In February last year, the Nets successfully traded Harden through a multi-party transaction, without paying Durant or Irving, from the Rockets who were bent on asking for superstars to let Harden go, and formed a super three-giant combination headed by "Durant + Harden + Irving".
After the big three joined forces, even though Durant missed a lot of games due to injury, the Nets still achieved the second record in the East under Harden's leadership. Even if Harden and Irving had not been injured in the second round of the playoffs last year, even the Bucks led by Alphabet Brother would have "drunk and hated the Northwest"...
This is also in line with most people's cognition, after all, the Nets' big three are not as mutually exclusive as the Lakers' big three, which is easy to produce internal friction. In contrast, Irving's offensive firepower can be used as a complement to the Nets, while Harden concentrates on tandem teams and Durant can maintain physical strength to harvest games in the final moments.
So in the minds of most people, in fact, the Nets Big Three is easier to play 1+1+1 than 3 compared to various combinations in the league, and it is easier to play dominance.
It's just that the highly anticipated Nets in the new season have not played dominance at all in the absence of Irving and Harden's inability to find form due to injury + new rules. So far this season, only 25 wins and 14 losses in the East, there is still a big gap between them and the expectations of the outside world...
0 wins, 8 losses! Against the top four teams in the East and West, the Nets simply can't dominate
In the absence of Irving and the decline in Harden's strength, if the Nets' 25-14 record is not much dominant, it is a bit harsh for them. But in fact, judging from the results of the Nets' new season against the top four teams in the East and West, they really did not play the dominance of the championship-fighting strong teams.
The New Season Nets are 0-2 against the Bulls (1st in the East), 0-2 against the Bucks (3rd in the East), 0-1 against the Heat (4th in the East), 0-1 against the Grizzlies (4th in the West), 0-1 against the Warriors (2nd in the West), 0-1 against the Suns (1st in the West).
Judging from the situation of the new season, the Bulls and Bucks in this year's Eastern Conference playoffs are likely to become the biggest obstacles for the Nets to enter the playoffs; while the Warriors and Suns of the West are very likely to become their opponents in the Finals; so in the face of the dismal results of the top four teams in the East and West, it is also worrying about the Nets' championship journey...
But even in the face of the top four teams in the East and West 0 wins and 8 losses, but in the face of the Nets' 25-14 losses in the Second Place in the East + super big three combination, there are still many people who firmly believe that even if the Nets are struggling now, they can even say that they have no dominance at all, but they can easily enter the playoffs, and they can also find the winning code under the blessing of the big three, so as to successfully win the championship.
After 0-8 against the top four teams in the East and West, the reason why some people are optimistic that the Nets can go further in the playoffs is simply because most of the Nets in the new season are not all of the Big Three, and they can also achieve the second record in the East.
Even they always give the impression that as long as Irving returns, as long as the Big Three are combined, the Nets can still play a dominant role, and they will still be the team most likely to win the championship.
25 wins, 14 losses! Even in second place in the East, the Nets are actually worse than we thought
1, Harden's state is uncertain, and it is difficult to retrieve the past "rocket boarding" state. Shortly after joining the Nets last season, I thought Harden could "paddle" for a long time, but no one could have imagined that Durant would miss most of the season due to a hamstring injury, and Irving also dared to ignore the team management and teammates and willfully miss the game.
At that time, although Harden "gained weight" (fat) a lot, he still played a super star data performance and forcibly led the Nets to stabilize the top two in the East. However, in the new season, Harden has been playing in a muddy mood due to injury + new regulations, not only the defensive end is often "distracted", and even the offensive end cannot find the past style.
Although in recent times, Harden has scored 30+ points in four consecutive games against the Lakers, Clippers, and Philadelphia, which once made people think that he dreamed of returning to the "Rocket Boarding"...
But in fact, in the next game against the Grizzlies, Pacers, and Bucks, Harden returned to his original offensive state - scoring less than 20 points in three consecutive games. In particular, Harden's defensive state is still stuck in the "eye defense" stage, coupled with the decline in offensive firepower, in fact, this has obviously affected the overall strength of the Nets.
2) Owen is back, but not quite. Last season, around Harden and Durant, the two top scorers, Irving played the most efficient performance of his career - averaging 26.9 points, 4.8 boards and 6.0 assists per game, 50.6% shooting rate + 40.2% three-point shooting rate + 92.2% free throw shooting rate, maximizing the Nets' offensive firepower.
After Irving missed the game in the new season because of the refusal of vaccines, even if the Nets have the two superstars of Harden + Durant, in fact, they cannot play the dominance of last season. And from the current situation, although Irving has returned, because he still refuses the vaccine, he can only get the opportunity to play in the away game where the epidemic prevention regulations are not strict.
This also means that even if Irving still has the same efficient performance and form as last season, because he can only play away games, it is doomed that his help to the Nets is relatively limited, and it is difficult to become a "savior" in the eyes of fans.
In the first season of Garnett + Pierce + Ray Allen in 2007, he won the championship; in the first season of James + Wade + Bosh, he reached the Finals in the first season, and in the second season, he eliminated the Thunder three less to win the championship; the first season of James + Irving + LeFort in 2014 also reached the Finals, and defeated the Warriors with 73 wins the following year to win the championship.
The three Big Three teams were able to succeed because they knew how to make sacrifices at the right time. Today's Nets from the "Irving refuses the vaccine, Harden is lazy, Durant super god", in addition to Durant for the Nets to give everything they have, Harden and Irving are relatively "selfish" and unwilling to make too much sacrifice for the team.
Irving would rather be "banned" than vaccinated, and Harden is still lazy on the defensive end when the offensive state is not good, unwilling to change his play style of play and help the team play better. Coupled with the inaction of the team's head coach, the Nets are too far behind other teams at the tactical system level.
In such a situation, even if the Nets can finally rely on Durant's "super god" to force themselves to rush to the first place in the East, as long as Harden + Irving is still unwilling to make sacrifices and Nash does not go to class; no matter what the nets' record is in the end, their actual strength will always be worse than we think...