NBA By The Numbers: 30 Stats for 30 Teams This Season (So Far)
The 2019/20 NBA season has been one of the most interesting in recent memory, for better or worse. The two past weeks without basketball have felt like a lifetime, so while the league handles an unprecedented situation off the court, let's take a moment to reflect on some of the best stats that you may have missed on it.
Atlanta Hawks
926 – The number of different five man lineups the Hawks have played this season, an NBA high. There’s been a lot of trial and error in Atlanta, and a lot has gone wrong before play was suspended–they have the league’s worst three-point percentage (.333) and fourth worst record. On the bright side, they’ll have a chance to add yet another lottery piece to play alongside first time All-Star Starter Trey Young.
Boston Celtics
14 – Games this season where Jayson Tatum has scored more than 30 points. Just two weeks before the season was suspended, Tatum joined Antoine Walker as the only Celtic to reach the 30 point mark in 11 regular season games at age 21 or younger, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Tatum appeared to be taking “The Leap.” He then followed up with 30 or more points in three of the Celtics’ last five games.
Brooklyn Nets
48.5 – Team rebounds per game. While the choice between Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan has been a hot topic in Brooklyn, at least the Nets’ are getting good production on the boards from both bigs. Jordan’s 10 rebounds per game and Allen’s 9.5 have the Nets among the league's best at grabbing misses on both sides of the ball.
Charlotte Hornets
102.9 – Team points-per-game, an NBA worst. The Hornets haven’t been able to find any consistent scoring on their roster. So far they’ve shot an NBA low 43.4 percent from the field and are one of four teams without a player who scores 19 or more points per game. Devonte’ Graham has been a nice surprise as a second year standout, but the team’s offensive rating drops from 107.4 to 97.1 when he is off the court.
Chicago Bulls
24.7 – Post All Star Break points-per-game for Coby White. Leading up to the league suspension, White caught fire and more than doubled his scoring average. In that span he was second in points-per-game among rookies and hit 40.7 percent of his three point attempts, making 35 of his rookie high 133.
Cleveland Cavaliers
14% – The Cavaliers’ odds of winning the NBA Draft Lottery. After LeBron James’ first departure the Cavs picked in the lottery five times, three of which were first overall. At 19-46, Cleveland appears destined to pick in the top six for the second consecutive year following LeBron’s second departure.
Dallas Mavericks
14 – Triple-doubles for Luka Dončić this season, the most in the NBA. Dončić has the potential to not only become the future face of the NBA, but the embodiment of the stat. At only 21, he has already passed Jason Kidd for the Mavericks franchise record (22) and even started in his first All Star game.
Denver Nuggets
2032 – Career assists for Nikola Jokić. At only 25 years old the Joker already has the 25th most assists among centers in NBA history and is the youngest to crack the two thousand mark. The Nuggets are at their best when running the ball through him, and his 6.9 assists per game are the most among big men this year.
Detroit Pistons
2 – Years left on Blake Griffin’s five season $171 Million contract, assuming he opts into the final $38.9 Million he is owed in 2021-22. You can't blame Griffin for the way things have gone in Detroit, and with Andre Drummond gone the Pistons look poised to tank. One can’t help but wonder what’s next for Griffin–or if there will be any games left to tank for that matter.
Golden State Warriors
42 – Less regular season wins than last year (so far). The Warriors lost Kevin Durant to free agency, Klay Thompson to a torn ACL and Stephen Curry to a hand injury that sidelined him up until the week before play was suspended. At 15-50, the Warriors are in historic company for largest win dropoff between consecutive seasons, according to The Ringer.
Houston Rockets
34.36 – Points per game for James Harden, the most in the league this season. Harden is already one of eight players to score more than 34 per game in a season and is on pace to join Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan as the only players to do it twice. The elite scoring trio will potentially have all done so in back to back years (or six consecutive seasons in Wilt’s case).
Indiana Pacers
13 – Games played this year by Victor Oladipo. Unfortunately there just hasn’t been enough time to reintegrate Oladipo into a Pacers system that now features Domantas Sabonis and T.J. Warren as go to options. After returning from a ruptured quad suffered last season, Oladipo is averaging close to career lows across the board.
Los Angeles Clippers
51.5 – Bench points, an NBA high. The Clippers’ added depth and a pair of superstars last summer, but their most fun duo is their sixth and seventh men. Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell have combined for 36.2 of the team’s bench points and the Clippers are an impressive 10-1 when everyone is healthy.
Los Angeles Lakers
38 – games with 10 or more assists by LeBron James. The King has led the Lakers to the top of the West and in 63 games has set the NBA record for most games with double digit helpers by a player listed at Forward or Center. He joins former purple and gold great Magic Johnson as the only two players to hit that mark at their height (6’9”).
