Beijing time on March 19, the NBA regular season continued, the Blazers lost to the Nets 123-128 away, this battle the Blazers almost led two and a half quarters, and also led 75-62 at halftime, resulting in a wave of 39-26 by the Nets in the third quarter, the Fourth Quarter Nets did not give the Blazers another chance, and then played a wave of 27-22 to win.
The process was a bit unexpected, but the result was not unexpected - the Nets have been in good shape for a while, and after winning this victory, the last six games have been 5 wins and 1 loss, while the Blazers, who are the worst performing team in the league after the All-Star Period, have only 1 win and 9 losses, the bottom of the league.
It is no exaggeration to say that this year's Blazers are one of the most disappointing teams in the league, due to Lillard's injury, the perennial playoff Blazers have gradually withdrawn from the playoff scramble, with the idea of not breaking or standing, they have also sent away some high-quality instant combat power including Powell, Covington, and CJ McCollum.
However, the disappointment is not completely unprovoked, just as in the CJ trade, the Blazers got Hart.
Take this game, although the Blazers lost, but Hart's performance is not bad, he played 40 minutes, shooting 9 of 18, 3 of 8 three-pointers, 4 of 5 free throws, 25 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal, scoring and rebounding are the highest in the team.
Hart scored 10 points in the first quarter, and in the crucial fourth quarter, the Blazers were reversed by the Nets, but Hart scored 11 of the team's 22 points in a single quarter.
In the last four games, Hart has scored 20+ in three of his games:
— Facing the Wizards, 44 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals
— Facing the Hawks, 31 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists
— Against the Knicks, 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists
— Facing the Nets, 25 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists
In the first three games of joining the Blazers, Hart also scored all 20+:
— Against the Knicks, 23 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists
— Against the Bucks, 27 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists
— Against the Grizzlies, 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists
Among them, a few days earlier in the game against the Wizards, Hart also set a series of records:
- A career high of 44 points
—The third player in Blazers history to have 40 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 three-pointers in a single game, the top two are Roy and Lillard
The first player in NBA history to shoot 40 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 6 three-pointers, and 70 percent shooting in a single game
The last "historical first" is obviously tailor-made, but being able to play such a performance at least shows that Hart is strong, after all, for an ordinary player, 30+ is still easy to talk about, 40+ 8 + 6 is not so simple.
This season's Hart is also quietly improving.
Before being traded, Hart played in 41 games for the Pelicans, when he averaged 13.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, shooting 50.5%/32.3%/75.3% from three fields and shooting 60.4% from the field.
After being traded, Hart played in 12 games for the Trail Blazers and currently averages 19.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, shooting 47.6%/35.9%/76.8% of the three and shooting 59.9% of the true shooting.
Before being traded, Hart averaged a career-high 13.4 points per game, and he was still the guard rebounding monster (8.0 rebounds per game last season), not only that, but his assists surged from 2.3 last season to 4.1 because of the departure of the ball brother.
After being traded, Hart's rebounds became less, but his offensive play increased significantly, averaging nearly 20 points per game, shooting from 9.4 to 14.2, directly doubling the number of three-point shots, from 3.2 to 6.5, shooting from 32.3% to 35.9%, and maintaining a true shooting rate of about 60%.
For now, Hart will still be the core of the Blazers' offense for the rest of the game, and head coach Billups said of Hart: "Let Hart score more, this is a new role, we want him to do something he was not used to doing before." ”
And for Hart, it will be a very good opportunity - Hart was never considered a scorer, but now, because of the Trail Blazers' weak team status, Hart has the hope of proving himself in this regard, and in these 12 games, his temperament has been completely different.
Don't forget, Hart is also a member of the "Scattered Stars".
In the NBA in the past few years, the "Lakers veterans" have played well, Russell, Ingram, Randle have been selected as All-Stars, Clarkson has been elected the best sixth man, Ball Brother and Caruso have also received big contracts, and Kuzma and Zubac have also become the main players in their respective teams.
These are the teams that the Lakers have selected themselves, and Hart is also one of them, originally his "amazing point" was rebounding (rebounds have soared after joining the Pelicans), and now, he will play a more important role on the offensive end, and maybe he can usher in a wave of rapid improvement.