Step aside, Los Angeles Clippers. Lob City has found a new home.
Ever since Chris Paul landed in Los Angeles, the Clippers have been a lob machine, blowing away the competition in alley-oop dunk totals. In Paul's first season with high-fliers Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, the team completed 107 alley-oops, 23 more than any other squad. The nickname was justified.
And it stuck with good reason. They led the league again in lobs during the lockout-shortened season in 2012-13. And last season, they set the unofficial record with 169 alley-oop dunks, according to data pulled from NBA StatsCube. The Rockets placed second with 110. No one was really close.
But that's all changed. After a three-year reign, Lob City is no longer found in Hollywood, but instead in the heart of Texas. The Dallas Mavericks are dunking all over everybody en route to the NBA's most efficient offense in recent history.
This summer, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban apparently wanted a do-over. In the summer of 2011, Cuban infamously let Chandler walk in free agency after the 7-foot-1 center anchored the Mavs' lone championship team. Predictably, the move wasn't well-received among the Dallas faithful, despite Cuban's rationale that the new CBA and changing free-agency climate forced his hand.
Instead of keeping the band together, Cuban opted for placeholders at the center position: Brendan Haywood, then Chris Kaman, then Samuel Dalembert. Finally, after another first-round exit, the Mavs swung a deal with the Knicks to get Chandler and Raymond Felton in exchange for Jose Calderon, Wayne Ellington, Shane Larkin and two second-round picks.
"Let's just say I learn from my mistakes," Cuban said this summer.
The Revival of Chandler
Last season, Chandler looked nothing like the Mavericks' dominant big man that stifled the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals. After leading the league in true shooting percentage for three straight seasons, Chandler posted his least efficient season since his Charlotte days (16.4 PER), not to mention he dealt with a fractured leg in early November.
Were his best days behind him? Cuban wasn't buying it. The Mavericks owner believed that Chandler would be a wise investment based on his fleet of sports scientists, data-crunchers and doctors.
"I trust our medical staff," Cuban told ESPN Insider. "There is no way to absolutely protect against injury, but we do everything we can, using every tool we can find."
One of those tools the Mavericks have leveraged is called "Fusionetics," the latest creation of training guru Dr. Mike Clark -- the man behind the Phoenix Suns' famed training staff and founder of the National Academy of Sports Medicine. The Mavericks are one of a handful of NBA teams that use the biomechanic screening platform, which systematically measures structural and muscular weaknesses to build a personalized program for every player.
If you're wondering why Chandler looks a decade younger, start there. He's currently shooting a career-high 70 percent from the floor while posting his highest rebound rate of his career (21.5 percent). He's a dunk waiting to happen. With 41 dunks, no player aside from Anthony Davis has more dunks this season than Chandler.
Chandler has also benefited from GPS technology. The Mavericks use Catapult Sports tracking devices, which monitor player exertion levels in practice through wearable technology. Cuban invested in the Australian-based company this summer after it began picking up NBA clients desperately trying to find innovative ways to reduce player injury and fatigue.
"We use everything," Cuban said of maintaining Chandler's health. "Even some basic things like marbles-based exercises for his feet."
Yes, marbles. So far, so good. After 15 games, Chandler looks more beastly than ever and his ability to finish lobs has flattened opposing defenses with his vertical spacing. By surrounding Chandler with an array of sharpshooters and elite passers, the Mavericks have totaled 35 alley-oop dunks, which is 11 more than the second-place Clippers and more than 16 NBA teams combined. Chandler himself has 21 lobs, tied for the NBA lead with DeAndre Jordan. We didn't see Chandler notch his 21st lob until Feb. 5 last season.
Meanwhile, the Knicks have one as a team this season. One.
The Wright stuff
Chandler is not the only lob finisher on Dallas' squad. Brandan Wright has established himself as an early sixth man of the year candidate by dunking everything in sight, much in the same mold of Chandler. The Mavericks are relentless in this way. Wright has the fourth-most dunks in the league (30) despite playing just 19.3 minutes per game. Wright is shooting a flat 80 percent from the floor, which reads more like a clerical error on the stat sheet.
