Stats review: How owning the interior has led Real Madrid's recent rise

No team has been more effective – offensively or defensively – at the rim this season than Los Blancos

Don’t look now, but Real Madrid has climbed into the top six for the first time this season as Los Blancos have made real headway in their efforts to extend their streak of consecutive Turkish Airlines EuroLeague championship game appearances to four. After a sluggish 6-9 start, the perennial power has won seven of its last eight games to build some momentum heading into the final third of the season.

While a narrow home win over Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz was not exactly a prime example, Real has set its baseline this season in the same place it has throughout its recent multi-season run of success: at the rim.

As the table above suggests, Real currently has the largest differential in the EuroLeague between the number of points they have scored at the rim and the number they have allowed — including free throws — defensively and is one of only a few teams building a meaningful advantage in that fashion. Not only that, but even after a lackluster start in the standings, that represents the largest mark the team has posted in a season in its recent run of championship game appearances.

With a total point differential of 64 for the season but 146 at the rim — including 125 with Walter Tavares on the floor — Real’s edge inside has been its cornerstone this year, often compensating for its shortcomings elsewhere. Even in a game where Tavares dealt with some foul trouble and the team conceded 21 offensive rebounds, Real still outscored Baskonia by 5 points at the basket. There’s no discounting the way Real’s interior play raises its floor in a season where only two wins separate third and 11th place in the standings.

While the Spanish club sits in a tier by itself, Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade has been very imposing inside in its own right and Anadolu Efes Istanbul has built a meaningful advantage in close as well. Partizan has shot a third-ranked 68% around the rim offensively. Though its big men have been very effective inside, it has been the consistency of its guards that has bolstered the team's shooting and productivity around the rim. Defensively, it has been the rotations to prevent shots at the rim entirely that have helped Partizan limit opponents’ points in the interior more than how it contests the shots that it does face in close.

The opposite is true of Efes, which leads the EuroLeague in blocks by a considerable margin. Vincent Poirier spearheads those efforts to put a lid on the rim, but a variety of players contribute, including several perimeter players. Efes's big men have been driving the team's success inside, with Poirier and Dan Oturu combining to shoot 76% at the rim.

With nine teams checking in this season with a differential inside of plus-or-minus 2 points per game around the rim, it remains very difficult for teams to find a way to build a significant competitive advantage in the EuroLeague. That puts what Real has done in perspective and adds a degree of intrigue to what it accomplishes from here on out as the team continues to distance itself from early losses.