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Jason Tatum dribbled into the front court and had already scored 48 points, with the Celtics leading the Hornets 13 points at 127-114 with more than 40 seconds left in the game.
If placed in the past, Tatum will most likely give up garbage time to fight for 50+ opportunities. On Dec. 1, Tatum gave up on the 50 after scoring 49 points. But this time, Tatum's mind flashed the text message Jamal Crawford sent him:
"If you're close to 50, go for it because nobody will remember how you got 50."
Feigned to force the sudden swing of Jaden McDaniels, pulled back with a retreat, and flew to assist LaMelo Pol, who was blocking the block, and shot. Tatum hit a three-point shot and scored 51 points. It was Tatum's first 50+ high score of the season, and he added another fire to the league's data explosion.
Just after halfway, there were already 16 50+ entries across the league, compared to just 19 last season. This is an era when Stephen Curry scored 41 points but couldn't make the headlines, and the average star scored 30 points and could only appear in the corner of the news page.
This season, all kinds of exaggerated data are constantly emerging. The NBA's official website uses the concept of "offensive prosperity", but industry insiders represented by Spurs coach Popovich believe that the league encourages offense and despises defense in the direction of circus performance, gradually losing the beauty of competition.
What exactly should we think about the phenomenon of data explosion?
Data explosion
The wheels of history are rolling forward, and the wise saying "defense wins championships" is being thrown into the trash by more and more teams. In recent years, exaggerated data has become more and more frequent, and this season is the most explosive season in modern history.
Donovan Mitchell faced the Bulls with 71 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds, becoming the first player in history to score at least 70 points plus 10 assists in a single game. Luka Doncic scored 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists against the Knicks, becoming the first player in history to record at least 60 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in a single game. These two attackers are outstanding representatives of this season's data explosion, both of them have set all-time records and put on numbers that no one has ever hit before.
This season, there have been 16 shows in a single 50+ show, and at this pace, the recent all-time record of a maximum of 23 in a single season (2019-20) will be broken. Of course, the all-time record of 57 times in a single season in 1961-62 could not be shaken, after all, that season Wilt Chamberlain himself took 45 50+ times.
The number of 40+ games in a single game has reached 103, and at the current pace, the record of 142 40+ games in a single season in 1961-62 could be broken.
The number of 30+ games in a single game has reached 603, and at the current pace, the record of 886 games in a single season in 2021-22 will be old.
This season, 55 people in the league are averaging 20+ points per game, which is really to the point where they can't score 20 points and have no face to say hello to their peers. That's a record 43 for the 2020-21 season.
No season since 1963 has more than three players averaged 30+ points per game, but this season there are five at once. If it weren't for the decline in Durant and Curry's injury numbers, that number would probably have reached 7.
Change the angle and see how the team performs offensively. In the 2020-21 season, the Nets scored a record 118.3 points per 100 turns, and this season, the Celtics have surpassed that Nets in 100 turns, the Nuggets are flat, and the Kings are expected to overtake the Nets with 118 points. In the most extreme case, three teams will break the all-time record for offensive efficiency at the same time this season.
This season, the league averaged 113.8 points in offensive efficiency, which is the most offensively efficient season in history. In addition, the league averaged 114 points per game, the highest in nearly 50 years, compared with 110.6 points last season.
The evolution of rules favors offense
While the endless high-scoring shows attract admiration, there are also lamentations. You will find that many defensive coaches and players are complaining that the offensive and defensive state of the current era has entered an imbalance.
Van der Vich, vice president of basketball operations at the league, has always stressed that they want to create a league that balances offense and defense, ensuring that scoring increases while also giving defenders a chance to complete the defense. However, from 2001 to the present, the rules have changed to a certain extent, and the result has completely deviated from the original vision of the alliance.
The league began to find ways to encourage offense, which actually began in 2001 instead of 2004. In 2001, the league abolished the illegal defensive rule and introduced the concept of three seconds to defend, reducing the time of the offensive team in the past half from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
At the time, Stu Jackson, then vice president of basketball operations for the league, said, "We felt that, overall, three new rules would give the sport its breathing back and change the sport." ”
But "God operator" Pat Riley believes that the new rules are driving the league to death. In the first season of the new rule, the league's scoring average increased to 95.5 points per game, but then slipped to 95.1 and 93.4 points. The league is encouraging offense, seeking a faster-paced, sportier and better-looking pace, but the result is scoring lower and lower.
In 2004, the league made another move, this time by eliminating handcheck, and the new rule stated that when the ball carrier was above the free throw line, the defender could not put his hands and forearms on the ball carrier, a rule that directly liberated the outside ball carrier and was seen as the beginning of a new era. The Suns grasped the league's weather vane in time and brought the league into an era of offense by bringing in Steve Nash and focusing on small balls.
