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Nov 24 2018

NBA 2018-2019: START

Categories:

Thoughts

by Law Murray

Our first of five sub-chapters to this season’s NBA Lightweight Report is finally ready for release!

The standings above show each team’s record through the first 16 games of the season; I’ll plan to do 16-game splits throughout the season, with asterisks placed on teams that would make the postseason if only six teams made it per conference (division winners get automatic playoff bids).

I’m going to run through each team’s offensive and defensive rankings (efficiency) through November 23. I’ll also spotlight the most-used lineup for each team. First, the offensive and defensive efficiency rankings for the season all in one place:

Atlantic
Toronto: (4th offense, 7th defense) – K. Lowry/D. Green/K. Leonard/P. Siakam/S. Ibaka (17.6 net rating in 172 minutes) 1

Boston: (27th offense, 1st defense) – K. Irving/J. Brown/J. Tatum/G. Hayward/A. Horford (-4.5 net rating in 137 minutes) 2

Philadelphia: (15th offense, 15th defense) – B. Simmons/J. Redick/R. Covington/D. Saric/J. Embiid (-0.4 net rating in 106 minutes) 3

Brooklyn: (11th offense, 22nd defense) – D. Russell/C. LeVert/J. Harris/J. Dudley/J. Allen (-2.4 net rating in 161 minutes) 4

New York: (19th offense, 27th defense) – F. Ntilikina/T. Hardaway Jr./D. Dotson/N. Vonleh/M. Robinson (8.1 net rating in 94 minutes) 5

Central
Milwaukee: (1st offense, 4th defense) – E. Bledsoe/M. Brogdon/K. Middleton/G. Antetokounmpo/B. Lopez (7.1 net rating in 188 minutes) 6

Indiana: (18th offense, 6th defense) – D. Collison/V. Oladipo/B. Bogdanovic/T. Young/M. Turner (-0.2 net rating in 258 minutes) 7

Detroit: (17th offense, 10th defense) – R. Jackson/R. Bullock/G. Robinson III/B. Griffin/A. Drummond (-3.8 net rating in 97 minutes) 8

Chicago: (29th offense, 23rd defense) – R. Arcidiacono/Z. LaVine/J. Holiday/J. Parker/W. Carter Jr. (-7.6 net rating in 137 minutes) 9

Cleveland: (22nd offense, 30th defense) – G. Hill/R. Hood/C. Osman/S. Dekker/T. Thompson (-11.7 net rating in 71 minutes) 10

Southeast
Charlotte: (5th offense, 13th defense) – K. Walker/J. Lamb/N. Batum/M. Williams/C. Zeller (6.8 net rating in 241 minutes) 11

Orlando: (24th offense, 18th defense) – D. Augustin/E. Fournier/W. Iwundu/A. Gordon/N. Vucevic (9.5 net rating in 162 minutes) 12

Miami: (25th offense, 8th defense) – G. Dragic/J. Richardson/R. McGruder/K. Olynyk/H. Whiteside (11.8 net rating in 61 minutes) 13

Washington: (20th offense, 29th defense) – J. Wall/B. Beal/O. Porter Jr./M. Morris/D. Howard (-10.6 net rating in 129 minutes) 14

Atlanta: (30th offense, 25th defense) – T. Young/K. Bazemore/T. Prince/V. Carter/A. Len (-19.4 net rating in 88 minutes) 15

Northwest
Portland: (7th offense, 17th defense) – D. Lillard/C. McCollum/J. Layman/A. Aminu/J. Nurkic (1.6 net rating in 227 minutes) 16

Denver: (8th offense, 5th defense) – J. Murray/G. Harris/T. Craig/P. Millsap/N. Jokic (-4.7 net rating in 142 minutes) 17

Oklahoma City: (13th offense, 2nd defense) – D. Schroder/T. Ferguson/P. George/J. Grant/S. Adams (24.2 net rating in 118 minutes) 18

Utah: (26th offense, 14th defense) – R. Rubio/D. Mitchell/J. Ingles/J. Crowder/R. Gobert (11.5 net rating in 160 minutes) 19

Minnesota: (21st offense, 24th defense) – J. Teague/A. Wiggins/R. Covington/T. Gibson/K. Towns (0.0 net rating in 90 minutes) 20

Pacific
Golden State: (2nd offense, 16th defense) – S. Curry/K. Thompson/K. Durant/D. Green/D. Jones (6.2 net rating in 142 minutes) 21

LA: (6th offense, 12th defense) – P. Beverley/A. Bradley/T. Harris/D. Gallinari/M. Gortat (-3.5 net rating in 108 minutes) 22

