Monta Ellis, Ty Lawson, Jeremy Lin Among NBA’s Best Drivers
Photo by Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Most NBA players drive to the basket with the intent to score or get fouled. It’s a good strategy. Shots near the rim carry the highest expected value in the game because of their proximity to the basket and the average rate at which they are converted. And most fouls, as we know, occur close to the basketas well.
Which players are scoring most on drives? Here’s the current leaderboard, courtesy of SportVu Player Tracking data released by the NBA in conjunction with STATS LLC.
Player | Player PPG on Drives |
|---|---|
| Monta Ellis (DAL) | 7.9 |
| Evan Turner (PHI) | 7.3 |
| Eric Bledsoe (PHX) | 7.1 |
| Tony Parker (SAS) | 6.6 |
| Ramon Sessions (CHA) | 6.5 |
| Ty Lawson (DEN) | 6.1 |
| Jeremy Lin (HOU) | 6 |
| James Harden (HOU) | 5.9 |
| Jeff Teague (ATL) | 5.8 |
| Kyrie Irving (CLE) | 5.5 |
Obviously, the list of players who score most on drives is going to bear a close resemblance to the players who drive most often. Volume creates opportunity. Six of the top 10 players in points per game on drives are also in the top 10 in drives per game (Lawson, Ellis, Parker, Lin, Teague, and Irving are top 10 in both). This is why it’s also important to consider the players who convert most often on their shots when driving to the basket.
Player | FG% on Drives |
|---|---|
| Manu Ginobili (SAS) | 76.00% |
| Ray Allen (MIA) | 68.80% |
| LeBron James (MIA) | 68.40% |
| Jeremy Lin (HOU) | 65.40% |
| Tony Parker (SAS) | 64.10% |
| Evan Turner (PHI) | 62.50% |
| Chandler Parsons (HOU) | 60.80% |
| Darius Morris (PHI) | 60.00% |
| Reggie Jackson (OKC) | 59.60% |
| James Harden (HOU) | 59.20% |
No surprise here, with LeBron James ranking right near the top in field goal percentage on drives for players who average at least 3.0 drives per game. Ginobili and Allen barely make that cut, averaging 3.0 and 3.1 drives per game, respectively. Ginobili’s 76.0 percent conversion rate on drives thus far this year is absurd and will likely come down, but we can expect James to keep up a rate close to this all year. LeBron led the NBA in restricted area field goal percentage (among players with at least 150 attempts) last season at 76.0 percent and he’s at an even more astronomical 77.4 percent so far this season.
Parker, Lin, and Harden are the only three players in the top 10 in drives per game, points per game on drives, and field goal percentage on drives.
Of course, the dribble drive isn’t always used to score. The threat of close basket is often enough for the driver to draw multiple defenders, which enables him to pass the ball to an open teammate on the perimeter or under the basket. That’s why SportVu also tracks Team Points Per Game on Drives, which adds up the points a player scores on his own drives and those his teammates score off his passes when he takes it to the basket.
Player | Team PPG on Drives |
|---|---|
| Ty Lawson (DEN) | 14.1 |
| Monta Ellis (DAL) | 12.6 |
| Goran Dragic (PHX) | 11 |
| Tony Parker (SAS) | 10.9 |
| Jeremy Lin (HOU) | 10.6 |
| Jeff Teague (ATL) | 10.6 |
| Tyreke Evans (NOP) | 10.1 |
| Evan Turner (PHI) | 9.2 |
| Ramon Sessions (CHA) | 9 |
| Kyrie Irving (CLE) | 8.9 |
There are a whole bunch of familiar names on this last. Lawson, Ellis, Parker, Teague, Dragic, Lin, Evans, and Irving each rank in the top 10 in drives per game, so it’s no surprise they are also among the top 10 in points created via drive per game. Sessions and Turner are 18th and 19th in drives per game, respectively. Turner jumps into the top 10 in team points per game on drives mostly thanks to a 62.5 field goal percentage on his drives, which allows him to score 7.3 points on 6.7 drives per game.
Sessions, meanwhile, moves into the top 10 thanks to his passing. If we subtract player points per game from team points per game on drives, we’re able to isolate how many points per game each player creates, just with his passing. Through this method, we know Sessions creates 2.5 points per game for his teammates through passes on drives alone. That number, though, doesn’t put him anywhere close to the top 10. In fact, he’s 38th in the league.
Player | Points via Pass on Drives |
|---|---|
| Ty Lawson (DEN) | 8 |
| Goran Dragic (PHX) | 6.8 |
| Steve Blake (LAL) | 5.6 |
| Jameer Nelson (ORL) | 5.4 |
| Ricky Rubio (MIN) | 5 |
| Jeff Teague (ATL) | 4.8 |
| Tyreke Evans (NOP) | 4.8 |
| Monta Ellis (DAL) | 4.7 |
| Brandon Jennings (DET) | 4.7 |
| Jeremy Lin (HOU) | 4.6 |
Lawson paces the field here with 8.0 points per game created via passing on drives, and he’s way ahead of the second place Goran Dragic, who checks in at 6.8 points per game. Some new names pop up on the list as well: Steve Blake’s 5.6 points per game created via passing on drives represents over three-quarters of his 7.3 team points per game created on drives; Jameer Nelson’s 5.4 per game is 69 percent of his total; Ricky Rubio’s 5.0 is 69.5 percent of his.
You may have noticed the only player to appear on all four lists above: Jeremy Lin. He’s helped by the fact that he’s currently sixth in the league in drives per game, and that Houston’s offense demands he drive to the basket a whole lot, but he’s obviously been incredibly productive when doing so. He’s improved his restricted area field goal percentage leaps and bounds since he broke out during the 2011-12 season. It stood at 48.7 percent that year, rose to 58.1 in his first season in Houston, and has skyrocketed to 76.6 percent this season. He obviously won’t keep up a LeBron-level conversion rate on close attempts, but his talent for getting to the basket, finishing there, and finding open teammates if he doesn’t have a good shot is for real.
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