The Whiteboard: Checking in on the NBA’s obscure stats leaderboards

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NBA coverage is steeped in the language of statistics but we tend to spend the most time circling the same ones. But what about the curiosities? The obscure basketball acts that can be counted and measured but maybe don’t matter so much? Well, I did some digging and found a few fun nuggets.

Deflections: Larry Nance Jr. — 4.4 per game

Nance Jr. has remade himself as a disruptive defender this season, mucking up passing lanes and playing further from the basket than he ever has. According to Basketball-Reference, none of his minutes this season have been played at center, a first in his six-year career. The 13 percent of his minutes played on the wing are a career-high. His deflections per game mark isn’t just a career-high for Nance Jr. (it is, 2.8 was his highest before this season), it’s the highest per-game total in the five seasons since the NBA began tracking this stat. And of course, those deflections are often ending up in his own, massive hands — Nance has more steals than any other player in the league this season.

Blocks against: Zion Williamson — 40

Having been blocked 40 times, more than anyone else and more than twice per game, is an ignominious mark. But, as with everything else, Zion Williamson is far from normal. Yes, he’s had his shot blocked regularly this season but he’s also an outlier in terms of activity in the paint. He averages 12.1 shots per game in the restricted area, far more than anyone else in the league. In terms of the percent of their 2-point shots that are blocked, several players — P.J. Washington, Josh Jackson, Enes Kanter, Norman Powell — are ahead of Zion.

Closest average shot distance: Mitchell Robinson — 1.18 feet from the basket

Robinson led the league in field goal percentage last year and has now made more than 70 percent of his shots over his three-year career. The secret to success is just dunking everything. This season, 92 percent of his shots have come within three feet of the basket and he’s yet to attempt a shot from beyond 10 feet. And 73 percent of his made baskets this season have been dunks. Stick to what you do best, I guess?

Farthest average shot distance: Dāvis Bertāns — 24.3 feet from the basket

At the other end of the spectrum is Davis Bertans who hasn’t had a single dunk all year. More than 84 percent of his shots this season have been 3-pointers.

Z-Bounds: Clint Capela — 14

Z-Bounds are when a player rebounds their own missed shot. There is a tight cluster at the top of the leaderboard — Nikola Jokic is next with 13, Keldon Johnson and Zion Williamson both have 12. But Capela’s number is even more remarkable when you consider how few shot attempts he’s had this season. His Z-Bound percentage is 27.5 which means he’s rebounding more than a quarter of his own misses.

Traveling violations: Julius Randle — 11

He’s just going to keep trying that spin move into traffic until he finally gets it right.

Technical foul free throw attempts: Joel Embiid — 11

When a team gets called for a technical foul the opponent gets to choose any player on the floor to take the free throw. The obvious strategy is to, you know, have your best free-throw shooter take the shots. To be fair, Embiid is an unusually good free-throw shooter for a big man — at a career-high 83.3 percent so far this season. But Shake Milton and Tobias Harris have both been this season. And, of course, there’s also Seth Curry with his career 84.9 free-throw percentage and a current streak of 29 consecutive makes. But I guess you have to keep the big man happy.

Most frequent assist combination: Marcus Smart to Jaylen Brown — 40

There’s a bit of a symbiotic relationship here, with Smart handling more offensive creation duties with Kemba Walker missing so much time for injury. Smart is averaging a career-high in assists per game (6.9) and he’s both helped and benefited from Jaylen Brown’s incredible breakout season. Of these 40 assists, 15 have gone for 3-pointers and 15 have gone for shots at the rim, a very healthy balance.

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