Los Angeles: (9th offense, 11th defense) – L. Ball/B. Ingram/L. James/K. Kuzma/J. McGee (4.4 net rating in 170 minutes) 23

Sacramento: (16th offense, 20th defense) – D. Fox/B. Hield/I. Shumpert/N. Bjelica/W. Cauley-Stein (3.1 net rating in 193 minutes) 24

Phoenix: (28th offense, 28th defense) – I. Canaan/D. Booker/T. Ariza/T. Warren/D. Ayton (-26.6 net rating in 99 minutes) 25

Southwest
Memphis: (23rd offense, 3rd defense) – M. Conley/G. Temple/K. Anderson/J. Jackson Jr./M. Gasol (10.5 net rating in 175 minutes) 26

New Orleans: (3rd offense, 26th defense) – J. Holiday/E. Moore/W. Johnson/N. Mirotic/A. Davis (0.7 net rating in 124 minutes) 27

Houston: (10th offense, 21st defense) – C. Paul/J. Harden/J. Ennis III/P. Tucker/C. Capela (-6.8 net rating in 157 minutes) 28

San Antonio: (12th offense, 19th defense) – B. Forbes/D. DeRozan/R. Gay/D. Cunningham/L. Aldridge (5.3 net rating in 98 minutes) 29

Dallas: (14th offense, 9th defense) – D. Smith Jr./W. Matthews/H. Barnes/L. Doncic/D. Jordan (-8.8 net rating in 150 minutes) 30

Show 30 footnotes

  1. C Serge Ibaka is shooting a six-year high 56.7 percent from the field en route to a career-high 17.1 points per game. ↩
  2. Opponents are shooting a league-low 31.4 percent from 3 against the Celtics. ↩
  3. C Joel Embiid is averaging a career-high 10.6 free throw attempts per game en route to a career-high 27.9 points per game. ↩
  4. Only the Timberwolves and Wizards are worse on the defensive glass; starting power forward Jared Dudley averages only 3.0 rebounds per game. ↩
  5. The Knicks rank 25th in opponent field goal percentage at 47.1 percent. ↩
  6. Power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is shooting a career-high 57.7 percent from the field. ↩
  7. Shooting guard Victor Oladipo averages 1.6 steals per game. ↩
  8. Center Andre Drummond averages a career-high 16.1 rebounds per game, while power forward Blake Griffin is averaging a seven-year high 10.4 rebounds per game. ↩
  9. Only the Suns are worse on the offensive glass. ↩
  10. No Cavaliers average more than center Larry Nance Jr.’s 0.6 blocks per game. ↩
  11. Only the Spurs have a lower turnover rate than the Hornets. ↩
  12. No team gets to the free throw line less frequently than the Magic. ↩
  13. Only the Mavericks, Suns, and Hawks have worse turnover rates. ↩
  14. No team is worse on the defensive glass; power forward Markieff Morris averages 4.4 rebounds per game. ↩
  15. No team has a worse turnover rate than the Hawks. ↩
  16. Center Jusuf Nurkic is averaging a career-high 10.5 rebounds per game and a career-high 4.0 offensive rebounds per game. ↩
  17. Center Nikola Jokic is averaging 10.1 rebounds per game. ↩
  18. Small forward Paul George is averaging 2.3 steals per game. ↩
  19. The Jazz rank 25th in turnover rate. ↩
  20. Only the Wizards are worse on the defensive glass. ↩
  21. Point guard Stephen Curry is shooting a career-high 51.5 percent from the field. ↩
  22. The Clippers have three players that average at least 5.0 free throw attempts per game: starting small forward Danilo Gallinari (5.4), backup shooting guard Lou Williams (5.8), and backup center Montrezl Harrell (6.1). ↩
  23. Small forward LeBron James is shooting 52.0 percent from the field en route to averaging a nine-year high 28.6 points per game. ↩
  24. Shooting guard Buddy Hield is averaging career-highs in 3s made (2.5), attempted (5.7), and percentage (44.1). ↩
  25. Only the Hawks have a worse turnover rate. ↩
  26. Center Marc Gasol is averaging a career-high 1.6 steals per game. ↩
  27. Center Anthony Davis is averaging a career-high 12.6 rebounds per game and a career-high 3.7 offensive rebounds per game. ↩
  28. Shooting guard James Harden is averaging 10.1 free throw attempts per game. ↩
  29. Shooting guard DeMar DeRozan (1.0 steals per game) is the only player averaging more than 0.8 steals per game. ↩
  30. Only the Suns and Hawks have a worse turnover rate. ↩

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