’s just March 16), the NBA has experienced an explosion in scoring metrics. LeBron James has reached the 50-point plateau twice, while Kyrie Irving and Karl-Anthony Towns have recently surpassed the 60-point mark on consecutive nights.
Since LeBron’s 50-point performance against the Golden State Warriors on March 5, seven players have scored at least 50 points. In the last ten days, the league has witnessed seven 50-point performances.
It demonstrates that the NBA is in excellent hands, with a plethora of talent.
However, there is a hidden reality behind this current scoring tendency that has gone unreported, and it does not bode well for the league’s future.
LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant are spearheading an NBA offensive surge that has never been seen before.
The Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving takes against the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James in NBA action. | Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
From March 5 through 15, in this order:
- LeBron James scored 56 points on 19-of-31 shooting (61.3 percent), 54.5 percent from three (6-of-11), and 12-of-13 from the free-throw line on March 5.
- Jayson Tatum scored 54 points on 16-of-30 shooting, 53.3 percent from three-point range (8-of-15), and 14-of-17 from the free-throw line on March 6.
- Kyrie Irving scored 50 points on 15-of-19 shooting (78.9%), 75.0 percent from three (9-of-12), and 11-of-13 from the free-throw line on March 8.
- 11th of March, James: 50 points on 72.0 percent (18-of-25) shooting, 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from three, and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
- Kevin Durant scored 53 points on 19-of-37 shooting (51.4 percent), 30.8 percent from three (4-of-13), and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line on March 13th.
- Karl-Anthony Towns scored 60 points on 19-of-31 shooting (61.3 percent), 63.6 percent from three (7-of-11), and 15-of-16 from the free-throw line on March 14.
- Irving scored 60 points on 20-of-31 shooting (64.5 percent), 66.7 percent from three-point range (8-of-12), and 12-of-13 from the free-throw line on March 15.
Seven NBA games with 50 points or more, five different players, and highly efficient numbers across the board. I’ll be back in a week and a half.
However, there is a catch.
When you take a deeper look at the league’s scoring rampage, you’ll see that there’s a major issue.
All seven of those amazing outbursts occurred against clubs that are 45 games under.500.
LeBron’s 56 points came against the Warriors (47-22 on March 15), while Tatum’s 54 came against the Brooklyn Nets (36-33).
When you subtract the two games versus above.500 teams from that total, you’re left with a total of 73 games below.500. Seventy-three.
Sure, the figures are out of this world. And the fact that they’re arriving so often in such a short time is insane. However, they’ll be facing clubs who, for the most part, will not make the playoffs and will be playing out the remainder of the 2021-22 season in order to improve their draft selection.
Therein lays the NBA’s unspoken problem: the disparity between the league’s top and worst clubs is substantial. And it willingly widens towards the end of the year.
The Phoenix Suns had the best record in the NBA this season, going 55-14. The Grizzlies, who are in second place, and the Warriors, who are in third place, are within a half-game of each other, but are 7.5 and eight games behind the Suns, respectively.
The Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, and Denver Nuggets all look to be destined for the 4-6 spot in the Western Conference playoffs, and they’re all at least 12.5 games behind Phoenix.
The Houston Rockets, the league’s lowest club by record, are 37.5 games behind the Suns. They’re even 12 games poorer than the Los Angeles Lakers, who have been widely panned.
The top of the Eastern Conference has been a jumbled mess all season. The top five clubs in the rankings are separated by just 4.5 games.
When it comes to the bottom of the conference, the Detroit Pistons are 27.5 games behind the Miami Heat in first place, while the Orlando Magic are 28 games behind.
The league’s good teams are good. The issue is that the terrible teams are really awful. Things get out of hand when the good teams — with the greatest players — face the very awful clubs that have given up on a winning season, as we’ve witnessed in the past 10 days.
How does the NBA plan to address the issue? Is it even possible to repair it?
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But it’s not only the beginning of March. Offensive statistics in the NBA are increasing across the board.
The league’s regulations that encourage offense, the tempo of play, and the new focus on the three-point shot are all factors in this equation.
The best teams, on the other hand, focus on the bottom feeders, and as the season draws to a close and teams realize their season is all but gone, the race to tank starts, and things deteriorate.
The NBA attempted to address this by reorganizing the lottery, which had some success but was plainly insufficient. The longer the draft positioning continues, and the more offensively skilled the league becomes, the more months like these we’ll see in March and April.
And there’s no apparent solution to the problem. Perhaps the more crucial issue is whether we even want to.
NBA.com provided all data.
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