Nets Season Highlights: Can Durant Irving lead the ill-fated Nets to a positive result
With the end of yesterday's regular season, the NBA's 2021-22 season officially entered the "knockout" stage. Tomorrow morning, the playoffs are about to begin, and eight teams from the East and West will decide the final four playoff spots through six games.
Here's all you need to know about this year's NBA playoffs:
What is a play-off?
The NBA first introduced playoffs in the 2019-20 season. At that time, the regular season was suspended due to the COVID-19 epidemic, and then successfully resumed in the "bubble" of Disney World Resort in Orlando, in order to control the number of personnel, only 22 teams were invited to the closed park, while the 8 teams with poor records did not participate.
Due to special reasons for the shrinking of the schedule, for the sake of fairness, the NBA has introduced a new format in the Orlando Rematch, specifically: the 8th and 9th teams in the East and West will decide the final playoff spot in the division through the "playoffs". The two sides will play up to two games, with seed 8 locking up a playoff spot just by winning one game, and seed 9 having to win two games in a row to advance.
However, the "happening" of the play-offs has a premise, that is, the team that is finally ranked 9th in the division is no more than 4 games behind the 8th place. In the end, the Wizards of the 9th East did not win the opportunity, while the 9th Grizzlies of the West fought the 8th Blazers in a life-and-death battle, and the Blazers won 126-122 and advanced to the first game.
In fact, the 2020 Orlando Rematch just gave NBA President Adam Shaw a chance to "experiment", because as early as 2015, the league had proposed the idea of a playoff, when the proposal was that the division 8 to 11 would play a single-elimination game to determine the final playoff spot.
The proposal was quickly rejected, but in 2018, the league came up with an improved version — Division 7 to 10 to compete in the playoffs to determine the last two playoff spots, and in terms of specific formats, the league gave two options:
The first option: Division 7 and Division 8 play first, with the winner advancing directly to 7th place, while the loser plays another game against the winner in another group (9th vs. 10th) to determine the final playoff spot.
The second option: Division 7 vs. Zone 10, Zone 8 vs. Zone 9, winners advance directly.
The first of these schemes is the league's current play-off format.
Although the 2020 playoffs were only played once, the process was intense and exciting, which made Xiao Hua deeply encouraged, so in the following 2020-21 season, the league officially launched a complete playoff.
Although the birth of the play-offs, like many new things, has attracted a lot of controversy, its benefits are also obvious: first, it can suppress the phenomenon of pendulum to a certain extent, allowing some of the lower-ranked teams to retain the hope of advancing to the playoffs; in addition, this format can also increase fans' attention to the game, which in turn can increase league revenue.
Last year, for example, because of the Focus Showdown between the Lakers and the Warriors, the average ratings of the playoffs increased by 46% compared with the first round of the playoffs in 2020. It is no wonder that Xiao Hua immediately expressed his position and hoped to retain this format.
In July 2021, the league's board of directors formally decided by vote that the play-offs would continue to be used for the 2021-22 season, and the format would remain unchanged.
How will I play in this year's playoffs?
As mentioned earlier, this year's playoffs will continue the previous format, with 7 to 10 players in the division to determine the last two playoff spots. The rules are: Division 7 and Division 8 play first, the winner advances directly to 7th place, and the loser plays another game with the winner of another set of duels (9th vs. 10th) to determine the final playoff seat.
The final game day of the regular season ended yesterday and all the dust settled on the teams that finally ranked 7 to 10 in the East: the Nets (44-38), the Cavaliers (44-38), the Hawks (43-39) and the Hornets (43-39).
The teams ranked 7 to 10th in the West are the Timberwolves (46-36), the Clippers (42-40), the Pelicans (36-46) and the Spurs (34-48).
The specific schedule for the play-offs is also announced, as follows:
G1:Apr 13 Nets (Main) vs Cavaliers 7:00
G2: April 13 Timberwolves (Main) vs Clippers 9:30
G3: April 14 Eagles (Main) vs Hornets 7:00
G4: April 14 Pelicans (Main) vs Spurs 9:30
G5: April 16 G1 loser (main) vs G3 winner Start time to be determined
G6: April 16 G2 loser (main) vs G3 winner The start time is to be determined
Based on the results of the above 6 matches:
The G1 winner, ultimately the No. 7 seed in the East, will challenge the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs;
The G5 winner, who ends up being the No. 8 seed in the East, will challenge the Heat in the first round of the playoffs;
The G2 winner, who ends up being the No. 7 seed in the West, will challenge the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs;
The G6 winner, who ends up as the No. 8 seed in the West, will challenge the Suns in the first round of the playoffs.
What's to see in this year's playoffs?
This year's playoffs, there is no heavyweight showdown like last year's Lakers vs. Warriors, but there are still the following major points to watch, which are worth paying attention to:
Watch point one: Can the Nets live up to expectations?
Although the Nets have struggled this season due to the Irving vaccine storm and Harden's initiative to apply for a trade, and eventually fell to the point of competing for a playoff spot through the playoffs, they are still in third place in the latest championship odds, and their chances of winning the Eastern Conference championship are second only to the Bucks.
The Nets are bullish for a simple reason because they have two superstars representing the league's highest level, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. It's worth noting, however, that the Nets are not a stable team, having just lost 115-122 to potential play-off opponents, the Hawks, on April 3 and to the Hornets 110-119 on March 28. Of course, they also beat the Cavaliers 118-107 in the penultimate game of the regular season, which became the key to their eventual home advantage in the playoffs.
Although the latest reports suggest that Ben Simmons is expected to return in the first round of the playoffs, provided they have to pass the playoffs first, and Simmons can only act as a spectator in the playoffs. That means the Nets' defense will still be problematic, and while there's also a lack of center Jarrett Allen on the other side, it wouldn't be too surprising if Irving lost to his old club in the first game of the playoffs.
Can Downes prove himself?
Towns was considered one of the most talented big players in the league, but he has only made the playoffs once in his career so far, thanks to Jimmy Butler.
This season, the 26-year-old Towns played his career best, being named an All-Star for the third time, winning a three-point long-range competition title, and still blasting 60 points against the Spurs, but the key to whether that is a successful season is whether he can lead the Timberwolves to the playoff stage.
By the end of the regular season, the Timberwolves had a strong performance, leading the 8th-placed Clippers by four wins, 46-36, and if it wasn't for the playoffs, they were already preparing for the first round against the Grizzlies.
Now, Towns will have two games to win official recognition, and even if they lose to the Clippers who return from the bubble pepper in the first game, they can also seek a chance to challenge the Suns by beating the winner between the Pelicans and Spurs.
Will Trae Young stage the Madison moment again?
Last year, the Eagles made a surprise all the way to the divisional finals, which surprised many people. Among them, Trae Young, who debuted on the playoff stage, was radiant and provoked the performance of New York fans in Madison Square Garden, which became a classic moment in the NBA.
This season, despite the Hawks' overall disappointing performance, which ultimately ranked only ninth in the East, Trae Young's personal performance has improved significantly from last year — in addition to averaging points from 25.3 points per game to 28.4 points, and shooting a career-high 60.3 percent from the field.
Whether the Hawks can break through in the middle of the Nets, Cavaliers and Hornets is still difficult to say, but the energetic Trae Young will be the most anticipated performer on the playoff stage this year.
Can pelicans continue to create surprises?
Because of Zion's injury, the Pelicans were once considered completely out of the game this season. They started with a 2-12 loss and have lost 21 games before winning double-digit victories. If you told people at the beginning of 2022 that Zion can't return this season, even the craziest gamblers won't bet on them in the play-offs. Now, however, here they are.
From 22-34 to 36-44, the deal with the Trail Blazers was clearly a turning point for the Pelicans. Since joining the Pelicans, CJ McCollum has averaged 25.6 points and 6.1 assists per game, and brandon Ingram is comfortable playing by his side, shooting 50 percent from the field during the duo.d'étating.
The Pelicans may not be able to win two games in a row to advance to the playoffs, but even if they lose, welcoming Zion's return in this way is not a bad result.
Can a knight withstand the test?
The young Cavaliers are undoubtedly one of the biggest surprises of the 2021-22 NBA season. Rookie Evan Mobley is growing faster than anyone expected, and guard Darius Garland is also named an All-Star with Jarrett Allen, and the young trio once led the team to a win away from the first in the East.
But the Cavaliers' 2021-22 season is also constantly being tested, With Colin Sexton and Ricky Rubio being reimbursed for the season, and Allen and Mobley also suffering injuries in the closing stages of the season, and until now, Allen is uncertain that he will be able to return in time to play the playoffs (the first game of the Nets has been confirmed to be absent).
But there are two sides to everything, and for the young Garand and Mobley, this is another great opportunity to temper it. If they survive this test, they will have another important growth. After all, for the knights, the days ahead are still very long.