Thinking about it, they actually were very exciting to watch this week. And I believe I watched every quarter

It probably takes more than one round to make a that call...

You do make a good point it may well be to do with talent taking over as the logjam on the ladder begins to set in to the minds of everyone and every game turns into finals type urgency.

And it wouldn't take much of a change to affect this either...

A little more talent, depth and better shot % all round can make a huge difference to the way the game is played and the officials will generally fall into line with how a game is flowing.

Could be onto something there OP?

Teams are starting to click a bit more. This takes longer offensively than defensively.

This has been happening for about a month now. I think a combination of the refs calling the game cleaner and teams clicking offensively.

Since the start of R7 the average score is just over 88ppg. For the season the average is around 85ppg which is in line with high scoring seasons in 2001, 2007, 2010, 2014 and 2016.

Usually more talent = lower scoring without reffing opening the game up, so credit to Scott Butler and the refs for tweaking things after a pretty physical start to the season.

The NBL games have defintiely improved as a specticle. All teams boast more depth than previosuly and we've got some of the best quality imports we've had for years. The super guards - Randle, Clarke and now Ware. The super Forwards - Prather, Newley, the quality bigs Johnson, Anderson, Jawai, Ogilvy.
Also the ref's support the offensive player so much, making defenders work really hard to get any calls.
The games are played at pace and every game is important. Its a great competition.

Interesting stat I saw today over twitter; the Kings are 8th in terms of pace.

I think the 36ers were 1st.

In statistical pace the rankings at the moment are:

Adelaide 96.3
Illawarra 94.9
New Zealand 93.4
Melbourne 90.7
Sydney 89.9
Brisbane 89.6
Perth 88.9
Cairns 88.6

These are the ones I saw Paul.

https://twitter.com/crunchtimeshots/status/808288865685377025

I think what we've seen is an influx of more offensive players, who have altered the balance.
And just my impression of the games I have seen, is that it is taking teams a bit longer to get their defence set. I'd suggest that's a function of the big chances in some many rosters. As these teams mature, I'd expect their defence to become tighter.

I'm not sure that "better reffing" contributes to higher scores???
People talk about "refs letting the games flow" but refs are there to call fouls. Letting games "flow" will only encourage scraggier defence.

Some people just seem to like big numbers.
People think the recent MU & Cats game was somehow wonderful because of the higher scores, but the first quarter was shit, like watching kid's ball. Any team that lets the current WILDCATS score 31 points in a quarter, needs their coaches foot in their arse.
If I wanted to watch players just trundle back and forth exchanging baskets, I would only come and watch the Dunk Team.

If you want to watch the ball go in the basket, there are much more time-efficient ways than watching the Dunk Team.

Lack of flop warnings and more charges being called the last 2 rounds. Do people like that? Some questionable charges IMO.