There is no measure on the scoring drive in the American basketball league NBA this season: games in which star players score 40, 50 or more points are no longer an exception. Almost every day there are outliers in the playground for offensive specialists, where record figures are already within reach halfway through the season. In the US it is called one scoring boom.
On Thursday night, the 50-point mark was passed for the fifteenth time this season, this time by game distributor Damian Lillard of Portland Trailblazers. If four others do it, then the total of nineteen from the previous season has already been matched.
Attack urge
The offensive drive in the NBA is illustrated even more sharply by the number of performances with 40 points or more, almost a hundred times this season. By way of comparison: at the end of the past year, the counter stood at 119.
Especially in the period after Christmas, followers of the NBA were spoiled with some masterpieces. Slovenian playmaker Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks finished December with 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 rebounds on the scoreboard to become the first player in American basketball history with a ’60-20-10′ behind his name.
It was already forgotten on January 2, when Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers) single-handedly collected 71 points. Only seven players in NBA history have scored more in a game. Mitchell’s impressive performance completely snowballed shooter Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors)’s 54 points on the same night.
A day later it was the turn of the Greek steamroller Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), according to many the best basketball player of the moment. He came to 55 points, completely in his own way without hitting a three-pointer.
Antetokounmpo is one of five players who currently average more than 30 points per game. Since 1963 there have never been more than three. Collectively, production in the NBA has also increased, to almost 114 points per team per game. In the 1969-1970 season, when the three-point line was still missing, more was scored for the last time (116.7 points).
Triple point more important
The current explosion is a result of trends that have changed the game over the past few years. Especially the three-pointer became more important. Almost any player can shoot it. (Antetokounmpo is an exception among the top scorers.) The beating under the basket of yesteryear is a thing of the past, with most attacks the basketball players take their position behind the three-point line. “It creates more space on the field,” LA Clippers’ Ivica Zubac said The Athletic. “Some guys can take advantage of that.”
Pace and space, that is how the current game can be summarized. Speed and space. The pace has also increased. It provides more attacks and therefore more scoring opportunities. “It’s a combination of three-pointers, the whistle of the referees and the way the game is played,” said Steve Kerr, coach of champion Golden State. “It seems like it’s gotten a lot faster and more open in recent years.”
In the search for causes for the point explosion, reference is often made to a new rule. Until last season, defenders used deliberate fouls to defuse quick counterattacks. Just pull the shirt, and the job was done. The opponent was allowed to insert the ball on the sideline. From this season, the use of the handbrake is penalized with a free throw and possession of the ball. The so-called take foul was thus effectively banned. Other rule changes in recent decades have also worked in favor of the attacker.
Players more agile
Shot percentages increased slightly this season from last season and players are aiming better than ever from the free throw line. It would all add to the current scoring spike. But the simplest, often heard explanation is perhaps also the most important: today’s players are more agile, more versatile, simply better than before. “We have a ridiculous amount of talent in our league,” said Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, one of the biggest stars himself. “And it’s only going to get better.”
Kids learn to dribble and shoot at a younger age, Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff said after his star player Mitchell’s 71 points. ‘Seven or eight-year-olds already work with individual coaches these days. There is a market for that. What you see is an increase in skill in general. The tip of the iceberg can be found in the NBA.’
As much as the league’s stars are on a roll, some records may never be broken. For example, Wilt Chamberlain, active in the sixties and seventies, reached the unreal average of more than 50 points per game in the 1961-1962 season. In the same year, he collected 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks. It’s still a record. Number two is Kobe Bryant with his 81 points in 2006. Will they ever be overtaken? “Of course I would be surprised,” said Bickerstaff, “but I can see it happening.”
