Officially, the NBA has not given instructions to referees in recent weeks, while scoring has dropped drastically. However, in a memo sent to franchises and retrieved by ESPNthe Grande Ligue acknowledges, during a meeting with the “competition committee”, having raised with the referees the subject of attackers who seek to recover from faults by hitting moving defenders.
The NBA discussed the subject with officials in January and February, with Steve Kerr and others complaining about attackers systematically changing their paths to throw themselves into the defense, and recovering from whistles because defenders were “technically” in an illegal position, since it is moving.
Joel Embiid had made a specialty of recovering this type of mistake, but he was not the only one, the attackers logically exploiting everything that works.
Big drop in pace
Even if it assures that it has not given any instructions with the aim of reducing the scoring, the league explains that it will continue “to evaluate the state of the attack and defense, focusing on the legal position to defend, and the level of contact allowed on penetrations to the rim”.
The effect is in any case notable, since we are talking about two fewer fouls called against each team, over the last few weeks, and an average drop in scoring of four points per team and per match. The pace of games has also dropped significantly, with only five teams playing faster since the All-Star Break.
For the other 25, the tempo of the matches decreased, however, with the Sixers recording the most significant drop, with almost six fewer possessions per match. Behind, Atlanta, New York and Milwaukee play much slower, injuries (Joel Embiid, Trae Young, etc.) undoubtedly playing a role in this slowdown.
“This trend will continue to be monitored” in any case concludes the NBA, which had promised to study the offensive explosion at the start of the campaign. “The slower pace, the style of play, the intensity of the competition, the focus on refereeing… have all been contributing factors identified so far. »
