A defensive playstyle is one of the trickier ways to win games in NBA 2K23. Without a proper strategy, there is no way to get past opponents’ lines and reach that basket on the other end. So, keeping that in mind, we have put together a guide for how to play good defense in NBA 2K23 and level up your defensive game.
Defensive tips for NBA 2K23
A good defense is just as important as a strong offense. The ball isn’t always going to be in your hand, so for the times when it isn’t, you will need to up your defense game, and to help you do that, we have mentioned a few defensive tips for NBA 2K23.
Become the shadow of your opponent
When the defense starts, every player will have one opponent assigned to them, and they have to cover that player for the rest of the round, so make sure you stick close to them and don’t give them an opening for passing and keep narrowing the circle around them.
Once you are constantly on their back, watching their every move, they will feel pressured, and in that kind of situation, they are bound to make mistakes, and you will have a chance to cash on their mistakes.
Keep an eye on their moves and try to make a pattern out of them, which will make it much easier for you to sync your jumps with them and not give them any opportunity to score a point.
Force turnovers
Forcing a player to make a turnover in NBA 2K23 is a crucial part of winning. Turnovers will cause the team to miss a whole opportunity to score a point. There are several ways you can cause a player to do a turnover.
You can catch the ball halfway when a player passes, which will be a turnover. To do that you can time your reach for the ball button with the exact time the ball leaves the hand of the opponent.
Be sure not to spam the button because that will likely cause a reach-in foul.
Stay at an arm’s length
Because you will be covering a single opponent throughout the defense, you have to keep the optimum distance between you and the other player.
If you are too far away from the opponent, they will slip past, and if you are too close to the player, you have a chance of causing a foul.
The optimum distance is at arm’s length. An arm’s length means you are close enough to catch the ball between passes but not so close that you will constantly crash into each other.
Lower your Defensive Assist
While a higher value for Defensive Assist Strength sounds good for the playstyle, it hinders the overall efficiency of your gameplay. Ensure the Defensive Assist value lies between 0-15 and not more than that. By doing so, you’ll rely less on the AI and have greater control over the player’s movement.
Substitute Tired Players
Players become tired and substituting them after halftime helps maintain your team’s strength and power, ultimately improving your defense. So, keep a look out for the players and substitute them timely.
NBA 2K23 Defense controls
What good are all the defense tips if you don’t know how to do them? So we will ensure that you are familiar with all the defense controls in NBA 2K23.
Defensive Controls can be categorized in two ways. The On-Ball Defensive controls and Off-Ball Defensive Controls of which are mentioned below.
On-ball defense controls
| Action | Keybind |
|---|---|
| Move Player | Left Stick |
| Hands Up | Right Stick |
| On The Fly Coaching | Directional Pad |
| Double Team | Left Bumper |
| Intense-D | Left Trigger |
| Intentional Foul | View Button |
| Sprint | Right Trigger |
| Pause | Menu Button |
| Icon Pass | Right Bumper |
| Steal | X |
| Block / Rebound | Y |
| Take Charge | B |
| Player Swap (Closest to Ball) | A |
Off-ball defense controls
| Action | Keybind |
|---|---|
| Move Player | Left Stick |
| On-Ball Steal | Right Stick |
| On The Fly Coaching | Directional Pad |
| Double Team | Left Bumper |
| Intense-D | Left Trigger |
| Intentional Foul | View Button |
| Pause | Menu Button |
| Sprint | Right Trigger |
| Icon Swap | Right Bumper |
| Steal | X |
| Block / Rebound | Y |
| Take Charge | B |
| Player Swap (Closest to Ball) | A |
