Basketball Intelligence for 9/20/23

The Day's Best Basketball Reporting and Analysis

TEAM-SPECIFIC STORIES

BOS: Will Kristaps Porzingis succeed Al Horford as the perfect big man in Boston?
Sam LaFrance, Celtics Blog

BOS: Will Robert Williams or Al Horford Start for the Celtics?
Bobby Manning, CLNS Media

BOS: Boston Celtics stars emphasizing defense ahead of regular season
Dylan Haley, Hardwood Houdini

CHI: Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan isn’t known as a 3-point shooter, so will he launch more?
Darnell Mayberry, The Athletic

CHI: Who the Chicago Bulls truly are
Tom Ziller, Chicago Bulls

But from a statistical viewpoint, the Bulls mostly maintained their performance in key areas … and that was enough for a massive relative improvement … because offense exploded around them. The only category where Chicago improved legitimately was defensive turnover rate: the Bulls’ high-ranked 13.5% would have been highly ranked in ‘21-22. Otherwise, the Bulls got a little worse in opponent shooting and defensive rebounding, yet saw their rankings improve because the league around them skewed heavily toward offense. They got a little better in foul rate and saw their ranking skyrocket. All this led a marginally better defense to explode up the rankings and finish No. 5 overall.

DAL: Olivier-Maxence Prosper is the defensive talent the Mavericks need
Jordan Brodess, Mavs Moneyball

DEN: An inside look at Jalen Pickett's preparation for his rookie season: '[He] has an NBA readiness factor.'
Matt Brooks, NBA.com