That’s happened while having an elite offense has seemingly become more important to winning a title. Out of the last nine champions, only two teams didn’t have a top-five offense (the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers and the 2022 Warriors). From 2005-15, five of 11 champions had a top-five offense, while seven had a top-five defense. Just four of the last nine champions have had a top-five defense. Even if we expand the focus a little bit, the NBA’s final four teams have had a higher-ranked offense, on average, than defense in five of the last seven seasons. These are all slight differences, of course. There has been no significant change that has completely devalued defense in winning a championship. The three leading title favorites this season — the Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers — all have top-eight defenses, and the Thunder have the most dominant defense the NBA has seen in a long time.