This week's "Sound of the Game" is coming again, in addition to the fierce confrontation, let's also feel the warm time in the NBA
Today, the Nets finally announced Durant's injury situation. Inside the Nets, there is optimism that Durant can make a comeback after a 4-6 week rehabilitation.
That said, Durant will not be in the Nets for at least a month.
Durant's injury was also unlucky, and in a defensive round in the second quarter, Durant, who had just played, was accidentally bumped by teammate Brown and hit his left knee.
Durant almost fell, nash quickly replaced him, and Durant limped off the court. Before leaving, Durant spent only one quarter to get 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.
Unexpectedly, the "God of Death" was killing, and as a result, he was injured and warned.
So far this season, Durant has played in 36 games for the team, averaging 36.4 minutes per game, and can score 29.3 points (first in the league) 7.4 boards, 5.8 assists, 0.8 breaks 0.9 blocks.
Some people say that Adu's injury is caused by too much average playing time per game, which is obviously not causal, after all, Brown's head fell with no one expected.
But in the more than a month since Durant was injured, what will happen to him and the Nets may be something to predict.
Regarding Durant himself, the injury is likely to put him in the same boat as he brushes off various accolades this season.
The first and most impactful nature is The All-Star Weekend. The 2022 All-Star Weekend will take place from February 19 to February 21, 2022, after which the NBA will usher in a small holiday for player adjustments. The Nets' first game after the All-Star is February 25, and if Durant's recovery time of at least one month is observed, he is likely to miss this All-Star.
After all, compared to personal health, the All-Star Game is no longer important to Durant.
Another personal honor is the leading scorer, who has averaged 29.3 points per game this season, three of which have hit 52.0%/37.2%/89.4% of the shooting rate and 62.6% of the true shooting rate, which is the top scorer. This season is a great opportunity for Durant to get the scoring champion.
However, according to the NBA Rondo clause, the NBA officially gives the king of points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, and the attendance rate must reach 70% of the entire season, that is, 82 regular season games must be played at least 58 games.
Prior to this, Durant had missed 6 games, and if the All-Star Game was used as a node, Durant ushered in a comeback after the All-Star Game, and the Nets only had 23 regular season games.
Even at full attendance, Durant can only play a total of 59 games. If you take into account the individual rotation and the rotation at the end of the season, then Durant may be out of the scene is not enough reasons.
But that doesn't mean Durant loses the judging criteria, if Durant has played less than 58 games this season, he still has a chance to compete for the top scorer, because if there are less than 58 games, he will average the total score based on 58 games, thus calculating the average number of appearances.
However, Durant may have withdrawn from the regular season MVP competition. After all, the lowest attendance MVP in NBA history was Bill Walton in 1977-78, when Walton played 58 games for the Trail Blazers.
Since then, no player has won the MVP with more than 11 absences in a single season.
Although there is no such thing as attendance in the MVP selection, from various past experiences, most of the selection criteria will select "gymnastics" players.
In the era when Walton won the MVP, the MVP trophy was still a part of the voting between the players, and now the selection criteria for the MVP are voted by the media. Therefore, after entering the era of media voting, the attendance rate of MVP winners is mostly above 85%.
The NBA needs constant energy and stories to stimulate fans and the media to see and hear. So last season's MVP battle between Jokic and Embiid gave the prize to Joe's teacher with 100% attendance.
These are probably considered from Durant's personal point of view, and from the Nets' team as a whole, the biggest problem is the difficulty of running into the lineup. When Durant and Harden were on the floor, Irving was banned by the Nets for vaccines, and when Irving returned to the Nets, Durant was injured again.
He could only play on the road due to Irving's vaccine problems, and the time before the All-Star coincided with the Nets' most intensive away game. Between now and All-Star Weekend, the Nets have 17 games, 12 of which are on the road, including a four-game streak and a five-game streak.
Originally, this time should be the best stage for the Nets to run into the lineup, and it can also brush up the team's record, but now everything has become a luxury.
Since the formation of the Big Three, it has been too difficult to fit together.
According to statistics, since the merger of the big three, the Nets have played a total of 113 games in the regular season plus playoffs, of which only 16 games have appeared at the same time, accounting for 14%. If only the regular season is counted, the Nets have played a total of 101 games, and the Big Three have only played 10 games at the same time, accounting for less than 10%.
Remember how Harden got hurt last season? It wasn't because Durant and Irving stopped because of injuries that Harden had to become "the strongest worker in the league" and strained his hamstrings.
Now that Durant is injured, Irving can't play at home, and Harden is in the same predicament as before. And today's Harden is no longer the Harden of last season's carry, and the Nets' record is bound to be tested.
Currently, the Bulls are in first place in the East, but they are only 2.5 wins ahead of Philadelphia and the Cavaliers in the 5th and 6th places, and the ranking between the top six can be said to be changing rapidly, although the Nets are only 0.5 wins away from the Bulls, but once they lose a few more games, who knows if they will fall out of the top six.
After all, the Nets' real thighs today are only Adu.
According to statistics, when Durant was on the court, the Nets could get 112.9 points per 100 rounds, a net victory over the opponent by 4.5 points; Durant was not present, and the Nets could only score 107.3 points per 100 rounds, net losing 0.9 points against the opponent.
In Durant's 36 games, the Nets have a record of 24 wins and 12 losses, with a winning percentage of 67%; in the 6 games that Durant has missed, the Nets have a record of 3 wins and 3 losses, with a winning rate of only 50%. In addition, Durant's VORP value (irreplaceable value) has also reached 3.1, and the whole league is only less than Jokic and Alphabet Brother.
Therefore, Adu is already irreplaceable for the Nets, even if Harden + Irving two people, may not be able to make up for durant's absence on the impact on the team.
So at this moment, do the Nets have to consider adjusting the lineup? According to the regulations, February 10, local time, is the closing date for trades this season, and if the Nets want to operate through trades, they will have to make a fuss before this.
But they don't have any leverage at all. In order to form the Big Three, they used all the draft picks they could use, and the only available first-round picks are in 2028. In addition to this, they have two trade exceptions worth 11.5 million and 6.3 million respectively, which can be used to exchange players.
Although Boss Cai is not bad for money, the luxury tax is surprisingly high. For example, with the 6.3 million transaction exception, the luxury tax would skyrocket from 110 million to 142 million.
Therefore, the Nets will most likely seek some players with better value for money in the buyout market. But this season's Nets can't find big names like Griffin and Ader to join like last season.
Although Nash has always said that he will reduce the burden on the core players, the reality is completely contrary. This team built with superstars as the main backbone, as long as the super giant collapses, the team will be like a window paper that will be broken.
For example, nash said in the last game: "We knew we should be more cautious about Harden's appearances and timing, but in the absence of Joha and Irving, KD was also injured unexpectedly, we had to let Harden do more." ”
It's not so much that the Nets are competing with other teams, but rather that they are competing with themselves, whether it is Irving not vaccinating, or the team's health problems, it is the Nets' competition with themselves.
Now Durant is injured, and the Nets have become a puller. Hopefully, this time, we won't recreate the results of the Big Three formation on the Nets.