10 stats you should know about the first 10 days of the 2024-25 season

The Celtics were at the forefront of the league-wide flood of 3-point attempts.

It is still early days as only 71 (6%) of the 1,230 games have been played. But it's time to dig into the numbers, with the understanding that things can change quickly.

Here are 10 numbers you should know from the first 10 days of the 2024-25 campaign…

All statistics are valid until Thursday, October 31st.

1. The league made 41.8% of its shots from 3-point range.

That would be the highest rate in the 3-point line's 46 years and the first time it's been at 40% or higher. At this point last season, the rate was 39.1% and increased to 39.5% by the end of the year.

Three teams in the last 45 seasons – the 2017-18, 18-19 and 19-20 Houston Rockets – took at least half of their shots from distance. Three more teams made it through Thursday.

Highest 3-point percentage in NBA history

2. The nuggets scored just 72 points on 97 possessions (74.2 per 100), as Nikola Jokic Was away from the ground.

This is an anemic offensive performance. Jokić has had the league's largest on-off differential (in points differential per 100 possessions) each of the last three seasons, and backup minutes remain a major concern in Denver. Russell Westbrook, Peyton Watson and Dario Šarić combined to shoot 17-for-66 (26%), including 12-for-40 (30%). in the paint.

3. The Lakers averaged 2.5 more shot chances than their opponents.

That's the ninth-best differential in the league, compared to -3.5 per game (the league's largest differential) last season. New coach JJ Redick has come in and solved his team's biggest math problem (so far), even though the Lakers made a lower percentage of their shots from 3-point range (34.9%, 28th) than last season (35.8%, 28th).

4. According to Second Spectrum tracking, the Knicks scored 1.69 points per possession when Karl-Anthony Towns set a ball screen for Jalen Brunson.

This is the best mark among 47 combinations with at least 25 direct ball possessions outside the ball screen. It's a small sample size (only 33 possessions), but when a Brunson/Towns pick-and-roll directly resulted in a shot, a turnover, or a trip to the line, the Knicks were incredibly efficient.

5. The league averaged 28.1 free throw attempts per 100 field shots.

That would be the highest free throw rate (FTA/FGA) in the last 11 seasons. This is a surprise considering last season produced this lowest Free throw percentage in NBA history. Teams averaged just 24.4 free throw attempts per 100 field attempts during the 2023-24 season, including just 22.5 per 100 after the All-Star break.

An official focus this season is for defenders to keep offensive players from getting to the basket. In fact, fouls were called on 8.4% of drives, compared to 7% last season and what would be the highest rate in the 12 seasons of Second Spectrum player tracking.

6. Victor Wembanyama made just 29 of his 74 shots in the paint

The Spurs star is the second-largest player in the league, but the percentage of his shots that went on goal (39%) ranks him 65th out of 96 players with at least 50 total field goal attempts (not including backcourt shots). He has a shooting percentage of 19 for 29 (65.5%) from the perimeter and an effective field goal percentage of just 35.6% on shots from outside, currently 4 for 11 from mid-range and 8 for 34 from distance bow.

Wembanyama recorded his second career 5×5 game as his team won at Utah on Thursday. But the Spurs have scored just 101.5 points per 100 possessions in his 155 minutes of play, and it would certainly help if they could get him more shots near the basket.

7. The Cavs are the ninth team in NBA history to start the season 5-0 with an average point differential of at least 18 points per game.

Six of the previous eight (including the last four) reached the Finals, with four of those six (including last season's Celtics) winning the championship.

5-0 to start the season with an average lead of 18+ points

Streak = Consecutive wins to start the season.

The Cavs had a (presumably) weak schedule in their first three games, but they beat the Knicks and Lakers earlier this week. They'll try to stay undefeated when they host the Magic on Friday (7 ET, ESPN).

The Oklahoma City Thunder can also reach that mark of 5-0, +18 per game if they win by at least 20 points in Portland on Friday night.

8. The Thunder have allowed 91.3 points per 100 possessions through four games.

That's the best-ranked defense in the league by a wide margin and less than they allowed in all four games last season (when they ranked fourth in defense).

The Thunder rank first in opponent field goal percentage from the field (46.3%) and opponent effective field goal percentage on shots from outside the field (41.2%). And Opponent turnover rate (20.2 per 100 possessions). Chet Holmgren is the second-best rim protector in the league, while Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace rank third and fourth in deflections per 36 minutes.

It didn't matter much that the Thunder still aren't recovering well. They are one of three teams – the Cavs and Heat are the others – that rank in the bottom 10 in both offensive and defensive rebound percentage.

9. The Bucks are the only team with four double-digit losses.

It's already time to worry about the Bucks, who won their opener against the undermanned Sixers but are the 39th team in NBA history to suffer four double-digit losses in their first five games. Only six (16%) of the previous 38 made the playoffs, with the last being the 2004-05 Nuggets, who also began the season ranked 1-4 and finished as the No. 7 seed in the West, but ended up losing in the first-round series five games.

10. The Bulls posted the largest increases in both pace and assist rate in the league.

Only four teams in the Eastern Conference have a winning record, and one of them is the 3-2 Bulls, who are likely surprising teams with the way they play. They moved from 28th to first in pace (plus 10.6 possessions per 48 minutes), from 28th to fifth in assist rate (and completed 54 more passes per 24 minutes of possession), and in 3-point shooting. Rate from 29th to second place (only the Magic have seen a bigger jump).

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John Schuhmann is a senior statistical analyst for NBA.com. You can email him here, his archive can be found here and Follow him on X.

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