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Does Good Offense Equal Bad Defense?

Have you ever heard the refrain that the high scoring basketball team simply can’t play any defense? The canonical example in recent times has been the Phoenix Suns. They seem to win games 115-105 or something similar. They win a lot of games, but their opponents are routinely scoring 100 points against them.

I was watching a portion of the Warriors-Jazz playoff game last night, and Reggie Miller said something that should be obvious, but it’s something that many basketball fans simply miss. Just because a high-scoring team allows a bunch of points doesn’t necessarily mean they play shoddy defense.

How so? A team will typically score a bunch of points by shooting quickly. They’ll run up and down the court, take the first open (or not so open) shot they get, and then turn around and play defense. What’s the natural reaction of their opponents? To do the same thing. It’s very hard to muster the patience to sit back and take that kind of barrage and then methodically execute your well-planned offense.

The Golden State Warriors are in that class with the Phoenix Suns. I’m not saying they play excellent defense; I’m just saying they get pegged as playing awful defense, and my argument is the pace of the game non-trivially affects the amount of scoring. Yes, the defensive schemes matter, and they might not have the rough-and-tumble low post presences that will block shots and corral large numbers of defensive rebounds, but I don’t believe they play defense as poorly as most people think.

I thought last night’s game was a perfect example of this phenomenon, because the Jazz have one of the most methodical, slow-paced offenses you’ll find in the NBA. What happened after the first quarter of last night’s game? Both teams were on pace to score 140 points. And neither team’s defense looked awful. It really did look like both teams were screaming up and down the court, shooting threes willy nilly.

It’s a fun style to watch, but it’s clear why most coaches don’t have much of an interest in playing that way. Chaos often ensues.