preface:
With Irving's return, the Nets Big Three finally have the opportunity to play together in the new season. In the first game of Irving's return, the Nets Big Three reversed the Pacers and won a crucial game. The Big Three faced the Chicago Bulls, the number one in the East, and the Nets combined to score 61 points to help the team beat the Bulls by 26 points. Such a performance of the Big Three makes fans optimistic about the prospects of the Nets' championship this season, so what is the level of the complete Nets in the league?
The Big Three have never completed the run-in
Since James Harden moved to Brooklyn on Jan. 13 last season, the Nets have formed the Big Three. In fact, the Big Three have only played 16 games together. Just a dozen games are still divided into two seasons plus the playoffs, which is actually a resistance for the big three to adapt to each other. After coming to the Nets, Harden suffered a rare injury problem, which was completely invisible during the Rockets, and Harden in the Rockets period was Ironman. Durant returned from a serious injury and needed protection, always stopping and stopping, during which he was also infected with the new crown and was absent from the team in violation of health and safety protocols. Not to mention Irving, except for the gratuitous non-play, he has always been reluctant to be vaccinated, so he cannot play at home. Last season's playoffs were injured in a game against the Bucks, and the playoffs were reimbursed. Therefore, the Nets Big Three simply did not have time to adapt, look at the Heat Big Three of that year, the run-in experienced great difficulties, and even because of the poor performance, there was also a "shoulder bumping door". After a season of running-in, the Heat lifted the championship trophy. The peak Heat Big Three still need a season of running-in, and 16 games may not be able to make the Nets Big Three successful.
The big three are complementary
Although the Big Three lineup needs to be run-in, the biggest reason why the Heat Big Three have run-in for a season is that James and Wade are not matched. Both are stars who attack with the ball on the outside and need to have the ball in hand, so the first season the two could not find the right way to exist, until the establishment of James as the core, the Heat ushered in two consecutive championships. The Nets Big Three are different, the real ball holding big core is only James Harden, Durant and Irving are not Turbi = other sticky balls, especially Durant, his biggest advantage is not his own system, but adapt to any system. Harden can be an organizer in this lineup, which is what Harden began to do as soon as he arrived at the Nets, ceding the offensive power to Duou. Statistically, in the 16 games in which the Big Three played, the Nets won 13 and lost 3. This shows that the Nets Big Three don't want to run into it at all. Irving and Durant are both good playmakers and finishers, while James Harden is the player who has won the assist king, making it perfectly reasonable for him to move the offense. He can still deliver 9.9 assists this season in the face of Harden's decline in form, and he is a pass master comparable to James. Even if there are not enough games to run into, the Big Three are still full of tacit understanding on the pitch.
The full-body Nets are championship-level
In the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season, without Harden, the Nets doubled the defending champion Bucks in the first two games, and it was not until Irving was injured that the playoffs were reimbursed, and the Nets finally lost to Xiong in the rush to seven. Throughout the playoffs, the biggest threat to the Bucks is the Nets, and it is also a Nets that are not an all-team lineup. The New Season Nets continue to strengthen, bringing in Aldridge and Mills and Millsap, further enriching the bench strength, Griffin, Brown and other players who were the best players in the playoffs last season continue to play for the team, and the Nets' strength is greatly enhanced. Early in the season, the Nets finished first in the East and achieved without Irving. Although it has now fallen to the third position in the East, it is largely due to the absence of all three giants in the previous health and safety agreement, not the embodiment of the nets' real strength. Now that Irving is back, the Fully Physical Nets have broken the First Bulls in the East, beating their opponents by 26 points, and DeRozan once angrily tore off the towel in the game, and we have reason to believe that the Nets are completely dominant in the East.
The biggest opponent in the East is still the Bucks
The Bucks look like they're only the fourth-best team in the East, but they've all won games in strong-game battles, especially the double-nets that slaughtered the Warriors. Alphabet brother has always been the Big Trouble for the Nets, in order to trade Harden Nets' best interior lineman Allen was sent away, he is also the most reliable player in defense of Alphabet Brother. This makes the point of the alphabet brother always exist without a solution, but there is no way for the Big Three team to be all-encompassing. The Nets' real opponents in the East are the Bucks, and other teams, including the Bulls and Heat, simply can't break the nets' wrists. But with Irving's return, the Nets have three points to fully dominate, while the Bucks only have one point, and in terms of paper strength, the Nets are still better. In fact, the Nets are only half a step away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, and this is still due to injuries and problems suffered by Irving and Harden. Therefore, how to deal with the Bucks is the most important issue for Nash to consider at present.
epilogue
The full-fledged Nets are undoubtedly championship-caliber teams, but the NBA doesn't just look at paper strength. If you only look at the paper strength, the first place in the West this season should be the Lakers and not the Suns. Chemistry is especially important for a team, although the Big Three are complementary, but the number of games played is too few, and Nash's coaching ability has been questioned, and the on-the-spot command reaction in the playoffs is not rapid, which is also a shortcoming that restricts the Nets from going further. However, compared to the head coach, the big three is the basic plate of the team, and the Heat coach Spollstra was also a rookie coach and still made the Heat a championship team. I believe Nash is capable of doing this too!