According to BBReference through 26 games the Blazers have an offensive rating (ORtg) of 114.1 This is a stat of offensive efficiency, points scored per 100 possessions. Here is a list of the NBA team leading the league: 2014 Blazers 114.1 2013 Thunder 112.4 2012 Spurs 110.9 2011 Nuggets 112.3 2010 Suns 115.3 2009 Blazers 113.9 2008 Jazz 113.8 2007 Suns 113.9 2006 Mavs 111.8 2005 Suns 114.5 I was surprised to see the 54 win Roy team in there, easy to forget how good we were that one year. The team we lost to may have been the champs if Yao doesn't get hurt. This years team is a thing of beauty offensively. I’m thinking we will see other teams throughout the league copy our blueprint in the next few seasons, similar to how so many teams have copied the Spurs organization. We’re showing how important ball movement and unselfish play is, and how unnecessary tanking for the #1 pick is.
Two key stats for our offense I don't think get much press; Aldridge is averaging 1.9 turnovers a game while scoring 23.8ppg. Lillard is averaging 2.2 turnovers while scoring 20.8ppg. Its very rare for players to create so much offense with so few turnovers. Aldridge shoots under 50% from the field, Lillard is under 40% from two, but their lack of turnovers is the equivalent to a big guy shooting 55% from the field with 3-4 turnovers a game.
Only the blur-speed D'Antoni/Nash teams are ahead of us and they had abysmal, "lets-not-bother" defense. If we can get our defense ranked consistently in the mid-tiers, our chances are golden.
Agreed. One promising thing is we have played good defense for stretches of games, especially in second halves. Can we play at that level for longer periods in a playoff series? If so perhaps we could play like a 10th ranked defense which Dallas was when they won the title.
No champions on that list. I bring this up not as a nay sayers, but as a curiosity as to what top defenses have won....anyone have those numbers?
It is a legitimate point. Most of the teams that have won may not have been quite as offensively efficient but had a much better defensive ranking.
