The New Orleans Pelicans have improved substantially on offense thanks in part to taking smarter shots. "Dumb zone" attempts are down while the Pels are taking 34% of their shots in the restricted area and 36% are behind the arc. Crashing the offensive glass helps, as does the additions of DeMarcus Cousins and Jameer Nelson on the floor and Chris Finch on the bench.
Pelicans Shooting Distribution
| Season | Restricted Area | Paint | Mid-Range | 3PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Restricted Area | Paint | Mid-Range | 3PT |
| 2017-18 | 34% | 19% | 11% | 36% |
| 2016-17 | 31% | 15% | 23% | 31% |
| 2015-16 | 33% | 13% | 26% | 28% |
| 2014-15 | 39% | 13% | 25% | 23% |
A big part of the improvement can be traced to players shooting well above their career averages, looking at you E'Twaun Moore and Ian Clark, and with such a small sample size there is plenty of reason to be skeptical about the torrid shooting continuing.