[Cactus Jack]

I haven't watched the NBA in years Remind me again , who plays great defense in that league?

The Celtics get after it defensively. Minnesota grades really well in the metrics and usually looks the part (but they have had a favorable slate to do it against). You can see five guys on a string if you ever catch either of them on. Wolves are actually playing at a historical adjusted defensive pace right now-- Gobert and Towns are 7'0+, McDaniels is 6'9, and Edwards is a 6'4 athletic freak, so they can make it a long night with all that length funneling everything to the rim.

Heat usually scheme well and have line-ups that can give the opposition fits. Milwaukee also has a lot of size, length, and athleticism that can shut you down for stretches... they've been horrible so far this season but are starting to play better. Clippers have some good individual defenders like Kawhi and Westbrook to make up for Harden.

A lot of it is just going to be match-up dependent too though.

Most people see the high scores in NBA games and forget that there's an extra two minutes per quarter (on top of their 24 second clock). With the differential in talent levels, that can mean many more points regardless of how well someone defends.