The NBA is experiencing a scoring renaissance that we haven’t seen in decades and unfortunately the Detroit Pistons have missed the memo.
Okay, that might a bit harsh, but the Detroit Pistons do currently hold the 8th worst offensive rating with a brisk 111 points per 100 possessions.
This actually best illustrates the outlandish offensive numbers that are happening in the league. The Pistons’ abysmal 111.0 offensive rating this season would have ranked first in the 2019-2020 season. Go back as far as 2003-2004, and this year’s Detroit Pistons would have been an offensive juggernaut by almost 10 full points per 100 possessions.
We are truly living in unprecedented times.
This also applies to individual scoring. Already this year, 10 players (as of the writing of this) have scored 50 or more points in game. Before 2016-2017, no more than eight players had scored 50 points in a game in a single season. A record 14 reached that mark last year and we are set to break that this season.
This surplus of scoring seems to be showcased on a nightly basis. The same night we saw Donovan Mitchell score 71 points, the most in a single game since Kobe, a 54-point game by Klay Thompson somehow flew under the radar. And the next night? Giannis had his own answer with 55 points.
On average, the best of the best are just scoring more and there is more talent than ever. At the start of last week, a record 55 players were averaging more than 20 points per game. The current high for a season is 31 players averaging more than 20 a game, back in 2020-2021. For reference, the 2012-2013 season had just nine players who averaged more than 20 per game. Nine players!?!
We can play this stats game all day, but I am here today to tackle a pressing question – who will be the next Detroit Pistons player to score 50 points in a game?