2007-2008 Defensive Efficiency

The following is a ranking of teams according to their defensive efficiency in the 2007-2008 NBA season. Defensive efficiency measures the average amount of points a team gives up per 100 possessions (an average NBA game). This is a significantly better way to measure the defensive prowess than simple points per game because it is not affected by how fast a team plays (for instance, the Nuggets play faster than every team in the NBA, so their defensive ppg is skewed to make their defense look worse than it actually is and their offensive ppg is skewed to make their offense look better than it actually is).

Boston Celtics.......................98.54
Houston Rockets.....................101.02
San Antonio Spurs...................101.27
Detroit Pistons.....................102.26
New Orleans Hornets.................105.01
Los Angeles Lakers..................105.03
Orlando Magic.......................105.39
Dallas Mavericks....................105.46
Philadelphia 76ers..................105.57
Utah Jazz...........................105.74
Cleveland Cavaliers.................105.92
Denver Nuggets......................106.19
Toronto Raptors.....................106.43
Chicago Bulls.......................106.47
LEAGUE AVERAGE......................106.96
Indiana Pacers......................107.09
Phoenix Suns........................107.42
Portland Trailblazers...............107.78
Atlanta Hawks.......................108.15
New Jersey Nets.....................108.57
Washington Wizards..................108.63
Los Angeles Clippers................108.68
Golden State Warriors...............109.12
Charlotte Bobcats...................109.16
Sacramento Kings....................109.33
Seattle Supersonics.................109.41
Miami Heat..........................109.58
Minnesota Timberwolves..............110.91
Memphis Grizzlies...................111.13
New York Knicks.....................111.45
Milwaukee Bucks.....................112.06

There are a couple of interesting things to note about this list.

First of all, the Boston Celtics are the best defensive team in the NBA. And it isn't even close. John Hollinger of ESPN has stated that this Celtics team is the 3rd best defensivev team of all time.

The Milwaukee Bucks are the worst defensive team in the league. This is not surprising given that Michael Redd is known for being one of the worst defensive players in the league.

The top 13 teams in defense made the playoffs. I believe that I will find that the same is NOT true for offense. Therefore, it would benefit teams to put together teams around defense first. That is, if they wish to make the playoffs.

The Nuggets finished 12th in defensive efficiency. This may come as a surprise to those who believe that the Nuggets play terrible defense and blame defense for their eventual downfall. However, this is not a surprise to those who have noted that the Nuggets were 14th in defensive field goal persentage, 2nd in forcing turnovers, 1st in steals, and 1st in blocked shots. Really, only their horrible defensive rebounding (22nd in the league in defensive rebounding rate) kept them from being a pretty good defensive team. However, since the Nuggets play at a blistering pace, they give up a high amount of points per game. This gives the impression that they are bad at defense when they are really slightly above average.

I guess Kenny "The Jet" Smith can choose a different team about which to make "bad defense" jokes.