It was a historic night in the NBA Monday night as Joel Embiid led all scorers in the league with 70 points, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record that had been standing for 56 years (Note: his 100 point game was as a member of the Philadelphia Warriors, not the 76ers). Not only did this happen, but it happened against rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. This got me thinking, why is scoring up so high throughout the league, and what are some contributors to the record-setting offensive production we have seen throughout the league this season.
Embiid rises up against Spurs defender Jeremy Sochan. (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)
Embiid had an even 70 points on 41 shots, shooting 58%. This is Embiid’s career high and, subsequently, the Sixers franchise record as well. However, Joel was not the only person who had a career night last night.
In Minnesota at the Target Center, Karl Anthony-Towns had a performance worth marveling at as well. Towns scored a career-high 62 points, 44 of which came in the first half. However, the Timberwolves miraculously found a way to lose to the Charlotte Hornets even with this performance from KAT.
These were not the only high-scoring performances that occurred on Monday night. Kevin Durant had 43 in a nail-biter against the Chicago Bulls, and Jayson Tatum had 39 in a statement win over the Dallas Mavericks. These are just four of the eight scorers who went over 30 points, and there was only eight games. So again the question ensues, why is scoring up so high throughout the league?
Well there are some obvious theoretical reasons as to why these numbers are so high. One of which is that in general there is a ceiling as to how skilled one can become defensively. Even with perfect defense, it would be a daunting task to stop the ever modernizing offense. Another point is that with new generations come more skilled and more athletic players, therefore expending scoring as a whole. Another point that can be made is teams whose philosophy is to try and outscore every team every night due to their spectacular offensive game plan such as the Indiana Pacers.
Now let’s look at this Pacers team from a purely statistical standpoint. Offensive rating is a statistic that marks the average amount of points that a team scores every 100 possessions. The leading offensive rating from twenty seasons ago (2003-04) were the Dallas Mavericks, who posted a rating of 113.01. Where would that number rate in the 2023-24 season? 21st. This is just a sign that teams over the last twenty years are becoming more and more skilled. But it even applies to individual players. Kobe Bryant’s highest rating year in his career was 2008-09 when the Lakers won the NBA Championship. His rating? 115.4. The highest rating at the midseason point is Tyrese Haliburton with 125.3, almost 10 points higher. Now that is not to say that Haliburton is a better player than Kobe, but more so a testament to how developed and offensively focused the league has become.
Tyrese Haliburton (pictured) leads the league in assists per game as well, at an impressive 12.6. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
Now let's take a look at defensive rating, which is the amount of points on average that a team allows per 100 possessions. In the 03-04 season the San Antonio Spurs led the league with a rating of 94.79, the leader this season? The Minnesota Timberwolves with 109.0. Now a lot of people look at that number and will immediately say that teams do not play defense anymore. However, I would disagree. To me this shows signs of athletes becoming more talented over the years. It is just further proof of the argument that offenses will continue to grow and evolve while the defense is stuck in a lull.
Now that evidence proves that the National Basketball Association as a whole is becoming more skilled offensively, there are two paths that we as the viewer can decide our stance on. We can either accept the fact that scoring is going to continue to rise
exponentially over the coming years, or we can call for rule changes that favor the defense. That is, different ones than the association has already attempted to implement. The NBA in recent years has implemented rule changes that have favored defense, such as how jumping into an airspace is now no longer a defensive foul, and how defenders are allowed to still be moving at the point of contact in a charge/block situation as long as they maintain “legal guarding position”. However, it seems as if none of these rules have had a large enough effect to stop the production and development of offensive talents.
So, what is the solution? Must we bring back the hand-check? Must we call for new defensive rules altogether? I believe that both of those are a good start, but if there is no action taken, these 70 point games could become a frequent thing of the future and, who knows, maybe someone will take down Wilt’s 100 point record.
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