The NBA regular season has played 1/3 of the schedule, the Suns and warriors performance is quite amazing, the Suns are currently in the 1st place in the West, the Warriors are temporarily ranked 2nd in the West. The Eastern Conference team is also worthy of everyone's expectations, and in the absence of Irving, the Nets are still in the first place in the East. The Bucks, who were temporarily listed in the middle and lower reaches of the East at the beginning of the season, have now risen to the second place in the East, and it can be said that the competition in the east and west rankings is quite fierce!
Relative to the team's record ranking, the nets' situation has attracted a large number of fans' attention, the main reason is that since the beginning of the season, Irving has not played a single game.
This means that the Nets have changed from the previous big three lineup to a dual-core lineup, Durant and Harden need to take on more offensive responsibilities, but the most physical stars are also people, and Durant and Harden also need enough rest.
With the average playing time per game increasing, Durant and Harden are also tired. Taking the Nets and pistons' showdown as an example, Harden was tired to rest, and Durant, who led the team in a single core, played 41 minutes, directly bombed the data of 51 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists, leading the Nets to successfully reverse the game.
So the question is, where is Irving? Because Irving is not vaccinated, he has not been able to go to the stadium to train or watch this season, which is really not a positive signal for Irving.
However, Irving did not idle, he recently went to the high school girls' basketball league site, watched the popular team Sierra Canyon High School game, and took a photo with juju Watkins, the top female high school student in the class of 2023.
The status quo of the Nets' big three has become very strange, that is, Harden is tired to rest, Durant played for 41 minutes, Irving watched women's basketball comfortably, and I have to say that Irving is indeed too willful.
Irving's absence has indeed disrupted the Nets' tactical deployment, the Nets offensive end is missing a strong scoring point, Durant and Harden naturally have to suffer more "care" from opponents, and the physical exertion is getting bigger and bigger.
It should be known that this is Harden's first truce this season, and in the previous 26 games, Harden has accumulated 942 minutes of playing time to rank first in the team. Durant has missed two games this season, but his cumulative playing time of 871 minutes is the second in the team, which is the chain reaction of Irving's absence.
Some people may find it strange that even if Irving misses the game, the Nets are still the first in the East? Anyone watching the game will know that the Nets have won mostly against rebuilding teams like the Pistons, Magic and Pelicans.
When faced with teams such as the Suns, Warriors and Bulls, the Nets could not open the situation and eventually swallowed the bitter fruit of the defeat. A while ago, the Nets lost to the rebuilding team Rockets, which is enough to prove that Irving's absence does have a great impact.
Although Irving's approach is too willful, the relationship between the Nets' Big Three is still quite good. After the Nets beat the Pistons, Irving promoted his clothing brand on personal social media, and Durant posted 2 "flame emoticons" in the comments section to cheer Irving up.
Overall, the Nets still need Irving, especially in the playoffs, and Irving's importance can be more reflected. At present, we can only expect Irving to return to the court as soon as possible, share some pressure for Durant and Harden, and the Nets can have more motivation to impact the championship. As for when Irving will return to the field, let's wait and see!