Last offseason, the Lakers and nets both formed a luxurious lineup, and the public opinion caused by the two teams caused a sensation, as if they had each booked a ticket to the Finals. The outside world counts the honors achieved by the two sides in the careers of stars, makes comparisons, and looks forward to the finals of the two teams.
But the time comes to April, and the reality is astounding. The Lakers have missed the playoffs in advance, the whole season can be characterized as "failure", ESPN, Los Angeles Times today are all busy digging up the inside story to summarize the reasons for the Lakers' failure, basically determined that the end of the class Vogel also has no scruples, and began to target the management when summarizing the speech. The Nets, while the results have not met expectations, at least, they are now firmly in control of their fate, with the opportunity to win a game in the playoffs and enter the playoffs.
On April 9, Beijing time, the Nets defeated the Cavaliers at home 118-107, and the record between the two sides was tied, but the Nets rose to the 7th place in the East with a mutual record of 3 wins and 1 loss. As long as the Nets win the final battle, they will enter the playoffs as the 7th in the East. The Nets only need to win one game in the playoffs to make it to the playoffs.
We all know that the Lakers have not been smooth this season and have been plagued by various problems such as injuries. But if it is worse than miserable, the Nets will not lose to the Lakers.
In the first half of the season, Kyrie Irving was banned by the Nets for refusing to be vaccinated. When Irving returned, he could not play at home, only on the road, and it was only recently that Irving played at home because of the lifting of the ban in New York. So far, the Nets have played in 81 games, and Irving has only played in 28 of them.
Durant, like Anthony Davis, had bad luck, having their knees injured by mistake and missing a lot of games.
The role players on both teams also had some injuries, with the Lakers' Kendrick Nunn not playing a single second throughout the season, while Nets marksman Joe Harris moved his ankle twice to reimburse him early for the season.
In the middle of the season, the Nets were in a farce like the Lakers. The Lakers touted Russell Westbrook unsuccessfully, and the Nets sent James Harden away in desperation. The Nets' return of Seth Curry and Drummond quickly became starters, while Ben Simmons has not been able to play so far, he has determined that he will not qualify for the playoffs, and whether he can return in the playoffs is still unknown.
In January and February, the Nets suffered an 11-game losing streak and plummeted in the rankings. In late February and early March, the Nets lost six more of their seven games. At its worst, the Nets fell to No. 10 in the East. At the time, the Nets train looked like it was about to stop braking, but luckily they eventually got back on and accelerated into track.
The Nets can do this, first of all, by their lineup configuration. Some things, even if ten thousand details are done well, if the starting point is wrong, they will only lose everything. The Lakers' failure is like this, and what is against it should not be against the times and trends, and the Lakers' lineup is obviously flawed, which is a typical anti-trend.
The Nets do not have this problem, you can criticize the Nets defense has loopholes, but at least the offensive end, Durant and Irving hold the ball and no ball, breakthrough and projection at the same time, directly make the Nets less run-in, compatibility problems, like Drummond, Seth Curry and other players, come and go, they do not need to make adjustments to adapt to the two cores of the team, just need to do their best work.
The Nets are luckier than the Lakers in that they restored the integrity of the roster at the right time. At the end of the season, Irving was licensed to play at home, Durant returned from a knee injury and did not experience any more games that led to his injury suspension, and his form continued to be hot. With the "711 combination" at the bottom, the Nets' record has picked up significantly. In the last 16 games, the Nets have won 11 of them, and the winning percentage is extremely high, which is still in the case of Dragic's recent new crown infection and Seth Curry's absence due to an ankle sprain.
Durant, in particular, has scored inextricably since his comeback, scoring all sorts of perverted goals. Against the Cavaliers, Durant scored 36 points, five assists and two blocks. In the third quarter, when the Cavaliers occupied the active Nets and no one could score, it was Durant who held the situation on his own. When the score was deadlocked in the fourth quarter, Durant returned to the court after less than two minutes of rest, and he used two three-pointers to give the team the lead. When Death wields his scythe, no matter what defensive strategy the opponent comes up with, he can deal with it, and it is common to hit a strong shot against a three-person defense. Since his comeback, Durant has scored 30+ points in 10 games, two of which he has scored more than 50 points.
In the process of the rise of the Nets, one player who has to be mentioned is Bruce Brown. Last season, only 1.93 meters tall, Brown, who played point guard at the beginning of his career, became an indispensable puzzle for the Nets with his unique playing style, and he changed from a guard playing style to an interior playing style in the Nets' system, and many experts compared him with Draymond Green. But at the beginning of the season, Steve Nash inexplicably cut Brown's role, and it wasn't until February that Brown finally regained his reuse.
Brown delivered a performance that satisfied the Nets, playing 15 games as a starter in March, averaging 14.7 points per game, shooting 61.7% from the field, not only finding a throw near the basket, but also improving efficiency, and his three-point shooting rate reached 41.9%. Playing the Cavaliers today, Brown played 40 minutes, second only to Durant in playing time, he scored 18 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 blocks.
ESPN data analysis expert Kevin Palton gave Brown a super high evaluation, he specially wrote an article to interpret how Brown, Gary Payton Jr. and other defenders, interior play players have changed the trend of the league, he believes that the rise of Brown, Peyton Jr. has created a new position, and more players may learn from them in the future.
The Nets do have all sorts of problems, they're far from perfect, their defense is always porous until Simmons returns, and Seth Curry's ankle health is a concern. Including Durant's high playing time is also a hidden danger, and today he played another 41 minutes. There is also Irving's performance after returning to full-time form, and today Irving only scored 18 points on 22 shots, shooting less than 32%. In their last nine games, Irving have shot less than 40 percent from the field in six of their last nine games.
But even though the Nets have so many problems, they are still firmly in control of their own destiny. With a final win over the swinging Pacers, the Nets could lock in 7th place in the East and occupy the most advantageous position in the playoffs.
According to the current ranking, if the Nets make the playoffs as no. 7 in the East, their first-round opponent will be the defending champion Bucks, who eliminated them last season. In the first round, I had the opportunity to see this kind of Mars-to-Earth duel that could only appear in the Eastern Conference Semifinals or even the Eastern Conference Finals, and it was really exciting to think about.