The most unexpected strategic development of the young 2014-15 season wasn't the product of an offseason brainstorm or a training-camp experiment. Instead, it was something like desperation that led Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks to begin using a 2-3 zone defense after losing stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook -- among several others -- to injuries.
"We've done it in the past," Brooks told ESPN's Royce Young, "just not a lot of times because early on we really focused on establishing a defensive identity and toughness, so I didn't want to throw zone in five, six years ago. We've done it periodically, just not much. This year it's been born out of numbers, fatigue and foul issues. So we put it in early in the season and now we're using it as a weapon to keep teams off balance."
According to Synergy Sports tracking, the Thunder didn't play a single possession of zone against the Portland Trail Blazers in their season opener. After Westbrook went down with a fractured bone in his right hand, they played a handful of zone plays in their subsequent game against the L.A. Clippers. They wouldn't go without zone entirely again for nine games. On some nights, Oklahoma City has played zone for extended stretches. In a game at the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 4, they played almost exclusively zone, using a man-to-man defense for just a few plays.
Overall, the Thunder have used zone on 20 percent of their plays this season, per Synergy. And while that might not sound like a lot, consider this: The highest percentage tracked by Synergy in its database (covering the past six seasons) was 10.5 percent by the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks -- barely half as frequently.