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Defense continues to be the main key to winning NBA championships, even if it is an old cliché to many. However, there are various ways of determining what a great defensive unit is. Defensive Rating is definitely an accurate way to measure a team's effectiveness on defense, as opposed to simply note the points per game allowed because the pace of each NBA team definitely plays a role in that department.
Basketball Reference defines Defensive Rating with the following concept:
For players and teams it is points allowed per 100 posessions. This rating was developed by Dean Oliver, author of Basketball on Paper.
The lower the Defensive Rating number for a team or player, the better for the overall success of the team, as opposed to several other advanced and traditional stats where the higher the number, the better.
These are the three greatest defensive NBA teams of the 21st century in terms of Defensive Rating
Last year, the LA Lakers were at the top of the NBA standings in Defensive Rating, at 107.1 points allowed per 100 possessions. The New York Knicks, on the other hand, held opponents to the lowest points scored per game, with 104.7, while the LA Lakers allowed 106.8.
This is where pace played a role, as the Knicks had a 95.9 pace (estimate of possessions per 48 minutes), which was the lowest in the league, and the LA Lakers had the 15th lowest, at 98.7.
Individual Defensive Rating is also a good way of measuring NBA players defensively, as its formula takes into consideration individual participation on a collective stop and forced misses, among other complex items. Among active players, three-time NBA DPOY winner Dwight Howard has the lowest individual Defensive Rating, at 99.7.
How good was the LA Lakers' defense last year compared to some other teams from the past? This article will take the three best defensive teams in the NBA in the 21st century based on their regular-season Defensive Rating.
Without further ado, let us take a look.
#3 Indiana Pacers - 2003/04 NBA season
The 2003-04 Indiana Pacers were a successful team in the regular season, posting the best record in the entire NBA at 61-21 and also the best in franchise history to date.
They had a core comprising of Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest and Reggie Miller. Indiana took the top seed of the Eastern Conference and looked like candidates to make it to the NBA Finals against the re-loaded Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant LA Lakers.
The team also put up a 97.2 Defensive Rating, which is the third-best collective Defensive Rating in the 21st century. Due to his defensive performance for the team, Artest won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in the 2003-04 season.
#2 Detroit Pistons - 2003/04 NBA season
The 2003-04 NBA champions, Detroit Pistons, had one of the greatest defensive units in NBA history, especially after trading for Rasheed Wallace on February 19th, 2004.
With Wallace on the team alongside Ben Wallace in the paint, the Larry Brown-coached Detroit Pistons put up a 88.3 Defensive Rating in the final 26 games of the 2003-04 regular season, with Rasheed playing in 22 of those.
Ultimately, that team entered the postseason with a 95.4 Defensive Rating, the second-best in the NBA in the 21st century. The Pistons won the 2004 NBA championship after beating the LA Lakers in a five-game NBA Finals series and putting up unique defensive displays throughout the postseason.
Chauncey Billups won the 2004 NBA Finals MVP award, and his backcourt partner was Richard Hamilton, with Tayshaun Prince on the wing.
#1 San Antonio Spurs - 2003/04 NBA season
The 2003-04 NBA season was definitely one that had tremendous defensive units, as the three-best teams in terms of Defensive Rating in the 21st century all come from that campaign.
The San Antonio Spurs, fresh off their 2003 NBA championship, were the best defensive team in the 2003-04 NBA regular season, putting up a 94.1 Defensive Rating.
While Tim Duncan was the defensive anchor for the Spurs for his entire NBA career, Bruce Bowne was also a unique defensive presence on the Spurs' roster during the 2000s, and he even finished fourth in the 2003-04 NBA DPOY voting, three spots ahead of Duncan.
The 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs ultimately failed to defend their championship due to a Western Conference Semis exit marked by Derek Fisher's crazy game-winner with 0.4 seconds on the clock in Game 5.
In the regular season, San Antonio put up a 57-25 record, the second-best in the West, but the Spurs were the third seed because they didn't win their division (Minnesota and the LA Lakers did).
Without taking the number of possessions into consideration, the 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs also allowed the lowest number of points per game to the opposition, with only 84.3.
The 2003-04 Spurs' defense in the regular season was so good that the team led the NBA in Net Rating (point differential per 100 possessions) even with the 16th-best Offensive Rating in the entire league.
The 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs' Defensive Rating ranks fifth in NBA history for a single-season performance. Just for guidance, last year's league average of Defensive Rating was at 112.3, while in the 2003-04 season it stood at 102.9.
