On March 27, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued. The Nets beat the Heat 110-95 on the road and refused to sweep the season. The Nets gradually widened the point gap in the second half of the second quarter, and the game lost suspense at the beginning of the third quarter. Durant and Irving played in just three quarters, with the former delivering 23 points, five assists and three steals, and Irving having 11 points, four rebounds and six assists. When the Nets limited opponents to score under 100 points, the team made a staggering 27 wins and 0 losses.
After this game, the Nets are still in 8th place in the East, just 2 wins away from the 7th Cavaliers. The Heat gave up the top spot, being overtaken by the 76ers and Celtics, slipping to 3rd in the East. Competition for the top 10 teams in the East continues to be glued, and it seems that the final ranking will not be decided until the last minute. With so much competition, the Nets have two pieces of good news.
First, the Cavaliers and Raptors tied before today's game, with the two in 6th and 7th places in the East, respectively, at opposite ends of the playoffs. With the Cavaliers losing to the Bulls today and the Raptors beating the Pacers today, the rankings of the two teams were reversed. Now the Raptors are in 6th place in the East, and the Cavaliers are slipping to 7th and moving into the playoffs.
That's good news for the Nets. Although the Nets, who are in 8th place, still have a chance to climb upwards, the team still cannot avoid the possibility of competing for playoff tickets through playoffs. If the Nets end up in the Playoffs as no. 8 in the East, it will be much easier to face the Cavaliers than the Raptors.
Due to local policy restrictions in Toronto, Irving will not be able to play for the Nets if he challenges the Raptors on the road, which will obviously be detrimental to the Nets. At the same time, the Raptors' personnel compared to the Cavaliers are neat, the Cavaliers' interior line-up Jarrett Allen continues to be injured, the return date is undecided, the overall strength of the Cavaliers has dropped by a notch, and the recent state is not good. The Nets will have an advantage over the Cavaliers, which is good news for the team.
Another piece of good news is that with the Nets left in 8 games, there is a lot of potential to improve their rankings in the future. The Nets' remaining opponents have only a 43.6% win rate, ranking 29th in the league in terms of schedule difficulty, and opponents are not lacking in rockets, pistons and other weak teams, which gives them the capital to further improve the ranking. They will also face the Cavaliers, a game that could directly affect the situation in the playoffs. With the Nets only three wins behind the 6th-place Raptors, the team hit the top 6.
Due to the policy change in New York, Irving will be able to represent the team in home games. In the remaining 8 games, Irving can play full-time, the Nets will also go all out to impact, once the impact of the top 6 success, the Nets will get tickets to the playoffs, which is also a fatal blow for the rest of the team. The Nets are still the eastern powerhouse that cannot be ignored.
The Nets will be an X-factor in the East, and they could appear in any position in the 6th to 8th places, posing a great threat to the top 4 teams in the East. Due to the current chaotic situation, it is not realistic for the top 4 in the East to control the rankings by losing. But I believe that no matter which opponent the Nets finally face, it will surely bring a wonderful showdown to the audience.
(Text/Yuwen Basketball)