Washington Wizards: 3 standout stats early in 2017-18

Pace

There’s no doubt the Washington Wizards have some incredibly athletic players. John Wall might actually be the fastest man in the NBA. When Wall is on the court, the team takes advantage of his ability to drive to the hoop and get rid of the ball quickly. Generally, the faster the Wizards are playing, the better they do.

In the two months during the 2016-17 NBA season where the Washington Wizards averaged over a 100 pace, they won 18 of their 25 games, which would have put them on track to win 59 games in an NBA season (four more than what was needed to sit atop the Eastern Conference).

Even though the Wizards added some slower veterans, they are still playing with a top-eight pace in the NBA at 103.26. The only playoff teams with a higher pace than them are the Golden State Warriors.

Most teams playing with such a high pace are young teams with losing records. The only teams with a better record than the Wizards with a faster pace are the Orlando Magic and the Golden State Warriors. That means nobody in the league is more effective playing fast except for the Magic and Warriors.