Nope. I'm sorry, it's not. We have regressed.
Defensive Rating
17/18: 103.9 (2nd in the NBA, Went on a large run where we had a Drtg under 100)
18/19: 105.8 (4th in the NBA)
Difference: down 1.9, two spots in the rankings
Opponent PPG
17/18: 99.8 (2nd in the NBA)
18/19: 105.9 (4th in the NBA)
Difference: down 6.1, two spots in the rankings
Offensive Rating
17/18: 108.4 (16th)
18/19: 109.0 (20th)
Difference: up 0.6 which is minimal given teams are up in this category league wide due to rules making offense easier, down 4 spots in the rankings (and down as a whole when factoring the new rules/style of play)
PPG
17/18: 104.1 (19th)
18/19: 109.2 (20th)
Difference: up 5.1, down one spot in the rankings. Same situation as offensive rating.
Point Differential
17/18: +4.3
18/19: +3.3
Difference: down 1.0
FG%
17/18: 46.2% (13th)
18/19: 46.1% (16th)
Difference: down 0.1% when it's easier to score league wide
2FG%
17/18: 51.5% (12th)
18/19: 53.6% (9th)
Difference: up 2.1%, one bright spot
3FG%
17/18: 36.6% (12th)
18/19: 34.6% (24th)
Difference: down 2.0%, Big drop
FT%
17/18: 77.9% (12th)
18/19: 73.3% (26th)
Difference: down 4.6%, Big drop
Rebounds
17/18: 43.3 (20th)
18/19: 45.3 (19th)
Difference: Up 2.0, one spot
Assists
17/18: 22.4 (21st)
18/19: 25.0 (17th)
Difference: up 2.6, four spots.
Steals
17/18: 8.6 (4th)
18/19: 8.3 (12th)
Difference: down 0.3, eight spots
Blocks
17/18: 5.1 (9th)
18/19: 5.5 (10th)
Difference: up 0.4, down one spot
Opponent FG%
17/18: 44.9% (6th)
18/19: 45.6% (12th)
Difference: down 0.7%, six spots
Opponent 3FG%
17/18: 36.5% (17th)
18/19: 35.9% (20th)
Difference: up 0.6%, down three spots
Opponent 2FG%
17/18: 48.8% (4th)
18/19: 50.2% (6th)
Difference: down 1.4%, two spots
Opponent Rebounds
17/18: 41.6 (1st)
18/19: 42.6 (2nd)
Difference: down 1.0, one spot
Opponent Assists
17/18: 20.0 (1st)
18/19: 21.2 (1st)
Difference: down 1.2
We are worse on both sides of the ball. Not only that, Rubio's numbers are down. Ingles numbers are down. Mitchell's efficiency is down. We are not as good as last season. Plain and simple.