In the past five years, a series of measures of the league have been oriented towards encouraging offense. For example, the time for a second attack was shortened from 24 seconds to 14 seconds. For example, encourage freedom of movement, ensure offensive fluency, and strictly grasp the pulling and pulling movements when defending without the ball. For example, this season's rules of encouraging fast attack, if the defender performs a tactical foul on the fast attack, the attacker will get a free throw.
The reason why we look back at the evolution of rules in recent history is that when analyzing the reasons for the explosion of data, it is impossible to bypass the factors of faster pace, reduced low-post offense, increased three-point shots, declining confrontation intensity, and loosening of the penalty scale, and continue to dig deeper, and you will find that all these factors are derived from rule changes.
Various new rules no longer encourage defense, Warriors star Draymond Green, 76ers defensive Tucker, Popovich, and even some league executives are complaining that the league has not allowed defense, and the living space of defensive titans has been compressed.
The new rules allow the offensive rhythm to take off, and the three-point shot completely opens up the space, giving the attacker more room to operate. The traditional center who was slow and liked to drop low singles was gradually eliminated, and the league entered the small-ball era of 1.98 meters tall and could play center. Clippers center Zubac concluded: "The NBA is very offensive right now, they want to push the tempo like crazy, everyone pulls out space, and now there's plenty of room on the court to operate. ”
Pelicans president David Griffin sighed: "Maybe the league wants us to see the game with a score of 211-185." ”
Player ability evolution
The times are constantly improving, the use of data analysis, the intervention of sports science, and the innovation of basketball concepts have greatly improved the physical fitness and technical level of players compared with the past.
ESPN expert Kirk Goldsberg and The Athletic expert Volkunov have both mentioned that players are more talented and capable than in the past. As a player, Jokic can feel the change firsthand, saying: "It's a league full of talent, the players are very talented. I mean everyone, the talent level of the league is incredible, there are some incredible geniuses. Everyone is honing their skills, constantly getting better, and only getting better. ”
The ability to carry more of the ball while ensuring efficiency is an important criterion for measuring a player's talent and ability. This season, the top scorer of the 30 teams averaged 28.7 points per game, a new record in 25 years, behind this phenomenon is that the ball is increasingly concentrated in the hands of core players, China is called "big core with the ball", the United States is called "basketball heliocentric theory", a meaning.
In Mitchell's 71-point game, his ball usage reached 41%. Last season, 139 players had 40 per cent of possession in a single game, compared with a record of 143 in 2019-20, and this season, at the current pace, the final figure may be fixed at 180.
Eight players have achieved 30% possession and 60% true shooting percentage this season, a record record of 7 in 2021-22.
It's not just the big stars who are improving, it's also the role players' abilities, the players' basic skills are improving, and the free-throw percentage is at a record high this season. Players who don't have three-point shooting ability are either eliminated or their roles are weakened, and many teams can easily put on five-shooter lineups.
In the past, throwing and dry shooting were not considered conventional weapons, but now, these have become essential weapons for attackers. Especially dry shooting, this season the overall shooting rate and dry three-point shooting rate are higher than in the past.
Offensive primevity or circus show?
Because of different positions, perspectives, and cognitions, different people will have different interpretations of the same phenomenon. For example, the NBA data explosion phenomenon, the same NBA team coaches, Taryn Lu and Popovich gave different responses.
Lu believes that high-scoring shows can detonate topics and make the NBA have new topics every day, which is a good thing for the league. But Popovich mocked: "It's hard to play defensive right now, and I said earlier that I want the league to end the talk of a four-pointer, a five-pointer, because that would turn the game into a circus show, and that wasn't even basketball, it was a pile of garbage." ”
Coach Lu and Popovich's words both have a point, and they have their own supporters, such as Durant, who supports Lu's views, and Isaiah Thomas the "Smiling Assassin" who supports Popovich's views.
This kind of argument will never come to fruition, and Draymond Green has long seen through everything: "The answer to this argument depends on your own position." Those who like to defend will not like this kind of game. Those who like to attack will enjoy this kind of game. ”
The essence of the NBA is commercial entertainment, and ratings and revenue are fundamental. Ratings and revenue statistics for this season have not yet been released, as evidenced by last season's data:
Last season, there were 13 billion video hits on the NBA's social media platform, up 7 percent from the 2020-21 season. ABC, TNT and ESPN TV ratings increased by 19% compared to the 2020-21 season. Last season, total NBA revenue topped $10 billion for the first time, with basketball-related revenue reaching a record high of $8.9 billion.
This prosperous age, as the alliance wishes.