Although in general, the offensive efficiency of a team is limited by the era they live in, the following data is still worth mentioning: Among the top 20 teams in the single-season offensive efficiency list in NBA history, there are Thirteen teams come from the past four seasons

Over the past few seasons, we have seen several historic offensive efficiency records as many teams have become more "extreme" in their shooting and distribution patterns and pursued maximum efficiency improvements. Although in general, a team's offensive efficiency is limited by the era they live in, but the following data is still worth mentioning: NBA Among the top 20 teams in the single-season offensive efficiency list in history, there are Thirteen teams come from the past four seasons.

We are in an era of extraordinary offensive efficiency, and this season's Utah Jazz is an outstanding example in this regard. Last Wednesday night, Jazz faced Timberwolves and scored 136 points. This is already the eighth team this season that the Jazz scored more than 120 points.

In the first 24 games of the season, the Jazz averaged 117.1 points per 100 possessions. This is the eighth-highest figure in history. However, it should be clear that the top seven were all produced last season, and last year was the year when the league's offensive efficiency was at its peak. All teams averaged 112.3 points in 100 possessions (the average of all seasons since the merger of the NBA and ABA). The offensive efficiency is at least 2 points lower than last year). But this year, the league's average offensive rating has dropped to 108.9 per 100 possessions - simply put, the offense is more difficult than last year.

But the Jazz have not encountered such difficulties. Their offensive efficiency has even been greatly improved compared to the previous season. The average score per 100 possessions has increased by 4 points, which is 8.2 points more than the league average this year. point. At the same time, this also means that if we use the difference between a team's offensive efficiency in a certain year and the league average in that season as the basis for sorting, they can be regarded as the top three offensive teams in NBA history, second only to 03-04 The Mavericks of the season and the Suns of the 04-05 season.

I personally think this is a very wonderful comparison, because the two historically powerful offensive teams have epoch-making offensive geniuses, namely Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki . And those teams behind the Jazz on this list also have Hall of Fame players with extremely powerful offensive capabilities, such as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Michael- Jordan . Of course, we don't mean to disrespect Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley, but the Jazz don't have any players with the offensive level of the above-mentioned greats.

Therefore, although the Jazz may not have the best players in history in personal ability, they can definitely be called the best "offensive collaboration team" in history.

So, what makes the Utah Jazz's unique offense?

In the latest episode of "The Long Two" basketball podcast, Ben Ladner provides an in-depth analysis of how the Jazz's offense has evolved this season.

The Jazz's ability to move the ball is among the best in the NBA. Once Utah gets a matchup advantage, they can use the movement of the ball to completely mess up the opponent's defense. Usually this situation starts with a pick-and-roll between Gobert and the defender, which forces the defensive players to rotate to cover, and then the Jazz players will move the ball to the open space, and the opponent must continue to rotate. The Jazz kept involving the defense in this way until the opponent was completely out of position. The Jazz's three-point attempts rank first in the league, and their corner three-point attempts are tied for first with Heat - this is the result of smooth ball movement and reasonable court space.

The two players with the most shots from the Jazz are Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson . However, Mitchell's three-point shooting percentage this season is only 34.1%, and Clarkson 's total shooting percentage is less than 40%. But they still performed well as the main opportunity creator on the offensive end, because such a good team can create consistent scoring through the enemy's defensive holes through collective efforts.

As many as five Jazz players - namely Mike Conley, Rudy Gay, Joe Ingles, Bojan Bogdanovic and Royce O'Neal - —Both have a three-point shooting rate of more than 40%, and average more than 4 three-pointers per game. There are also five Jazz players - namely Mitchell, Conley, Clarkson, Bogdanovic and Ingles - averaging 4 or more drives per game and more than 49% of the time. Breakthrough shooting percentage. According to Ladner's analysis, due to Gobert's strong containment in the paint area, the Jazz can almost always ensure that the remaining four outside sharp knives can take full advantage of their advantages and tear apart their opponents through dribbling, passing and shooting.

But the final test of the team will always be the playoffs, which is also a hurdle that the Jazz have not overcome in the past two years. They struggled to maintain the initiative they showed in the regular season in the playoffs. But this season's iteration may really bring us a Jazz that we have never seen before. They can rely on the depth of the lineup and comprehensive offensive methods to continuously score. Currently, almost no team in the league can guard them. offensive.