Why NBA Is Seeing Unprecedented Scoring Boom In 2022-2023 Season? Explained!

NBA teams have never scored more points than they do at this time. Since the NBA began increasing the number of 3-point tries each year ten years ago, this statement has been made numerous times.

Both on a team and an individual level, this is valid. According to Cleaning The Glass, the average NBA team is scoring at a rate of nearly 114 points per 100 possessions so far in 2022–23, which is the highest rate in league history and a point and a half higher than the 112.3 rates from the previous season, which was higher than any pre–COVID–19 seasons.

Why NBA Is Seeing an Unprecedented Scoring Boom In the 2022-2023 Season? Explained!

In the NBA on Monday night, 22 players totalled at least 25 points. Of those 22, 10 had at least 30 points, five had at least 40, and two had at least 50: Klay Thompson had 54 and Donovan Mitchell had 71, the latter of which was the most in a single game since Kobe Bryant had 81 in 2006.

Giannis Antetokounmpo went out and scored a career-high 55 points against the Wizards on Tuesday before we could even process those performances. Whether traditional or modern algorithmic, the NBA has always been a league of numbers, and commerce is thriving this season.

In the past week alone, we have witnessed several historic feats, including Luka Doncic’s first-ever triple-double of 60 points and 20 rebounds, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s first-ever streak of 40-20 games since Wilt Chamberlain, and Donovan Mitchell’s eighth-highest scoring night in the league’s nearly 80-year history.

There have already been six games with at least 55 points in just the first 10 weeks of the season, which is an NBA record. This season, there have been 14 performances with at least 50 points, which is the same number as all of 2020–21. Last season, there were 19 50-point games in total. By the All-Star break, there’s a decent chance that total will have been surpassed at this rate.

What’s causing this rise of stellar individual performances? There are other causes involved, not just one idea, that could account for the abrupt spike.

Increased skill and utilisation rates

Pretty basic, yes? There are simply a tonne of outstanding players all across the league. The skill pool makes it extremely difficult to select All-Star starters this year.

“Teams are defending. The skill level is just unparalleled,” NBA TV analyst Greg Anthony said. “From a skill perspective, you’re witnessing things on the floor that we’ve never seen before. It’s absolutely unfathomable how guys shoot, where they shoot from, and the kinds of shots they can regularly make.

“A lot of the old heads and guys from different eras like to talk about how much easier it is. But the reality is these guys are shooting the basketball and playing the game in spots that we’ve never played it before. They just are.”

However, it’s not simply the abundance of talent; coaches are also using their stars more frequently.

16 players have a usage percentage over 30 this season. Only five players surpassed that threshold in 2012–13. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and Joel Embiid would end the season with three of the top ten single-season usage rates in NBA history if they continue to play at their current rates.

These two factors have produced some extremely high point totals.

Spacing, 3-pointers and lineup construction

The best players in the league also gain from competing in this period. They have more space to work alone than ever before, and if a 3-point shooter decides to retaliate against a help defender who attacks the ball handler, they will.

Mike Prada of The Athletic has recorded this transition and provided examples of how significant the changes have been. Not even the 1980s are necessary as a starting point.

Scoring players don’t have to be concerned about rim protectors clogging up the lane because defensively ineffective big men have become more common in recent years. Lev Akabas of Sportivo noted that teams are getting more offensive rebounds and players are finishing at the rim with more efficiency.

In fact, attempts from beyond the arc in 2022–23 are somewhat lower than the previous two seasons, but offences are honing their play patterns and cutting out poor looks.

Transition defence

Warriors coach Steve Kerr was questioned about the surge of extraordinary individual performances by The Athletic’s Anthony Slater after Donovan Mitchell put up 71 points and Klay Thompson racked up 54 points in the same game.

While Kerr did mention 3-po and skill level.

“Transition defense is at an all-time low in this league,” Kerr said. “Every single night on League Pass, you see five guys standing there. Somebody shoots, somebody runs long and everybody goes, ‘Oh, that guy’s laying it up down there.’ And the coach calls timeout.

“We do it. Every team does it. So, I think the game has gotten really loose, and the players are so talented. It’s made for a lot of big scoring nights.”

This season, transition scoring has increased for stars like Antetokounmpo and LeBron James. Since 2021–22, Antetokounmpo has improved from averaging 8.5 points in transition to nearly 10 points per game now.

Antetokounmpo scored 55 points in a thrashing of the Wizards, scoring 15 of those points on fast breaks.

In a half-court situation, the star still creates mismatches even when he isn’t scoring himself. It is common for opponents to struggle merely to get in front of the ball, let alone find the proper assignment.

When you add it all up, you have one of the most spectacular scoring seasons we’ve ever witnessed.

 

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