The NBA is on the verge of another golden age, with even more talent coming into the league than in years past. With so many young superstar players taking over the league, it only makes sense that defensive teams would be rising to meet them. Here are my top five defensive teams in 2022:
Boston Celtics
One of the best defenses in the league is Boston. The Celtics have a good defense, and they can be improved. Their record is not great, but they are still one of the top defensive teams in this league, and they should expect to see them improve in 2022 as well. They have some young players who have shown that they can be a good defensive team this season, and they will continue to get better as long as they keep working hard on improving their game at both ends of the floor.
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz has a lot of young talent, but they are a very good defensive team. They have a good coach, Quin Snyder. He is one of the best coaches in the league, and he can make all his players play better than they normally would. The Utah Jazz also rebound well on defense and offense alike, so you’ll need to keep an eye out for that if you’re playing against them!
Los Angeles Lakers
It is also important to remember that this team has plenty of options for defense, with Javale McGee and Lonzo Ball being excellent defensive centers. Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma have proven themselves as solid defenders, while Brandon Ingram had a breakout year last season, even though his shot hasn’t been falling yet.
Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks are the second-best defensive team in the league, trailing only Memphis. Their defense is their strength, and they have the best defensive rating in the NBA (102.2). Since January 1st, they’ve had a top-10 defense as well.
The Hawks don’t really have much depth on their bench, but they do have some solid role players like Deandre Hunter, who has been playing great lately. Coach Lloyd Pierce has done a fantastic job leading this team to success and should be considered among other coaches for Coach of the Year awards if they continue at this rate through April 2020.
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat is the only team in the league to rank in the top 10 of each category. They have a 106.9 defensive rating, which is good for fifth overall among all teams. The Heat also boast a top-five rebounding percentage at 68.6%. This means they grab over two-thirds of their opponents’ missed shots when they play defense, which is a solid number and shows that they’re more than taking care of business on defense.
The NBA is a young league, and as such, we should expect to see some shake-ups in the next few years. The teams listed above are likely to stay competitive, but you never know when a player might get hurt or underperform their contract. You can keep an eye on them by keeping up with the NBA schedule. You can catch the games by getting DIRECTV STREAM. As per their experts, “They offer the NBA LEAGUE PASS to DIRECTV for business and residential DIRECTV satellite customers.”
One thing is certain: with so many talent-rich rosters set to compete against each other over the next few seasons, there will be plenty of exciting basketball games for fans to enjoy!