Memphis Grizzlies
25.5 – Preseason projected wins by Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Nobody expected the Grizzlies to be as competitive or as fun as they’ve been, but the play of rookie of the year frontrunner Ja Morant has them sitting at 32-33 and in the Western Conference playoff picture.
Miami Heat
243 – Three pointers made by Duncan Robinson. The sharpshooting forward is third in the NBA in three pointers made this season and now owns both the single season record for threes made by a Heat player and threes made by an undrafted player. The Heat as a whole are shooting lights out, and have the league’s best percentage from behind the arc (.383).
Milwaukee Bucks
30.9 – Minutes per game for Giannis Antetokoumpo. In that time the Greak Freak was putting up 29.6 points per game–becoming the only player in NBA history to average more than 24 per game while playing under 31 minutes. It's no surprise that the Bucks have outscored teams by an NBA best 11.2 points per game. In any other season all that extra rest would be appreciated come playoff time.
Minnesota Timberwolves
.396 – Karl-Anthony Towns’ career three point percentage. Towns has shown consistency from behind the arc his whole career. In his first five seasons he has hit more than 100 threes four times, the second most of any center next to Channing Frye, who did so five times in his 13 season career.
New Orleans Pelicans
23.6 – Points per game for Zion Williamson, the best among rookies this season. Only 19 games into his career, Zion has already shown flashes of becoming a one name generational talent. He is on pace to join Wilt Chamberlain and Joel Embiid as the only rookies in NBA history to average more than 28 points per 36 minutes.
New York Knicks
.7419 – Mitchell Robinson’s Field Goal Percentage, the best in the NBA. One of the bright spots of the Knicks’ otherwise rocky season, Robinson is on track to surpass Wilt Chamberlain’s .7270 in 1972-73 for the single season all-time NBA record.
Oklahoma City Thunder
170 – Team minutes played in clutch time, the most in the NBA. One of the surprise standouts of the season, the Thunder have excelled in late close game situations. When the score is within five points with five minutes to go, Oklahoma City owns the league's best Net Rating (29.10) and is an impressive 29-13.
Orlando Magic
117.8 – The Magic’s offensive rating over the last 10 games. The numbers tell the story of two different Orlando teams before and after All-Star Weekend, where the Magic first scored the second least amount of points per game in the NBA (103.9), and then followed up with the most (119.8).
Philadelphia 76ers
2 – Losses at home this season. The Sixers have the best homecourt in the NBA, but have really struggled on the road (10-24). Should the regular season resume, they’ll have to fight their way out of the six seed if they hope to use their homebase as a playoff advantage.
Phoenix Suns
27.2 – Team assists for the Suns, the most in the NBA. Devin Booker is definitely known for his ability to score the basketball, but it certainly helps that he shares the backcourt with a pass first point guard like Ricky Rubio. Booker is averaging 6.6 assists himself, while Rubio’s 8.9 are the third most in the NBA.
Portland Trail Blazers
248 – Total games missed by Blazers players. The injury bug hit Portland hard this season, and 14 different players have missed time. The good news is that if the NBA resumes, Jusuf Nurkić may be back in the lineup after suffering a gruesome leg injury one year ago.
Sacramento Kings
13 – Straight seasons that the Kings have missed the playoffs, the longest active streak in the league. If the NBA chooses to forgo the rest of the season and only play the playoffs, nobody will be as upset as the Kings. They are currently 3.5 games behind Memphis for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West and have been trending up, winning 7 of their last 10.
San Antonio Spurs
22 – Straight years that the Spurs have made the playoffs. The last time they missed the postseason was 1996-97, Gregg Popovich’s first year as head coach. They then drafted Tim Duncan and began what is now tied for the longest playoff appearance streak in NBA history. Duncan has since retired and joined Pop’s coaching staff. Whatever happens with this season, the two will do what they can to get the current 12 seed back to the Spurs way.
Toronto Raptors
.712 – Nick Nurse’s winning percentage as a head coach. While the sample size may be small, in almost two full seasons Nurse has already won a NBA Championship, made a strong case for coach of the year, and for the moment narrowly beat out Steve Kerr (who took a hit this season) for best Win-Loss Percentage of any coach in NBA history.
Utah Jazz
25.8 – The percentage of plays where the Jazz run a pick and roll. It should be no surprise that Utah leads the league in pick and roll frequency given the amount of ball handlers they have. However, a lot of their success should be attributed to Rudy Gobert, who averages a NBA best 7 screen assists and 16.1 screen assist points.
Washington Wizards
119.7 – Opposing team points per game. The 2019-20 Wizards’ defense is at a historic low. They are giving up the most opposing points per game of any team over the last 30 years and have the second worst defensive rating of all time (115.8).
Latest NBA News
