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The NBA season is about to end quite soon.
Cleveland is down 0-3 to Golden State in the NBA Finals, and teams with a 3-0 lead in the Finals have a 13-0 record thus far. Nothing we've seen in the series serves to suggest the presence of any ray of hope for the Cavaliers, and it's about time we drew curtains on the 2017-18 season and took a look back at how the season panned out for the entire league.
The regular season campaign saw the emergence of a new superteam in H-Town. The Rockets embarrassed franchises left, right and center on the way to usurping the #1 seed from the Warriors for the first time in 4 seasons, and they looked primed to upset them in the Conference Finals.
In the Eastern Conference, Kyrie Irving's move from Cleveland to Boston caused a seismic shift in the balance of Eastern Conference power. The Cavaliers slid to the 4th spot in the regular season Eastern Conference standings while becoming worse than 2016-17 on both ends of the floor.
The Toronto Raptors emerged from the regular season with the second-best record in the league and were supposedly primed to make their first NBA Finals series.
Neither of the aforementioned scenarios bore fruit, but this takes nothing away from the efforts of these teams through the 82-game regular season. Let's take a look at the most stifling defensive teams through the campaign:
#5 Toronto Raptors - 103.4 points allowed per 100 possessions
The Raptors improved vastly on defense in a large part due to their excellent draft pick, OG Anunoby. The British youngster is a true diamond in the rough, and he has already shown excellent lockdown potential as a one-on-one defender.
Several times through the regular season, he was asked to guard the best opposition player for extended stretches, and he rose to those challenges magnificently. Other emerging players like Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl were instrumental in the Raptors having arguably the best bench in the league during the regular season.
Their improved defense was key to grabbing homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs, as they finished the regular season with a 59-23 record - 4 wins clear of the Celtics in 2nd place.
#4 San Antonio Spurs - 102.4 points allowed per 100 possessions
Under coach Gregg Popovich, the San Antonio Spurs have always been an elite defensive team. Even without the league's best lockdown defender in Kawhi Leonard for essentially the entire season, they were able to maintain that status. A number of factors contributed to their consistently display on defense.
For one, Pop-coached teams are loath to foul opposition players. The Spurs rank 3rd among all teams in opponent free throws attempted and first in opponent free throws made.
They also had sophomore Dejounte Murray step up big-time, moving into the starting lineup and earning an All-Defensive second team selection. Danny Green, LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol maintained excellent levels of play on defense, as expected of veterans like them.
Kyle Anderson was also a huge presence as a perimeter defender, while the Spurs' defense-first culture helped to embed Bryn Forbes and other fringe players seamlessly into their lineup.
#3 Philadelphia 76ers - 102.0 points allowed per 100 possessions
After years of being a bargain basement team, the Sixers finally pulled their young stars from the treatment table and fielded an NBA-ready lineup. The results were instantly gratifying, as the Sixers went from a 28-54 record to a 52-30 record, bolstered by Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons operating in the starting lineup.
Embiid is currently the most well-rounded big man in the game, and it's not particularly close. He's nearly as good of an offensive weapon as DeMarcus Cousins, while he's about as great a defender as Rudy Gobert. The 7'2" Cameroonian native has made it to the All-NBA Second Team as well as the All-Defensive Second Team in his first full campaign, and he's a primary reason why Philly are first in opponent field-goal percentage league-wide.
He's not the only defensive ace in the team either. Ben Simmons has shown remarkable feel for the defensive side of the game, and he is able to switch onto all 5 positions on the court without getting exploited. Robert Covington is an All-Defensive First Team selection, and Dario Saric is another multitalented perimeter player who is a capable defender.
All things considered, the flashes of brilliance the Sixers showed this season make them one of the most dangerous Eastern Conference teams out there.
#2 Utah Jazz - 101.6 points allowed per 100 possessions
The Utah Jazz played perhaps the most stifling brand of defense that we've seen from any team in the league this year - only when Rudy Gobert was available. With Gobert in the lineup, their defensive rating was easily the best in the league.
Gobert is the favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, given that he's already been voted into All-Defense First Team by the media. There's a reason why he's called the 'French Rejection' and the 'Stifle Tower', and why Utah has been restyled as 'Swat Lake City' by the franchise's fans.
The Jazz's defensive schemes rely on closing out hard on perimeter shooters and directing all the paint traffic towards Gobert in the middle. It is one thing to marvel at his advanced defensive stats, and quite another to see players drive through their primary defenders, look at the 7'2" big man with a 7'9" wingspan and literally duck out of his way to avoid getting blocked out of the building.
Of course, the Jazz wouldn't be the second-best defensive team in the league because of just one player. The likes of Joe Ingles, Donovan Mitchell, Jae Crowder, Royce O'Neale, Raul Neto and Ricky Rubio are all solid perimeter defenders, while Derrick Favors is a great second option to come off the bench as the center, or as a power forward in a twin towers setup.
#1 Boston Celtics - 101.5 points allowed per 100 possessions
It ran mighty close right till the end, but the Boston Celtics have the distinction of being ranked as the best defensive team in the league right from the end of gameweek 1 till 28. They ranked first in points allowed per 100 possessions, second in opponent field-goal percentage and first in opponent 3-point percentage.
They have great defenders spread out all over the court. Aron 'All of Australia' Baynes was a sturdy rim protector for the entire season, and a crucial component of their playoff success. Al Horford is one of the most versatile and skilled defenders of this generation. Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart are All-Defensive team caliber wings, while Terry Rozier earned his Scary Terry nickname on account of his aggressive defense.
Jayson Tatum and Marcus Morris are utterly capable of locking down their primary assignments and are versatile enough to guard 1-guards through 4-forwards. The Celtics are a great defensive outfit from top to bottom, and coach Brad Stevens has successfully carried the defense-first mentality of the franchise that helped them to such great success in the 60s, and in the years since.
Who do you think is the best defender in the NBA right now? Tell us in the comments below!
Guess the Lakers players!
