Offensive clinic: EuroLeague leaders in attacking mode / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: IMAGO/PanoramiC - Scanpix, Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images, BNS Credit IMAGO/PanoramiC - Scanpix, Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images, BNS

There is the saying that defense wins championships, while offense wins games. However, without solid offense, it's hard to imagine significant victories in modern basketball. It's two-way traffic.

The regular season of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague came to the end, so it's time to look at the overall numbers in terms of offense.

According to BasketNews advanced stats, the reigning EuroLeague champions Anadolu Efes Istanbul had the best offensive rating in the entire league, producing 117.2 points per 100 possessions.

Mike James-led AS Monaco were second with 116.7 points. The regular-season winners FC Barcelona captured third place (116.2), while Olympiacos Piraeus and FC Bayern Munich capped off the Top 5.

Top 10 teams in offensive rating:

Anadolu Efes - 117.2 Monaco - 116.7 Barcelona - 116.2 Olympiacos - 115.0 Bayern - 113.4 Maccabi - 113.0 Real - 110.3 Milan - 108.8 Crvena Zvezda - 108.4 Fenerbahce - 107.6

Monaco led the teams' scoring race this regular season, averaging 84.0 points per game. Efes and Barca are lurking behind the Roca Team with 83.1 and 82.9 points respectively.

In comparison, CSKA Moscow averaged 84.3 points per match last year. Ergin Ataman's squad was second in the 2020-21 season as well (84.0).

Top 10 teams in scoring average:

Monaco - 84.0 Anadolu Efes - 83.1 Barcelona - 82.9 Maccabi - 80.4 Olympiacos - 80.4 Real - 78.5 ALBA - 75.8 Bayern - 75.4 Baskonia - 74.8 Fenerbahce - 74.5

Regarding assists numbers, Barcelona captured first place there. The Catalans dished 18.7 assists per contest on average. Nothing strange, Nick Calathes was the top passer in this EuroLeague regular season, registering 6.1 dimes over 22 matches.

Moreover, the Greek point guard became the all-time EuroLeague assists leader, eclipsing Vassilis Spanoulis.

Fenerbahce, Real, Baskonia, and Olympiacos were the other four clubs in the Top 5.

Mike James (5.8 assists avg.), Shane Larkin (5.3), Kostas Sloukas (5.1), and Vasilije Micic (4.7) entered the elite group of players from an individual standpoint.

Top 10 teams in assists average:

Barcelona - 18.7 Fenerbahce - 18.1 Real - 18.0 Baskonia - 17.6 Olympiacos - 17.5 Anadolu Efes - 17.4 ALBA - 17.2 Zalgiris - 16.6 Maccabi - 16.5 Crvena Zvezda - 16.4

In terms of the Alphonso Ford Trophy, Vasilije Micic is guiding the path, posting 18.1 points per game (28 duels). Nikola Mirotic and Mike James are his main competitors, scoring 16.7 and 16.2 points respectively.

Worth mentioning that 18.1 PPG is the lowest bar since the 2013-14 season, when Keith Langford received EuroLeague Top Scorer honors averaging 17.6 points per game in Milan.

Last campaign, Alexey Shved posted 19.8 points in 23 games. Mike James was second with 19.3 points. Jordan Loyd (17.3), Vasilije Micic (16.7), and Nemanja Nedovic (16.0) made last year's Top 5 cut as well.

Top players in scoring average:

Vasilije Micic - 18.1 Nikola Mirotic - 16.7 Mike James - 16.2 Scottie Wilbekin - 15.3 Shane Larkin - 14.6 Elie Okobo - 14.5 Nemanja Nedovic - 14.3 Wade Baldwin - 14.1 James Nunnally - 14.1 Darrun Hilliard - 13.8 Sasha Vezenkov - 13.8 Dwayne Bacon - 13.8 Jan Vesely - 13.6 Tyler Dorsey - 13.4 Support BasketNews so we could make even better content.