Since Rockets are #1 in Offense (by a huge 3pt margin) over the past 18 games, the Pace is once again not really correlated to efficiency, when it comes to a Harden-run PnR offense. fwiw: When Pace is league wide Up at such a significant difference from Last Year, you have to look at multiple reasons. How much are teams league-wide really being coached and told to increase their tempo, or (adopting MDA's philosophy) to take the early look and not wait for another better one that may never happen and/or Freedom of Movement simply allows FGAs from first options more Fouls increase pace -- freedom of movement can put players to the line in the Bonus much sooner than the play intended to get off a shot, (even non-shooting fouls do, since inbounds plays are often very quick) 14-second clock resets increase pace The Freedom of Movement ones might not affect the Rockets as much as other teams. And it doesn't mean you are necessarily scoring more efficiently, just that you are getting off shots faster.
