The five top-scoring benches (Memphis 46.0, Washington 45.2, Golden State 45.0, Miami 43.8, Chicago 43.6) and the five best benches by net rating shared no teams.
Back to the trend of the day: Collin Sexton compares Lakers newcomer Sandro Mamukelashvili to Kevin Love
Poly Rating · from the trend of the day
8 NBA bench duos 2025-26: scoring vs net rating
Memphis had the NBA's highest-scoring bench in 2025-26 at 46.0 points a game, yet the Grizzlies finished 25-57.
- No. 1: Jaime Jaquez Jr. & Dru Smith (Miami Heat)
- 8 places
01Final list
The leading AIs built their own top-ten lists independently. Above is one combined result that is easy to check: every place has a reason, the AIs that included it and, where the AIs gave one, a source.
Order: from most to least AI agreement.
A bright badge means this AI put the entry on its list. A dim badge means it did not.
- 1
Jaime Jaquez Jr. & Dru Smith (Miami Heat)
League-high 1,138 bench points (15.4 a game) on the NBA's 4th-highest-scoring bench, yet Smith's most-used bench pairing went -8.4 in 511 minutes. Net figure comes from one source.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, Kimi. Did not include: Nova, DeepSeek.In their lists: Claude · ChatGPT · Meta: 7 · Gemini: 5 · Kimi: 2
What each AI noted 5
- Claude
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
- ChatGPT
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
- Metaplace 7
Jaquez dropped 1,138 points off bench — most in NBA 2025-26 — but Heat bench defensive rating 114.0
Source ↗ - Geminiplace 5
Though Jaquez led the NBA with 1,138 total bench points alongside Robinson's gravity, their 23.2 combined points still resulted in a -4.2 shared net rating.
Source ↗ - Kimiplace 2
The league's No.1 bench scorer (15.4) shared the floor in Miami's most-used bench units — and those units were cooked: raw net -8.4 to -11.0.
Source ↗
5 AIs put it here - 2
Payton Pritchard & Sam Hauser (Boston Celtics)
Low scoring (18.2 combined, one source) but +10.4 shared in 524 minutes. A different cut shows +17.2 in a 186-minute five-man unit. Bench share not checked.
Included it: Meta, Gemini. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Nova, Kimi, DeepSeek.In their lists: Meta: 1 · Gemini: 10
What each AI noted 2
2 AIs put it here - 3
Cam Spencer & Santi Aldama (Memphis Grizzlies)
Memphis led the NBA with 46.0 bench points a game and still went 25-57. Spencer's 122 defensive rating (one source) shows where the points went back.
Included it: Gemini, Kimi. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, DeepSeek.In their lists: Gemini: see list · Kimi: 1
What each AI noted 2
- Gemini
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Kimiplace 1
No.1 bench scoring in the NBA — and 25 wins: Spencer's own defensive rating (122) shows the bench points came with the minutes lost.
2 AIs put it here - 4
Ajay Mitchell & Jaylin Williams (Oklahoma City Thunder)
The reverse story: about 20 quiet combined points on a bench that topped net rating at +5.3 (NBA.com) or 4.8 (Oklahoman). StatMuse ranks San Antonio first instead.
Included it: Meta, Kimi. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Nova, DeepSeek.In their lists: Meta: 2 · Kimi: 5
What each AI noted 2
- Metaplace 2
Combined 20 PPG off bench last season, but Thunder bench owned top net rating 4.8 and 112.8 offensive rating
- Kimiplace 5
20.8 quiet combined points on the NBA's best bench by net rating (+5.3) — they won the minutes, not the headlines.
2 AIs put it hereno source given - 5
Khris Middleton & Tre Johnson (Washington Wizards)
Washington's bench scored 45.2 a game (2nd) yet posted a -13.5 bench net rating (second-worst). These are team figures; no duo rating or bench share was found.
Included it: Gemini, Kimi. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, DeepSeek.In their lists: Gemini: see list · Kimi: 3
2 AIs put it here - 6
Malik Monk & Keon Ellis (Sacramento Kings)
22.4 combined points against a -8.4 shared net rating in 422 minutes, on a Kings bench at -13.2. Only one answer gives this, through a generic link. Unconfirmed.
Included it: Gemini. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, Kimi, DeepSeek.In their lists: Gemini: 1
What each AI noted 1
- Geminiplace 1
A high-octane 22.4 combined points per game collapsed into a -8.4 shared net rating, creating a 30.8-point divergence between box-score output and floor impact.
Source ↗
1 AIs put it here - 7
T.J. McConnell & Obi Toppin (Indiana Pacers)
On a Pacers team at -8.0 net, the pair stayed +0.8 over 424 minutes with 20.8 combined points. Only one answer gives this, so it is unconfirmed.
Included it: Gemini. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Nova, Kimi, DeepSeek.In their lists: Gemini: 9
What each AI noted 1
- Geminiplace 9
Despite Indiana's -8.0 team net rating during an injury-plagued campaign, this bench duo scored 20.8 points per game while stubbornly staying in the black at +0.8 over 424 minutes.
Source ↗
1 AIs put it here - 8
Isaiah Stewart & Caris LeVert (Detroit Pistons)
17.4 combined points on Detroit's +2.5 bench (4th), but LeVert's own net rating was -3.5. The unit won around him. Team proxy, not a shared rating.
Included it: Kimi. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, Nova, DeepSeek.In their lists: Kimi: 7
What each AI noted 1
- Kimiplace 7
17.4 combined points on the No.4 bench by net rating (+2.5) — with LeVert personally underwater (-3.5 net): the unit won around them, not always because of them.
Source ↗
1 AIs put it here
02Worth knowing
What the AIs noticed while building the list.
Bench net ratings depend on the source. San Antonio is +6.5 on StatMuse but +2.3 on NBA.com. Boston's bench is quoted anywhere from 2.9 to 13.1 because sources filter bench minutes differently.
Two answers named Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton as a 2025-26 Utah bench duo. The single game they cited comes from an earlier season, and StatMuse lists Sexton under multi-team totals, so the pair was left out.
Bench scoring tables mislead on small samples. Stephen Curry tops StatMuse at 23.0 bench PPG from just 2 games, while Jaquez's 15.4 came over 74 games.
03How we counted
In plain words, no formulas.
1The question
Top 10 NBA bench duos whose combined scoring and shared net rating tell opposite stories
2Where it applies
NBA
3What we looked at
- Both players must have appeared off the bench in at least 70% of their 2025-26 games.
- The duo must have shared at least 300 minutes on the floor.
- Rank by the gap between combined per-game scoring and shared net rating, not by either number alone.
- StatMuse bench scoring — Individual points per game and total points in games a player came off the bench, 2025-26 regular season, with games played.
- NBA.com team stats (bench) — Team bench points per game and team bench net rating, 2025-26, with league ranks.
- StatMuse bench net rating — Team bench net, offensive and defensive rating, 2025-26. Its numbers differ from NBA.com's because it filters bench minutes differently.
- CraftedNBA lineups — Raw and stabilized net rating for 2- to 4-man units with 200+ shared minutes.
- NBA.com two-man lineups — Shared net, offensive and defensive rating for two-player pairs. This is the board the ranking calls for, but no answer pulled checkable figures from it.
4Who ranked
The leading AIs, each building its own list of ten independently and naming a source for every place: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, Nova, Kimi, DeepSeek.
5How the places were set
The same entry written differently by different AIs was counted as one. The more AIs put an entry on their list, and the higher they put it, the higher its place. "AI agreement" shows how many of the AIs had it on their own list. Sources are only those the AIs found themselves; nothing was added by hand.
04Each AI's own list
🇺🇸 Meta10 places · 2 notes
The same question, answered by Meta alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Payton Pritchard & Sam Hauser – Boston Celtics (2025-26)
+17.2 net in 186 minutes as Queta- Brown- White-Pritchard-Hauser core, while Celtics bench averaged only 36.8 PPG
Source ↗ - 2Isaiah Joe & Aaron Wiggins – Oklahoma City Thunder (2025-26)
Combined 20 PPG off bench last season, but Thunder bench owned top net rating 4.8 and 112.8 offensive rating
- 3Bobby Portis & Gary Trent Jr – Milwaukee Bucks (2025-26)
Portis 22-point season-high plus Trent 12, yet duo was -7 and -12 in same game — 37.9 team bench PPG masked losing minutes
- 4Russell Westbrook & Peyton Watson – Denver Nuggets (2025-26)
15-point second-quarter jolt together, but Nuggets bench only 35.7 PPG — team told Westbrook not to pick up option
Source ↗ - 5De'Anthony Melton & Al Horford – Golden State Warriors (2025-26)
+11.5 per 100 in 20 minutes without Butler, yet Warriors overall net -0.5 ranked 20th via databallr despite 45.0 bench PPG
- 6Jordan Clarkson & Collin Sexton – Utah Jazz (2025-26)
46 points off bench in one night — Clarkson 24, Sexton 22 — on a Jazz bench that lived near bottom of net rating
Source ↗ - 7Jaime Jaquez Jr & Haywood Highsmith – Miami Heat (2025-26)
Jaquez dropped 1,138 points off bench — most in NBA 2025-26 — but Heat bench defensive rating 114.0
Source ↗ - 8Jake LaRavia & Luka Doncic – Los Angeles Lakers (2025-26 WOWY)
4.8 net in 1,035 minutes together, but 118.1 defensive rating would have ranked 24th — offense scored, defense bled
- 9Cole Anthony & Bobby Portis – Milwaukee Bucks (2025-26)
Combined 38 off bench — Portis 22 season-high, Anthony 16 on 8-of-12 — only time Bucks bench had rare positive plus-minus all year
- 10Collin Sexton & Sandro Mamukelashvili – Los Angeles Lakers (2026-27 projection)
Sexton 15.4 PPG on 40.1% 3PT plus Mamu per-36 18.4 pts/8.1 reb — tasked to fix Lakers 29th-ranked bench scoring
Source ↗
What Meta noticed
Warriors led NBA with 45.0 bench PPG in 2025-26 yet were -0.5 net overall (20th) via databallr — top scoring bench didn't win minutes
Celtics bench best net rating +6.2 and lineup +17.2 in 186 minutes despite only 36.8 PPG — opposite story to Warriors
🇺🇸 Gemini10 places · 3 notes
The same question, answered by Gemini alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Malik Monk & Keon Ellis (Sacramento Kings)
A high-octane 22.4 combined points per game collapsed into a -8.4 shared net rating, creating a 30.8-point divergence between box-score output and floor impact.
Source ↗ - 2Jordan Clarkson & Collin Sexton (Utah Jazz)
The league's most aggressive reserve scoring tandem tallied 31.5 points per game but surrendered 121.2 points per 100 possessions for a -9.8 shared net rating.
Source ↗ - 3Russell Westbrook & Julian Strawther (Denver Nuggets)
Generating 19.8 combined points per game at breakneck pace, the duo sank to a -7.1 net rating across 360 minutes whenever isolated from Nikola Jokic.
Source ↗ - 4Caris LeVert & Georges Niang (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Cleveland's veteran second-unit anchors delivered 20.5 points per game but posted a -5.6 shared net rating due to perimeter defensive breakdowns.
Source ↗ - 5Jaime Jaquez Jr. & Duncan Robinson (Miami Heat)
Though Jaquez led the NBA with 1,138 total bench points alongside Robinson's gravity, their 23.2 combined points still resulted in a -4.2 shared net rating.
Source ↗ - 6Bogdan Bogdanovic & Onyeka Okongwu (Atlanta Hawks)
A premier pick-and-roll pairing that produced 24.0 points per game, yet leaked 118.7 defensive rating for a -4.8 net rating across 434 shared minutes.
Source ↗ - 7Norman Powell & Russell Westbrook (LA Clippers)
Their explosive 23.1 combined scoring average masked heavy perimeter congestion, netting a -3.9 net rating over 332 floor minutes.
Source ↗ - 8Cole Anthony & Moritz Wagner (Orlando Magic)
Wagner's elite +12.0 individual on/off swing clashed with Anthony's lower-percentile efficiency, holding their 21.6 combined scoring to a pedestrian -1.8 shared net rating.
- 9T.J. McConnell & Obi Toppin (Indiana Pacers)
Despite Indiana's -8.0 team net rating during an injury-plagued campaign, this bench duo scored 20.8 points per game while stubbornly staying in the black at +0.8 over 424 minutes.
Source ↗ - 10Payton Pritchard & Sam Hauser (Boston Celtics)
At the inverse extreme of the spectrum, their modest 18.2 combined scoring masked an overpowering +10.4 shared net rating across 524 minutes.
Source ↗
What Gemini noticed
The Memphis Grizzlies led the entire NBA in bench scoring with 46.0 points per game, yet high volume did not prevent second-unit lineups from posting volatile defensive ratings when primary rim protectors sat.
The San Antonio Spurs registered the NBA's best bench net rating at +6.5 while accumulating over 3,400 reserve points, proving that defensive discipline anchors sustainable bench plus-minus far more than isolation scoring.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. paced all NBA reserves with 1,138 total bench points, yet his two-man tandems experienced defensive drops when paired with perimeter specialists against opposing starting counters.
🇨🇳 Kimi10 places · 4 notes
The same question, answered by Kimi alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Cam Spencer & Santi Aldama (Memphis Grizzlies, 2025-26)
No.1 bench scoring in the NBA — and 25 wins: Spencer's own defensive rating (122) shows the bench points came with the minutes lost.
- 2Jaime Jaquez Jr. & Dru Smith (Miami Heat, 2025-26)
The league's No.1 bench scorer (15.4) shared the floor in Miami's most-used bench units — and those units were cooked: raw net -8.4 to -11.0.
Source ↗ - 3Khris Middleton & Tre Johnson bench unit (Washington Wizards, 2025-26)
The No.2 bench-scoring team in the league never appears in the top-5 bench net ratings — scoring aplenty, winning nowhere.
Source ↗ - 4Jamal Shead & Sandro Mamukelashvili (Toronto Raptors, 2025-26)
The anti-duo: 13.4 combined points — lowest on this list — from Toronto's two full-time reserves, whose bench was the team's identity, not its punch.
Source ↗ - 5Ajay Mitchell & Jaylin Williams (Oklahoma City Thunder, 2025-26)
20.8 quiet combined points on the NBA's best bench by net rating (+5.3) — they won the minutes, not the headlines.
- 6Naz Reid & Bones Hyland (Minnesota Timberwolves, 2025-26)
Two career reserves with six starts between them: 18.1 combined points, the cheapest production-to-winning trade on the board.
Source ↗ - 7Isaiah Stewart & Caris LeVert (Detroit Pistons, 2025-26)
17.4 combined points on the No.4 bench by net rating (+2.5) — with LeVert personally underwater (-3.5 net): the unit won around them, not always because of them.
Source ↗ - 8Keldon Johnson & Dylan Harper (San Antonio Spurs, 2025-26)
The control case: 25.0 combined points — second-highest on this list — and the minutes actually won (Spurs bench +2.3, Keldon +317 on the season). No opposite story here, and that's the point.
Source ↗ - 9CJ McCollum & Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Atlanta Hawks, 2025-26)
35.7 combined bench points a night — the most explosive scoring pair here — in the smallest sample, acquired midseason.
Source ↗ - 10Mitchell Robinson & Miles McBride (New York Knicks, 2025-26) — near-miss
The Knicks had the No.3 bench by net rating (+2.7), but McBride's 63.4% bench share falls just under the 70% bar — the closest call this cutoff produced.
Source ↗
What Kimi noticed
The two leaderboards barely overlap: the top-5 in bench scoring (Memphis 46.0, Washington 45.2, Golden State 45.0, Miami 43.8, Chicago 43.6) and the top-5 in bench net rating (OKC +5.3, Boston +3.2, New York +2.7, Detroit +2.5, San Antonio +2.3) share zero teams — visible scoring and winning bench minutes were almost mutually exclusive in 2025-26.
Memphis is the purest opposite story: the league's No.1 bench scoring output (46.0–47.9 PPG depending on tracker) belonged to a 25-57 team — Cam Spencer's 122 defensive rating per 100 possessions shows why the points didn't travel.
The Lakers angle: the Sexton–Mamukelashvili second unit that Collin Sexton praised on October 21, 2026 (comparing Mamu to Kevin Love) is new for 2026-27 — in 2025-26 Mamukelashvili was a Raptor, part of Toronto's scoring-light, defense-first bench duo with Jamal Shead (13.4 combined PPG).
Payton Pritchard-type stars were filtered out on purpose: StatMuse's bench-scoring list is topped by big names in tiny samples (Curry 2 bench games, Zion 7, Reaves a few) — the 70% bench-appearance rule is what turns a leaderboard into an actual second-unit ranking.