MILWAUKEE — Damian Lillard halted close to the free-throw line and gave a single pump to his right
fist in celebration as Giannis Antetokounmpo completed the play with a finger roll.
The Milwaukee Bucks point guard and teammate Bobby Portis shouted into the void of the home crowd, their arms flexed. Then he turned to face Malik Beasley, giving his teammate an embrace and shouting some more. Lillard yelled at Antetokounmpo as well and gave him a high five as he composed himself and moved to the free throw line.
This NBA season has created a midway mystery. Scores are suddenly lower. rather low.
Since the start of February, scoring has decreased after being at historically high levels for the majority of the season. Teams were scoring 115.6 points per game on average (slightly less than 231.2 total points per game) as of January 21. That would rank as the sixth-highest total ever and the highest since 1969–70, a time when the league played at a pace of roughly 20 possessions per game instead of the current pace.
Between February 1st and March 17th, that decreased to 112.8 (a total of 225.5 points). Despite the drop, according to Basketball-Reference.com, the league still has the greatest points per possession on record (dating back to 1972–73). This is more than 3.2 points/100 more than the third-most efficient season, 2020–21, and up about 0.7 points/100 from the previous season.
Even yet, the drop is particularly odd considering, on average, scoring rises during the course of a season, maybe declining slightly around trade deadline and All-Star break: