I compared every 2025–26 player averaging at least 15 points per game against the league’s top-10 and bottom-10 defenses.

Teams were classified using their final full-season defensive rating. The middle ten defenses were excluded, and players needed at least eight games against both groups.

Top-10 defenses: OKC, DET, SAS, BOS, TOR, HOU, NYK, MIN, ATL, PHX
Bottom-10 defenses: WAS, UTA, SAC, MIL, BKN, NOP, IND, MEM, CHI, DEN

Source for team defensive ratings: https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2026.html

Biggest scoring declines

Positive decline means the player scored more per 36 against bottom-10 defenses.

Rank	Player	Top-10 PTS/36	Bottom-10 PTS/36	Decline	Top TS%	Bottom TS%	TS decline
1	Joel Embiid	28.0	35.6	7.6	60.5%	64.1%	3.6 pp
2	Giannis Antetokounmpo	31.1	38.2	7.1	64.8%	65.6%	0.8 pp
3	Brandon Miller	20.0	25.9	5.9	51.3%	59.1%	7.8 pp
4	Donovan Mitchell	27.9	33.7	5.8	60.0%	63.8%	3.7 pp
5	Alperen Şengün	19.9	25.4	5.5	54.5%	62.7%	8.1 pp
6	Shaedon Sharpe	22.7	28.0	5.3	50.6%	62.8%	12.2 pp
7	Michael Porter Jr.	26.1	30.9	4.8	60.5%	64.8%	4.3 pp
8	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	31.4	36.2	4.8	66.4%	66.9%	0.6 pp
9	Bam Adebayo	20.5	24.6	4.2	54.4%	54.9%	0.5 pp
10	Paolo Banchero	21.1	24.8	3.7	53.9%	58.1%	4.2 pp
11	Luka Dončić	31.6	35.2	3.6	58.1%	64.6%	6.4 pp
12	Keyonte George	24.8	28.1	3.3	60.2%	62.2%	2.0 pp
13	Jamal Murray	25.3	28.5	3.3	59.0%	67.2%	8.2 pp
14	Austin Reaves	22.1	24.9	2.8	61.0%	66.2%	5.2 pp
15	Julius Randle	21.5	24.2	2.7	55.6%	61.1%	5.5 pp

The average decline is 2.13 fewer points per 36 on 2.79% lower TS% for context.

The best reverse examples are Curry who averages 29 pts/36 on 63.6% TS against bottom 10 defenses. compared to 32.4 pts/36 on 61.6% TS against top 10 defenses. Ant averages 30.2 pts/36 on 65.6% TS on top 10 defenses comapred to 30.8 pts per 36 on 60.2% TS against bottom 10 defenses.

Omega-Toad-7017 | Bulls

37 | 2 hours ago

I feel like Bam probably isn’t here if you exclude the 83 point game and that’s why hes better than Kobe

StrategyTop7612 [OP] | Clippers

11 | 2 hours ago

Bam “Wilt Bam Kobe” Adebayo himself

TheBuzzSawFantasy | 76ers

27 | an hour ago

Claude, make the primary stat be a percentage of points differential not absolute otherwise the data just shows the highest scorers. There paste that into your prompt.

A 7 point delta for Giannis when he still puts up 31 is silly. And based on his average for the season, was his worst segment the middle cohort you excluded? The data seems kinda meaningless.

The average also is a meaningless number in absolute terms across all players. “Giannis has 3x the average variance when facing good D what a scrub!” Yeah well your data set has players averaging 15 ppg.

ContributionLazy1119

10 | an hour ago

Can you share the list sorted by TS decline?

Also possible to do it for last 3 seasons. 1 season is not enough imo.

StrategyTop7612 [OP] | Clippers

8 | an hour ago

here: I might do last 3 seasons later, it takes a while

Rank	Player	TS% vs Bottom-10	TS% vs Top-10	TS decline
1	Shaedon Sharpe	62.8%	50.6%	+12.2
2	Jamal Murray	67.2%	59.0%	+8.2
3	Alperen Sengun	62.7%	54.5%	+8.1
4	Brandon Miller	59.1%	51.3%	+7.8
5	Cooper Flagg	56.5%	49.5%	+6.9
6	Luka Dončić	64.6%	58.1%	+6.4
7	James Harden	63.2%	57.1%	+6.1
8	Julius Randle	61.1%	55.6%	+5.5
9	Austin Reaves	66.2%	61.0%	+5.2
10	LaMelo Ball	58.5%	53.4%	+5.1
11	Dillon Brooks	56.4%	51.3%	+5.1
12	Nikola Jokić	70.6%	65.7%	+5.0
13	Deni Avdija	60.6%	56.2%	+4.4
14	Michael Porter Jr.	64.8%	60.5%	+4.3
15	Paolo Banchero	58.1%	53.9%	+4.2
16	LeBron James	61.1%	57.4%	+3.8
17	Donovan Mitchell	63.8%	60.0%	+3.8
18	Joel Embiid	64.1%	60.5%	+3.6
19	Desmond Bane	63.8%	60.3%	+3.5
20	Jalen Brunson	59.7%	56.3%	+3.5
21	Cade Cunningham	58.0%	54.9%	+3.1
22	Brandon Ingram	60.7%	58.0%	+2.7
23	Trey Murphy III	62.9%	60.6%	+2.4
24	Stephen Curry	63.6%	61.6%	+2.0
25	Keyonte George	62.2%	60.2%	+2.0
26	Jaylen Brown	57.4%	55.8%	+1.6
27	Norman Powell	60.4%	59.2%	+1.2
28	Tyrese Maxey	60.2%	59.1%	+1.2
29	Kawhi Leonard	63.6%	62.6%	+1.0
30	Giannis Antetokounmpo	65.6%	64.8%	+0.8
31	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	67.0%	66.4%	+0.6
32	Bam Adebayo	54.9%	54.4%	+0.5
33	Zion Williamson	65.0%	64.6%	+0.4
34	Nickeil Alexander-Walker	60.7%	60.8%	−0.1
35	Devin Booker	58.5%	58.7%	−0.2
36	Victor Wembanyama	62.2%	62.6%	−0.4
37	Jimmy Butler III	63.1%	63.8%	−0.7
38	Kevin Durant	63.8%	65.3%	−1.5
39	Pascal Siakam	54.9%	56.6%	−1.7
40	Jalen Johnson	57.9%	59.9%	−2.0
41	Karl-Anthony Towns	61.9%	64.7%	−2.8
42	Anthony Edwards	60.2%	65.6%	−5.3

Stardust-Unbreaking | Knicks

1 | an hour ago

Wolves had the bottom 2 and traded one 😭

DrSwaggenheimer | Timberwolves

3 | an hour ago

Because of the 2nd apron, not because we didn’t love KAT.

Stardust-Unbreaking | Knicks

4 | 35 minutes ago

I know I just like making fun of every other team because of a lifetime of people making fun of the Knicks. I will perpetuate the cycle of violence.

Zeeron1 | Thunder

1 | 27 minutes ago

I’d go into the 3rd apron for KAT, we are not built the same😤

nex_eden

9 | 2 hours ago

embiid: 50 games played / giannis: 36 / sharpe: 50 / porter: 52 / george: 54 / reaves: 51

fewer games + isolating the top and bottom 10 defenses = judging players based on the difference between <20 game sample sizes.

in giannis’s case, if we assume he plays ¹⁄₃ of his games against the top 10 and ¹⁄₃ against the bottom (obviously an oversimplification, but if it wasn’t it would be even more skewed) you’re comparing 12 games against 12 games.

StrategyTop7612 [OP] | Clippers

2 | 2 hours ago

Giannis has 13 on bottom 10 and 13 against top 10.

werthless57

6 | an hour ago

Found myself focusing more on the last column. Shai and Giannis stand out.

the_dust321

2 | 2 hours ago

You didn’t do anything at all, but ai did

LaughterIsPoison | LeBron James

10 | an hour ago

Why does that matter? He had the idea. How he crunched the data is irrelevant as long as it’s right.

Fuhrmanator23

2 | an hour ago

That the reality we’re living in 🤷‍♂️

Nuclearsunburn | Heat

2 | 43 minutes ago

May I introduce you to Mr. Edrice “Wilt Bam Kobe” Adebayo

Adorable-News-9364 | Spurs

1 | 2 hours ago

It would be cool to see the opposite of this too. Who rises up against better defenses and coasts against bad teams?

StrategyTop7612 [OP] | Clippers

3 | 2 hours ago

I said in the post, The best reverse examples are Curry who averages 29 pts/36 on 63.6% TS against bottom 10 defenses. compared to 32.4 pts/36 on 61.6% TS against top 10 defenses. Ant averages 30.2 pts/36 on 65.6% TS on top 10 defenses comapred to 30.8 pts per 36 on 60.2% TS against bottom 10 defenses. KD too goes from 24.7 on 63.8% to 26.2 on 65.3% against top 10 defenses.

Adorable-News-9364 | Spurs

2 | an hour ago

I just meant a 1-15 table. But yeah that makes sense for Steph.

DukeOfStuff_ | Timberwolves

1 | 18 minutes ago

I would’ve guessed Ant, he definitely takes games against good teams a lot more seriously

iJustSeen2Dudes1Bike | Trail Blazers

1 | an hour ago

Sharpe noooo :(

Kdog122025 | Warriors

1 | an hour ago

Johnathan Kuminga

CliffBoof

1 | an hour ago

If you do this for career stats it would be really interesting

SimTheGame

1 | 38 minutes ago

The 8-game floor is thin for a split this sharp. One series against a bottom-ten team can move pts/36 a few points, which is most of the gap you are ranking on.

The binary also flattens the board. Phoenix and OKC both sit in the top ten, and they are not the same nights. A player who feasts on one and dies against the other still looks stable in this table.

Curry scoring more against top-ten D on worse TS is the useful row. That is extra usage, not a better scoring environment. The decline column mixes volume and efficiency, which is why the points rank and the TS rank tell different stories.

mookz23 | Bucks

1 | 35 minutes ago

Giannis is such a Freak.

Zeeron1 | Thunder

1 | 29 minutes ago

I expected Luka to be higher tbh, but the TS% drop explains it more I think

DukeOfStuff_ | Timberwolves

1 | 20 minutes ago

Ant would never

Green_Spirit1531

0 | an hour ago

Edrice can really do it all !

RUDE-GULLIT | Knicks

-2 | an hour ago

Of course Luka is on here

TraderJake09 | Bucks

2 | an hour ago

There are plenty listed, but ALL of the players fans typically associate with foul baiting are listed (except Trae Young)

[OC] Which NBA Players Feast on Bad Defenses and Fall Off Against Good Ones?