BOSTON - If you’ve been living under a rock, we’re here to inform you that players around the NBA have been going off for some insane scoring nights this week. Like, historically insane.
Joel Embiid just scored 70 points Monday night. That same night, Karl-Anthony Towns dropped 62.
Then came Friday, when Luka Doncic three-upped Embiid with a 73-point effort against the Atlanta Hawks. Seventy-three! And that same night, Devin Booker hung 62 on the Indiana Pacers.
That’s a lot of scoring, and what makes these numbers even more impressive is the fact that all of them were recorded in regulation. None of the four games went to overtime.
There are plenty of opinions out there as to why this scoring surge has occurred. Two of them were relayed Saturday night at TD Garden, by two of the most respected basketball voices in the world.
Prior to their matchup at TD Garden, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla and Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue were both asked about the surge in individual scoring. Surprisingly, they took different approaches to answering the question.
Mazzulla went straight to the defensive side of the ball, where his team ranks second in the league in defensive rating. Defense – or lack thereof – is what he believes has allowed players to go off.
“I think if you look around the league, what separates us – and there’s a few teams – is that the best players play defense. So that’s the only thing I care about,” Mazzulla said. “They take pride in it. They’re willing to work at it every day. They’re willing to put in a defensive system that has adjustments, that has philosophies, and I think that’s the most important thing.”
Lue, meanwhile, leaned in the other direction while answering the question. He is of the opinion that offensive talent and an emphasis on the 3-point line has led to the scoring outbursts.
“I just think a lot of 3s. Teams playing smaller. Now you have five guys on the floor that can shoot 3s, also can drive and kick as well. So it just makes it tough,” he said. “There’s a lot of shooting on the floor nowadays. Back in the day it was a [power forward] on this block, a [center] on this block, cross-screen. Now it’s more spread pick-and-roll, take advantage of mismatches and shooting 3s.”
As is with most things in this world, the true answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. These ridiculous individual scoring nights are likely due both to few star players defending at a high level, as well as the spread-it-out nature of offenses nowadays.
One thing we guarantee you won’t need to worry about tonight is someone going off for 60 or 70 points at TD Garden. That’s because these two teams, with one side featuring Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and the other side featuring Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, have stars who are capable of locking opposing scorers up at any given moment.