The Bulls and Grizzlies have drastically changed their playing styles to open the season.

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In the 29 seasons for which we have play-by-play data, only two teams have won more than three games that they trailed by at least 20 points. The 2024-25 Chicago Bulls have already done it twice, coming back from 20 down to beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 28 and doing it again against the Orlando Magic two nights later.

Two things can increase variance from quarter to quarter within a game. One is pace, because the more possessions there are, the more opportunities you have to score points.

The other is 3-point rate. Shooting more 3-pointers increases the likelihood of a scoring drought or a scoring binge.

Not coincidentally, the Bulls are playing much faster and shooting a lot more 3-pointers than they did last season.

With teams having played just an average of eight games through Wednesday, it’s a little early to put too much into which ones are better on either end of the floor. At this point last season, the Toronto Raptors ranked eighth defensively (they’d finish 26th), while the Pelicans ranked 22nd (they’d finish sixth).

But we can get a good idea of which teams are playing differently. Here’s a look at nine teams that have made changes when we look at pace, ball movement, 3-point rate, offensive rebounding percentage and pick-and-roll coverage…

All stats are through Wednesday, Nov. 6.

1. Chicago Bulls: A whole new offense

DeMar DeRozan’s departure (with his 547 mid-range attempts going to Sacramento) was bound to change how the Bulls play. But their offense has been completely overhauled in Billy Donovan’s fifth season as coach.

• The Bulls have seen the league’s biggest jump in pace by a huge margin, ranking first (106.2 possessions per 48 minutes) after ranking 28th (96.9) last season. According to Second Spectrum tracking, they’ve averaged just 13.2 seconds per offensive possession (shortest in the league), down from 14.7 (15th shortest) last season.

• They’ve also seen the biggest jump in ball movement, averaging 399 passes per 24 minutes of possession (second), up from 339 (sixth) last season.

• They’ve also seen the biggest jump in 3-point rate, taking 47.3% of their shots (fourth highest) from beyond the arc, up from 35.8% (29th) last season.

• Finally, they’ve seen the third biggest drop in offensive rebounding percentage. This, of course, affects their pace, because fewer offensive boards = shorter possessions.

The offensive changes haven’t worked particularly well. The Bulls rank 28th on offense, down from 19th last season. Their effective field goal percentage is too far below the league average, but they’re not getting to the line much and (as noted) not giving themselves many second chances. As nice as it is that they’ve come back from two 20-point deficits, it’s not nice that they’ve trailed seven of their eight games by 15 or more.

They were down 30 in the fourth quarter in Dallas on Wednesday, and the Bulls’ new (and not-so-improved) offense now faces the team that had the league’s No. 1 defense last season, hosting the Wolves on Thursday (8 p.m. ET, NBA TV).

2. Charlotte Hornets: More 3s and rebounds, less ball movement

First-time coach Charles Lee has his team playing a little more like the one he helped win a championship last season in Boston.

• The Hornets have seen the league’s biggest drop in ball movement, averaging just 299 passes per 24 minutes of possession (28th), down from 329 (10th) last season.

• They’ve seen the third-biggest jump in 3-point rate, taking 48.3% of their shots from deep. That’s the league’s third-highest rate and up from 39.1% (15th) last season.

• They’ve also seen the second-biggest jump in offensive rebounding percentage, going from 27th (25.3%) to fifth (33.5%).

It helps that LaMelo Ball has been healthy this season, and the 3-5 Hornets have scored 3.1 more points per 100 possessions than they did last season. That is the league’s third-biggest jump. They’re still below the league average on that end of the floor, though.

Regarding ball movement, there will be contrasting styles when the Hornets host the Pacers (first in passes per 24 minutes of possession) on Friday (7 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass).

3. Los Angeles Lakers: More ball movement, more switching

Another first-time head coach (JJ Redick) has made some changes in L.A. The Lakers haven’t changed much in regard to pace or 3-point rate, but…

• The Lakers have averaged 336 passes per 24 minutes of possession, the league’s ninth-highest rate and up from 293 (29th) last season.

• After ranking 29th in offensive rebounding percentage (24.4%) last season, they’re 18th (28.3%) this season. That has helped them average just 0.5 fewer shooting opportunities than their opponents, much better than their league-worst discrepancy of -3.5 opportunities per game last season.

• Defensively, the Lakers have switched 36% of ball-screens, the league’s highest rate by a healthy margin and up from 22% (20th) last season. (Anthony Davis has gone from 12% to 29%.)

Having gone 1-4 on their road trip, the Lakers return home (where they’re 3-0) to face the Sixers on Friday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN).

4. Memphis Grizzlies: Trading 3s for paint attacks

While the league, as a whole, has seen another jump in 3-point rate, the Grizzlies — with their star back in uniform — have gone in the opposite direction.

• The Grizzlies have seen the league’s biggest drop in 3-point rate, taking just 36.4% of their shots from beyond the arc (fourth lowest), down from 42.8% (fifth highest) last season.

• But with Ja Morant back, they’ve seen the league’s biggest jump in the percentage of their shots that have come in the paint and its biggest jump in field goal percentage in the paint.

Grizzlies’ shooting in the paint, last two seasons

%FGA = Percentage of total FGA

• Morant ranks fifth in drives per game (16.8) and has the ridiculous highlights, but Jaren Jackson Jr. leads the team with 11.7 points in the paint per game, having shot much better there (66.1%) than he did last season (50.5%). Rookie Zach Edey, meanwhile, ranks sixth with 17.2 points in the paint per 36 minutes.

Not surprisingly, the Grizzlies have had the league’s most improved offense by a healthy margin, ranking sixth on that end of the floor and scoring nine more points per 100 possessions than last season. They’ve also done it while missing one or both of their best 3-point shooters.

Desmond Bane has missed the last 4 1/2 games, while Luke Kennard was available for the first time on Wednesday. Their 3-point rate could increase as the season goes on.

Winners of three of their last four, Memphis will host Washington on Friday (8 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass) before heading out on a three-game trip.

5. Five more teams of note…

• With the addition of Russell Westbrook, the Nuggets have seen the league’s second-biggest jump in pace. They’ve averaged 105.6 possessions per 48 minutes with him on the floor and just 99.7 with him off the floor.

• Despite the departure of Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves have seen the league’s second-biggest jump in 3-point rate. They’ve also seen a big drop in offensive rebounding percentage.

• The Suns have seen the fourth-biggest jump in 3-point rate and the league’s biggest drop in offensive rebounding percentage.

• The Spurs have seen the league’s biggest drop in pace, while also seeing it’s biggest change in pick-and-roll coverage. According to Second Spectrum tracking, they’re in drop coverage less than they were last season, though that’s mostly about Zach Collins (at the level of the screen more) and not Victor Wembanyama (still mostly in drop coverage).

• The Raptors have seen the league’s biggest jump in offensive rebounding percentage and its fifth biggest jump in ball movement while seeing the fourth biggest drop in 3-point rate.

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John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X. 

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