New York Mayor Eric Adams was a public enemy of Nets fans not long ago, and now Nets fans don't hate him, but fans in Miami, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Boston hate him to the teeth.
Not long ago, Adams announced the lifting of the ban, allowing Kyrie Irving to play in the Nets home game. As soon as this decision was announced, the top four in the east scolded the mother in their hearts: "Why did you go earlier?" ”
For no other reason, Irving, who refused to be vaccinated, was banned by the Nets for the first half of the season, and could not play at home after the ban was lifted, which led to the Nets now falling to the 8th position in the East, with a high probability of playing play-offs. If the Nets don't make it to the top 6, they're likely to make the playoffs as 7th or 8th in the East. The 1st and 2nd teams in the East were terrified.
Considering that Irving has returned to full-time status and can play the home game from tomorrow, the gap between the Nets and the 6th place in the East is only 2.5 wins, and it is also possible that the Nets will eventually counterattack into the top 6 to avoid playoffs. The 3rd and 4th teams in the East were thrilled.
Whether the Nets play the playoffs or stage a miracle to rush to the 5th place in the East, their role as spoilers is a foregone conclusion, the top four in the East are now all panicked, and no one wants to meet the powerful Nets in the first round. It's a good idea to avoid the Nets as much as possible, but the problem is that now the win difference between the four teams is not even one game, and it is impossible to control the rankings in advance.
In the current situation, the probability of the Nets playing a playoff is still higher, and losing the Eastern Conference final four is the best choice to drop the ranking. Even Heat reporter Windman said: "Maybe, the Heat need to fall to 4th place in the East to completely avoid the first round of the Nets." Be bold and do it! This sounds ironic, but it is also true, after all, no one wants to struggle for a year and finally get out of the first round.
As a result, today, the Heat and Bucks in the top four in the East really lost. The Bucks lost to the Grizzlies, who lacked Ja-Morant, while the Heat lost 95-110 to the Nets at home, losing four straight and slipping to second place in the East.
At first glance, the Heat seem to be playing in plain sight, picking opponents, and laying out for the playoffs. But if you watch the game process, you know that it is not that the Heat do not want to win, but that the Heat cannot win. In front of the Nets' giant basketball, the Heat's team basketball has no advantage.
Prior to this game, the Heat and the Nets have played against the Nets 3 times this season, and the Nets have lost all of them. However, this statistic is very watery, because in those 3 games, the Nets did not have a game in which Kevin Durant and Irving played together. Of these 3 games, only the March game occurred after the Nets formed the current lineup, but because it was the Nets home game, Irving did not play, and the Nets lost by 6 points.
Today, in the face of the core lineup still lacking Ben Simmons, LaMarcus Aldridge's Nets, the main heat has no way to fight back. Spoorstra's failure to coach on the spot for personal reasons may be one reason why the Heat can't beat the Nets, but it's not the root cause. The fundamental reason is that in the face of the new version of the Nets, the Heat's talent level is too far behind, and their problems are exposed. In front of the giant basketball, the Heat's team basketball completely fell behind.
The success of the Spurs and Warriors has given many people an illusion: the more passes are equal to playing team basketball, and the more efficient the offense is, especially many coaches have been advocating "multiple passes". But in fact, there is no obvious positive correlation between passing and high offensive efficiency.
For example, this season's Heat, they average 9th in the league in the number of passes per game, but their offensive efficiency barely ranks 14th in the league. Including the Pacers and Warriors, they all rank in the top 5 in the league in terms of passing, but their offensive efficiency is only in the middle of the league. Interestingly, the league's top teams in offensive efficiency this season, such as the Bucks, Suns, Hawks, Nets, Grizzlies, and Jazz, are all teams with the lowest number of passes.
Why is this happening? Taking today's Heat and Nets as an example, the Heat play team basketball because the three players with the highest salaries do not have the top level of individual combat ability, and they can only strive to build a system around the three cores with their own characteristics, as far as possible to stimulate the combat effectiveness of role players. The Heat's potential for tapping into the second-round show and losing the draft is commendable, but in front of the Nets, their core players and role players have a slightly different level of talent, especially the comparison of core players.
We all know that the Nets play giant basketball, and Durant and Irving have unique offensive abilities. When they attacked to open up the situation and attract opponents to pinch the attack, the Nets relied on the individual ability of the superstar to spawn a strong sense of teamwork. Looking at Durant and Irving's several attacks, each time it is a completely unreasonable individual single-handedness, and this kind of attack, once played efficiently, is enough to change the opponent's defensive system.
This season, Durant has scored 1.094 points per singles per game, more than 88 percent of the league's players. Irving scored 1.017 points per singles per game, more than 77% of the league's players. Coupled with the fact that their respective ball carrier offense exceeds 1 point per round, which is also the top level of the league, the opponent does not dare to take a single defense. As a result, once the Heat took a pinch, Durant and Irving could easily divide the ball, and the Nets' group of role players was full of firepower, and they instead played a more team-oriented offense than the Heat.
This is the harsh reality, the team basketball spawned by the giant basketball is simple and rough, but as long as the star level is high, the effect is better than the team basketball that is not generated by the giant simply by the system. Heat core Jimmy Butler dud only 2 of 9 shots, the chief ball-holding point on the bench Hiero only 5 of 14 shots and 5 turnovers, the two outside lines that determine the Heat's ceiling are so weak, can the Heat rely on the 36-year-old Lowry and the weak Adebayo, who has weak offensive ability?
The Heat, who play team basketball, don't have offensive strengths, which means they can't break through the Nets' not-so-solid defense. What does the Nets' defense rely on? When Drummond was on the pitch, he switched sides 1-4, with Drummond guarding the basket. When Clarkston was on the floor, the 1-5 position was changed. The nets' defensive efficiency in the past two seasons is not enough to see, but when they get serious about implementing the change of defense, they have proved their defensive ability, and the Heat, a team without absolute strength, is afraid of a team like the Nets.
Another decisive factor is that in the eyes of many teams, drummond and Clarkston's no.5 configuration does not count as the Nets' advantage, the former butter hands, the latter relying on teammates to feed the ball. But in the face of the small heat on the inside, these two people have become a big killer. Today, the two stole a total of 8 offensive rebounds, scoring a total of 23 points, 17 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Such a Net is enough to make any team in the top four in the East shudder. Needless to say, the 76ers have lost miserably to the Nets before, and the Bucks have stumbled in the second round of the playoffs last year without a second of playoffs. Although the Celtics have the league's first defense, their unlimited changes of defense are afraid of super scorers such as Durant and Irving, which has been proven in the playoffs last year.
Because of the Nets' strength at the end of the season, the pattern in the East is full of variables. Whether Ben Simmons can return is still unknown, and even without Simmons, the Nets could rush to 6th or even 5th place in the East. And the Eastern Conference finalists have to keep an eye on the Nets' movements and rankings every day, and at this juncture, whether the Eastern Conference Semifinals and Eastern Conference Finals have home advantage is no longer within the scope of consideration, and it is the first thing to consider to avoid the first round of playing the Nets. Can't avoid the Nets results out of the first round, even if the later rounds have home advantage, what is the use?
In the final half month of the regular season, the Eastern Conference teams will have various calculations, even compared to losing. Such a strange situation can also be regarded as a long time to live.