After the All-Star, what are the NBA's highlights worth paying attention to?
After the All-Star, the NBA will have a short break, from February 22 to February 24, Beijing time, there will be no NBA games, and the NBA will restart again on February 25 until the end of the regular season on April 9.
So, after the All-Star Game, before the playoffs, what are the NBA's points to watch?
Can Harden fit in with the 76ers?
More than 10 days have passed since Harden was traded to the 76ers, but Harden has not yet made an official appearance for the 76ers, and according to the latest reports, Harden is expected to play for the 76ers in the first game after the All-Star, ushering in his debut.
As a former MVP player, although Harden's overall performance in the past two seasons has declined, he is still regarded as a player who can decide the championship belongs, after getting Harden, the 76ers have naturally become a popular contender for the championship, but whether Harden can perfectly integrate into this 76ers team, there is no doubt that there is a big question mark, from the combination point of view, Embiid and Harden are inside and outside, but Embiid has never worked with a player of Harden's level before, after Harden joined, He undoubtedly needs to make some changes, and Harden has never worked with embiid's level of interior in his career, especially since Embiid is still at the peak of his career and is a strong contender for MVP this season.
Therefore, what kind of performance Harden will play with the 76ers is undoubtedly very noteworthy, and to some extent, this will also directly determine the ownership of the NBA championship this season.
Can the Lakers still make the playoffs?
The Lakers, who have the Big Three, are undoubtedly one of the most disappointing teams of the season, not only failed to become championship contenders, but may not even be able to make the playoffs now, as of now, the Lakers have only achieved a record of 27 wins and 31 losses, ranking 9th in the West, they are as many as 6 wins behind the Nuggets, who are 6th in the West, and it is already very difficult to qualify for the playoffs directly. At the same time, they are only 4.5 wins ahead of the 11th-place Spurs, so keeping a seat in the playoff is the most realistic for the next Lakers.
But this is not an easy thing for the Lakers, Davis will miss at least 4 weeks because of the ankle injury, which means that he will miss most of the remaining games, and may even miss the entire regular season, the Lakers will only rely on James to lead the team, James will continue to play a role in the center position, which will undoubtedly increase his burden on the court, and then increase the hidden danger of injury, so far this season, the Lakers can not be satisfied with their performance at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, in the case of Davis's absence due to injury, The Lakers undoubtedly face an extremely serious challenge.
As we all know, in this year's All-Star Game, James and the Cavaliers returning to Cleveland can be described as eyebrows, james may leave the Lakers in the future Reports are becoming more and more numerous, once the Lakers finally miss the playoffs this season, then James's departure will become more likely, and may even be "early", so the next less than 30 games, not only for the Lakers this season is significant, but also will directly affect their future.
Can the Sun hold the first place in the West?
In the first half of the season, the Suns were undoubtedly the best performing team in the league, as of the All-Star, they had a record of 48 wins and 10 losses in 58 games, but the core of the team, Chris Paul, collapsed after 58 games, due to a broken wrist, Paul will be absent for at least 6 weeks, although the Suns are optimistic that Paul can return before the end of the regular season, but Paul's long-term absence will undoubtedly affect the performance of the Suns.
It's important for any team to be able to get home advantage in the playoffs, the Suns are currently 6.5 wins ahead of the Warriors in the No. 2 in the West, and with less than 25 games left in the season, it's a considerable advantage, but Paul's injury makes it all a suspense now, after paul joined the Suns, he played almost all of the team's regular season games, and his significance to the team is obviously irreplaceable.
Paul's injury will also make the Suns' other players, especially core players such as Booker, Ayton and Bridges, need to carry more, and whether they can help the Suns stabilize the First Place in the West and the First Place in the League before Paul returns has undoubtedly become a very concerning thing in the next period of time.
Can the new Nets take off again?
At the trade deadline, the Nets finally sent Harden away, the team got Simmons, Curry Jr., Drummond, to meet a new future, before the All-Star, the Nets suffered 11 consecutive losses, their ranking also slipped to 8th in the East, but for such a star-studded Nets team, to be able to play the playoffs, they are confident that they can become the final winner in the playoffs.
But the question is, can the Nets be the nets that people first expected? Beijing time on February 22, the Nets also signed Dragic in the buyout market, the overall strength of the team has been further improved, from the paper strength, this is a rather terrible team, they have Durant, Irving, Aldridge, Griffin, Drummond, Simmons, Dragic, these have been selected all-Star players, there are Harris, Curry, Mills, who have proved their excellent pitchers, so if they can finally run in place, then the Nets are undoubtedly frightening, But there are also many problems and uncertainties in the Nets, such as whether Irving can finally get vaccinated to play in the whole game, such as how Simmons is in the end, and whether he can have a tacit understanding with Durant and others, of course, these uncertainties also include the state of veterans such as Dragic, whether Joha can return this season and so on.
Who will spend the major awards?
At this time of year, people will start to look forward to the attribution of major individual honors, and this year's situation is undoubtedly more exciting, because there is a lot of suspense in several regular individual awards, especially the regular season MVP that is most concerned by fans, at present, the Bucks' Antetokounmpo, the 76ers' Embiid, and the Nuggets' Jokic have a great opportunity to compete for this award, they can say that they have their own advantages, but also there are such and such deficiencies, almost certainly, This year's MVP competition will be held to the last place, and the 3 largest ones born in 1994 will create the fiercest competition for MVPs in recent years.
In addition, the best defensive player, the fastest improving player, the best coach, the best sixth and the best rookie are also very fierce, among them, the best rookie competition may be the most suspenseful, because the Cavaliers player Evan Mobley has a certain advantage in attendance, data, team records, especially the team's record, after all, before the start of the game, no matter who thought, the Cavaliers can temporarily rank 4th in the East.
In addition to these individual awards, the competition for various data kings is also worth paying attention to, especially the high-profile scoring kings, embiid is currently in first place with 29.6 points per game, Alphabet Brother is ranked 2nd with 29.4 points per game, and James, 37, is ranked 3rd with 29.1 points per game, and even ranks 4th. DeRozan, who is averaging 28.1 points per game, also has a chance to win the honor, and if James can win, then he will become the oldest leading scorer in NBA history, and if the other three win, then this will be their first time to win the leading scorer, obviously, this kind of motivation will make the competition for the leading scorer even more fierce.
Wen | Li Hui
Edit | ball lightning