On the eve of his 30th birthday, Irving received a long-awaited good news, New York will introduce a new vaccine policy, professional athletes and entertainers in private places do not have to implement the previous vaccine regulations, if all goes well, Irving will usher in this season's home debut in the game against the Hornets on March 28, Beijing time.
New York made this adjustment, mainly to consider the major impact of the sports market on the city's economy, major league baseball teams New York Yankees and New York Mets will usher in the home opener on April 8 and April 16, Beijing time, Major League Baseball is the lowest vaccination rate in the four major professional sports leagues in the United States, if New York does not change the vaccine regulations, it will affect the home games of the two New York baseball teams, and mluniversal officials have been discussing solutions with the New York municipality.
The NBA's playoffs will begin on April 13, Beijing time, and the playoffs will start on April 17, overlapping the timing of games with baseball leagues, and the NBA executives have also put pressure on the New York municipality. Now New York has finally given the green light to professional athletes, and the unvaccinated players are unbanned at home, and business is business.
After the news that Irving could play at home, the American bookmaker quickly adjusted the Nets' odds, and their odds for winning the Eastern Conference championship ranked first among the Eastern Conference's top brass, and the odds for winning the championship were second only to the Suns in the league. A team ranked eighth in the East, becoming the first candidate for the Eastern Conference championship, the top two candidates for the championship, because Irving, who can play too well, can finally play at home, this news is estimated to make all the teams that rush to the championship feel nervous, especially the top teams in the East, who wants to touch this Nets in the playoffs, isn't the giant planet a playoff "nuclear weapon"?
Irving averaged a career-high of 28.5 points per game this season, played two 50+ games in 20 games, and shared the season scoring record of 60 points per game with Towns, averaging 38.8 points per game in March, shooting 59% from the field, shooting 58% from three-point range, attacking kaleidoscope, indiscriminate and versionless restrictions On the little prince of singles, no dead ends in the attack area, and picturesque technical action.
Irving is a killer, and he also has Durant by his side, Adu has averaged 29.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game this season, and has averaged 31.2 points, 7 rebounds and 7.4 assists since march. The all-around Is still offensively deadly, scoring 1.12 points per singles per game this season, ranking second in the singles efficiency list (averaging at least 5 singles per game), and the fifth place on this list is Irving.
The Nets, the league's top five singles maniacs, have two seats, with four players twice in a single game 50+ this season, with Durant and Irving among them. When Durant and Irving played together this season, the Nets scored 126 points per 100-game shooting.
Irving can play at home, which means that the combined offensive effect of the Nets duo will be released to the greatest extent. Originally, the Nets were very worried, because they had 6 home games in the last 8 games of the regular season, and one of the two away games was to play the Knicks, according to the vaccine regulations before New York, Irving could only play 1 of these 8 games, and the new rules were unlocked in 8 games, and the Nets' schedule looked very friendly in an instant.
After the two strong teams of the Grizzlies and Heat on the road, the Nets' next 8 games were 6 home and 2 away, playing the Hornets, Pistons, Bucks, Rockets, Cavaliers and Pacers at home, playing the Hawks and Knicks on the road, in these 8 opponents, the biggest threat to the Nets is the defending champion Bucks, the Nets played the Bucks 1-2 this season, but it should be noted that the Nets lost to the Bucks Those two Games Irving did not play, Irving participated in the one time to win 38 points in durant's absence to capture the Bucks, Irving is able to play elite.
The Nets have a 13-3 record against them this season, and they can be expected to have a strong end to the regular season, driven by Irving's return to home.
Hope came, but the pressure was not small, the Nets failed to reverse the Grizzlies on the day of the good news that Irving could play at home, ranking eighth in the East, they had a 2.5-game difference with the Seventh Raptors in the East, and a 3.5-game difference with the Sixth Cavaliers in the East, whether they grabbed seven or hit the top six directly into the playoffs, they faced challenges.
The Nets are far from optimistic, if they are only eighth, the Raptors are seventh, the first round of the playoffs will go to Toronto, Toronto has a vaccine ban, Irving can not go without injections, which is somewhat unfavorable to the Nets. So the Nets' ideal path is straight to the playoffs, and if they play playoffs, they also have to try to raise the ranking to seventh, and the playoffs have "two lives" and they are all home.
The urgency of moving up the ranks is still there, but at least the problem of Irving playing at home has finally been solved as he and the Nets had hoped, and now the Nets have to give an answer to another X factor, when will Ben Simmons play, and if he can play this season, how will it affect the Nets?
Simmons lumbar disc herniation, need to be injected to relieve pain, and can't compare the personal training system yet, although Nash said he was looking forward to Simmons' comeback this season, but he also didn't know if it would happen and when it would happen.
The Nets initially hoped that Simmons would return in March, but now it seems unrealistic, and the Nets are looking forward to Simmons catching up with the last two or three games of the regular season, and the Nets' last two regular season games are home, so that Simmons can get on the team.
Simmons catching the last train of the regular season is very important for himself and the Nets, Simmons has not played an official game since June 21, 2021, he needs a few games to warm up, otherwise he will come back to play the intensity of the playoffs or playoffs, the load is a bit large. Simmons is a player with a very strong personal style, with clear advantages and disadvantages, no middle ground, and it takes some time for him to develop chemistry with his Nets teammates.
If Simmons can return healthy this season, he will have great tactical value for the Nets. Irving's birthday night this battle, he and Durant scored 78 points, the Nets lost to the Grizzlies without Morant, the key factor is one is the bench score 11-52 pit, the second is that the Nets can not match the impact of the Grizzlies, the Grizzlies are the league's highest average score per game in the penalty area, is the most capable of grabbing rebounds, the Nets focus on the basket is easy to miss three points, internal and external defensive pressure is very large. The Grizzlies still have the basketball style of the "grinding and strangling" era, the players on the court are very confrontational, and the Nets tend to be more technical.
If Simmons can play, he can not only directly improve the depth of the Nets' lineup, but also bring the Nets a strong point of size and a significant upgrade from the defensive end. Simmons's stature and athleticism combine, height, strength and flexibility from the first position to the fifth position, he can also defend from the first position to the fifth position, the defense of no ball and the ball are elite level, is the league's top undifferentiated defender, perfect for Nash's change of defense system.
The offensive end of Simmons's long-range shooting is indeed not good, the free throw is not reassuring, the coach will have the worry of whether to let him play at key moments, but Simmons has a particularly good effect with the shooter partner, he has a selfless spirit of sharing the ball, the level of opportunity creation is very high, and he can also punish defenders in the wrong position in the block, single-horse running and pushing fast attacks.
Size, defense, splitting, tackling, fast attack, simmons can bring, exactly what the Nets lack. Simmons doesn't have Harden's all-round offensive skills, but the Nets can get something different from Harden from him. To put it simply, any team that gets a 26-year-old, 3-time All-Star, 2 best defensive players to help, is more pros than cons, even if the player has technical shortcomings.
Now, it depends on when Simmons will play, the Nets are waiting for Irving to be released at home, then wait patiently for the return of "West Emperor".