Most alley-oop dunks, 2014-15
Cuban believes Wright's slight build and quiet demeanor has fooled opposing defenses.
"He is the guy you want your daughter to date," Cuban said. "And the fact that he finishes higher above the rim than anyone in the NBA doesn't hurt either."
Together, Chandler and Wright have led the way for Dallas' dunkers. The team is on pace to complete 191 alley-oop lobs this season, which would shatter the Clippers' all-time rate set last season (169). It helps to have Jameer Nelson and Chandler Parsons on the squad, two guys who have a long history of feeding Dwight Howard down low in the pick-and-roll. They haven't skipped a beat in Dallas.
And then there's Dirk Nowitzki, who at 36 years old is quietly posting his highest PER since 2008 while shooting a crisp 51.7 percent from the floor. He's not a footnote; he often pulls a help defender away from the paint so they can't dissuade the lob to Chandler or Wright.
Altogether, the Mavs own the NBA's top offense by a mile and what's even more remarkable is that no team has been better through 15 games since the NBA started tracking points per possession back in 1997. The Mavericks are scoring at a ridiculous 115.2 points per 100 possessions, which is 11.9 points above the league average. Why adjust for league average? Offenses are generally more efficient these days as the 3-point shot becomes more popular, but Dallas' blistering mark is still tops on record.
The Mavs are gangbusters offensively, but they still have their work cut out for them on the other end. They rank about middle of the pack in defensive efficiency (103.5), which won't be good enough to contend for a title quite yet. As I mentioned last month, every NBA champion of the past 10 seasons has ranked in the top 10 in defense. The Mavericks aren't quite there yet.
But thanks to a healthy and spry Chandler, the Mavericks have replaced the Clippers as the home of Lob City. The Mavericks look wise for bringing him back this offseason as the Knicks continue their downward spiral without him. All in all, Mavs fans have a lot to be thankful for this holiday week.
News and notes
• The Mavericks may be the best offense we've seen in a long time at the 15-game mark, but you might be wondering about the other extreme. Where do this season's Philadelphia 76ers rank? Breathe easy, City of Brotherly Love. With an offensive efficiency of 90.1, the 76ers are "just" 13.3 points below average. Two other teams have gotten off to worse scoring starts in recent times: the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets (minus-13.7) and the 2002-03 Denver Nuggets (minus-14.8). The bad news: Both teams finished dead-last in their respective season. Or maybe that's good news for Philly fans who are in the tank.
• Mark me down among those who are a bit stunned to see Detroit struggle this badly under Stan Van Gundy. After getting rocked by the Bucks on Tuesday night, the Pistons fell to 3-11 on the season. The biggest surprise? Andre Drummond's shooting woes. Before his breakout night on Tuesday (23 points on 11-of-15 shooting), Drummond had shot just 39.7 percent from the floor in Van Gundy's new system. We hear a lot about the Team USA experience and how it launched DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis into superstardom. Funny, not a peep about Drummond.
• Kudos to Indiana coach Frank Vogel for getting the rag-tag Pacers to play impressive defense so far this season. Without Paul George, Lance Stephenson, David West or George Hill, the Pacers have somehow put together a top-10 defense and managed to keep the Mavericks in check on Monday. And Roy Hibbert didn't even play. If the Pacers make the playoffs after all this injury turbulence, Vogel deserves serious pub for coach of the year.
• This week's trivia question: It's Thanksgiving week, so which NBA player should thank his teammate for assisting him on the most baskets in the NBA? For example, LeBron James has assisted Kevin Love 21 times this season. Which passer-scorer combo has the most? Looking for the scorer and passer here. Last week's answer: The Atlanta Hawks took the most wide-open 3s (41); Lakers took the fewest (4).