24.05.2025 Mike Vorkunov: The title is not won by the defense, but a superstar

Athletic journalist denied the words of Niko Harrison that the defense was taking titles. The general manager of Dallas over the past two months assures that it is the defense that wins the championship.
Over the past 20 seasons, the NBA has occurred small changes for the teams that won the championship.
From the 2004/05 to 2014/15 season, eight out of eleven teams-champions defense was higher in terms of efficiency than the attack.
With the 2015/16 season, only two of the eight teams-champions defense was higher than the attack, and one team took fifth place in both categories.
Each team that won the title from 2005 to 2015 had protection in the top 10;On average, the protection of these teams in these seasons was in the area of 4-5 places.
In the last decade, this has changed a bit: Golden STAT won the championship in 2018 with the 11th defense in the league, and the Nuggets became champions two years ago with the 15th protection. On average, the protection teams since 2016 are approximately 6-7th place in the league.
This happened against the backdrop of the fact that the presence of a strong attack seems to have become more important for victory in the championship. Of the last nine champions, only two teams did not have an attack in the TOP-5 (Lakers in 2020 and Warriors in 2022). From 2005 to 2015, five of the eleven champions had an attack in the TOP-5, and seven defenses in the TOP-5. Only four of the last nine champions had protection in the TOP-5. Even if you expand the sample a little, the teams that have reached the final of the conferences, in five of the last seven seasons, the attack on average was higher in the ranking than the defense.
Of course, all these differences are insignificant. There were no serious changes that would completely depreciate the defense to struggle for the championship. The three main applicants for the title of this season-Oklahoma-City, Boston and Cleveland-are all in the TOP-8 according to the Protection rating, and Tander has the most dominant defense in the NBA in recent years.
But at the same time, Tanter, Celtics and Cavalers also have three best attacks in the League. Sacramento is the only team from the TOP-12 best in attack this season that did not win at least 48 matches. None of the 14 worst attacks this season showed a positive result: at the same time, Nuggets and Lakers won 50 victories, although their protection was among the worst. Last season, each team that ended with an attack in the top 17, in addition to Atlanta, won at least 46 matches.
The reality is that for the victory in the championship, the team usually needs a great attack, and excellent defense, and not one thing. Of the last 20 champions, 14 had an attack and the defense in the top 10, and even four teams were almost reached, since their attack or defense was occupied 11th place. But if the team has to choose a priority, then what is easier to build: the top 10 defense with a weak link in protection or top 10 attack with an elite playmaker?
The main prerequisite for any champion team over the past 20 years was the presence of a player of the first or second symbolic national team of the NBA. Each champion had at least one such player in the season, when they won the title - and everyone except six had a player of the first symbolic national team of the NBA, ”Workunes wrote.
Who will become the champion of the NBA? 6775 Golosovo-Klahomasminnesotaindianagnagi-York is