Stephen Curry by Kieth Allison is licensed under CC by 2.0
The season is well and truly underway, and the league is starting to take shape. So I am taking this opportunity to discuss some statistics from across the league.
Let’s begin with team stats; here are the highest scoring teams per game so far:
- Golden State Warriors (114.5)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (109.7)
- Phoenix Suns (106.5)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (103.9)
- Boston Celtics (103.7)
All 5 of these teams are above 500 at this stage, and it’s no surprise as they seem to have no trouble scoring the basketball. Golden State are helped by having the league leader for points per game in Steph Curry, but i’ll come back to that later.
On the other end of the spectrum, here are the lowest scoring teams per game:
26. Brooklyn Nets (96.7)
27. Milwaukee Bucks (96.1)
28. Utah Jazz (95.1)
29. Memphis Grizzlies (94.8)
30. Philadelphia 76ers (90.1)
Surprisingly, Utah and Memphis are both at 500 so far, which shows that they are winning games through defence rather than offence. These teams don’t have consistent scorers which makes it incredibly difficult to rack up points. For Philadelphia, yet to win a game so far and 90 points per isn’t good enough for the NBA. Sorry Philly.
Ever wondered which teams get blocked the most each game? Here are the top 5:
- Philadelphia 76ers (7.6)
- Orlando Magic (7.1)
- Denver Nuggets (6.6)
- Houston Rockets (6.1)
- Memphis Grizzlies (6.1)
There was no surprise seeing that Philadelphia lead the league in getting swiped. Nothing goes in for them. However, I was surprised to see Houston in the top 5 considering the team they have, although they have started the season poorly and need to improve in order to make the playoffs.
In case you were wondering, the team that gets blocked the least is the Clippers, getting sent back only 2.6 times a game. Then again no one will be blocking Griffin and DJ very often.
Moving on, here are the top 5 three point shooting teams:
- Golden State Warriors (41.6%)
- Phoenix Suns (39.5%)
- Sacramento Kings (38.9%)
- Indiana Pacers (38.8%)
- Chicago Bulls (37.6%)
No surprise to see Golden State at the top of the list; they have a roster full of players who can knock it down from range. Their 41% really has added up as they also lead the league with most points per game.
Was surprised to see Sacramento on the list, with their 5-9 record you’d think they would be winning more games if their shooters are so consistent, and they have Cousins and Cauley-Stein as big men. Come on Kings get it together!
Teams from the Eastern Conference have 93 wins between them, and the Western Conference have 99 wins between them. If we look at how many teams in each conference are above 500, here are the results:
Eastern Conference: 11 teams above 500.
Western Conference: 7 teams above 500.
Now for the past few years there has been a generally accepted idea that the west is the stronger conference. Could this be the season where the power switches back to the East? In terms of win percentage, seven of the top ten teams are from the east. The only teams from the west are Golden State, San Antonio and Dallas.
Let’s talk rookies for a moment. Here are the leading scorers from the rookie class:
- Jahlil Okafor (17.9) – 3rd pick to Philadelphia
- Karl-Anthony Towns (16.0) -1st pick to Minnesota
- Kristaps Porzingis (13.2) – 4th pick to New York
- Emmanuel Mudiay (12.9) – 7th pick to Denver
- D’Angelo Russell (10.4) – 2nd pick to LA Lakers
It’s good to see the top 4 picks on the list, living up to expectations so far. Mudiay was definitely a steal in the draft and to see him ahead of Cauley-Stein and Hezonja shows that perhaps Orlando or Sacramento should have taken him.
Another interesting stat is that 1st pick Karl-Anthony Towns leads the rookie class in double doubles, with 8 from his first 13 games in the league. Perhaps this shows that he was definitely worthy of the 1st pick. Kristaps Porzingis is seconds with 6 double doubles and Jahlil Okafor is third with 4 of them.
League leaders:
Points per game: Stephen Curry – 32.7
Assists per game: Russell Westbrook – 10.2
Rebounds per game: Andre Drummond – 17.8 (That is unbelievable)
Steals per game: Kyle Lowry – 2.7
Blocks per game: Hassan Whiteside – 4.8 (Not in his house)
Minutes per game: James Harden – 38.9
Turnovers per game: Russell Westbrook – 5.1
Player efficiency: Stephen Curry – 31.9
So there you have it, early season stats from the NBA. Will the stats look the same at the end of the season? Let me know your thoughts via twitter @tombonnett2
Thank you for reading! While you’re here check out other NBA articles at www.fueledbysports.com/nba
