"It's like grabbing seven, either winning or going home. For both sides, this is a real life-and-death battle. ”
Clippers veteran Batum said before training today that his attitude is shared by the four teams that play in the final playoff tomorrow.
The Cavaliers host the Hawks, the Clippers host the Pelicans, the winner locks up the playoff ticket to enter the playoffs as the eighth in the division, challenges the division leader in the first round, and the loser regrets not having the playoffs to bid farewell to the season. For this part, no one wants to be a losing team at the last minute.
Purely in terms of book strength, the Cavaliers and Clippers who play at home have the advantage. But in a brutal format that determines the outcome of a game, anything can happen. The four teams can only make various plans in advance, and the rest depends on the on-site play.
Cavaliers vs Eagles April 16 at 7:30
The core of the Knights' life-and-death battle with the Eagles is whether Jarrett Allen can come back and how the Cavaliers should defend Trae Young.
This season, when Allen and Ivan Mobley can play, the Cavaliers' defensive league is at the top of the line. But even so, Young has played four games against the Cavaliers this season, averaging 32.5 points and nine assists per game, and his true shooting percentage has reached 61.5%. Young led the Hawks to three victories over the Cavaliers, and he averaged 7.8 points per game over the Hawks.
With Yang's offensive ability without dead angles in half-court plus tandem ability, no team dares to say that it can limit Yang's play. The cavaliers' embarrassment is that Allen and Mobley both have top-level basket protection capabilities and the ability to defend small, but the Cavaliers are not a team that likes to change defenses, and secondly, there is no particularly good defensive gate in the backcourt and flanks to be able to beat Yang all over the field, and the Cavaliers are not sure which strategy to use against Young.
Judging from the play-off match between the Eagles and The Hornets, pinching Yang is not a good choice, and Yang himself said: "If the opponent takes the bag clip against me, my task is to play in the right way and give my teammates the opportunity to end the attack." I can hoist the ball to Clint Capela, I can pass the ball to Hult's outside shots, and it's hard for opponents to keep pinching at me, especially when our outside three-point shooters fire. ”
But then again, if the Cavaliers have to gamble, then pinching Young and betting on the Eagle shooters' group on the road may still be the best option. The Cavaliers' pinch and rotation speed is not comparable to that of the defensive wasp. The Hornets' pinch shots can make Young shoot only 8 of 24 shots, and if the Cavaliers can maintain the intensity of the pinch against Young while rotating into positions, limiting the Hawks' three-point shooting in other positions (the last game the Hawks played the Hornets 32-pointers 16 of 32, but this season the Hawks shot 36.9% on the road, down 1% from home), the Cavaliers have great hopes of winning.
Of course, the Cavaliers can't stick to a defensive strategy throughout the game, and they have the ability to combine various defensive methods such as changing defenses, joint defenses, and pinching. But all this is premised on Allen's comeback and stay in good shape, and from the latest news, Allen's injured left hand still feels pain, but he will try to comeback.
Hawks big forward John Collins shows no signs of a comeback, and the Cavaliers' frontcourt height is an advantage, especially when Capela is off the bench, and Okonu is not enough to prop up the Hawks inside. If Allen returns with an injury, the Cavaliers start with three highs, the rotation time is sent to Kevin Love, and the Cavaliers' frontcourt height, projection, and basket finishing ability can create huge problems for the Hawks.
Allen was so important to the Cavaliers that when he was present at the same time as Garland, O'Kello, Markkanen and Mobley, the Cavaliers conceded just 103.7 points per 100 possessions and more than 11 points per 100 possessions. Recently, Allen could not play, sixth man Levert entered the starting lineup, and the Cavaliers' new starting five Tigers, although the offensive firepower exploded, they lost the defensive basic set, and the score of 100 rounds reached 112.1 points. The Cavaliers play the Hawks, first of all, they still have to ensure the starting defensive basic set, only fight the offense, the Cavaliers are difficult to fight the top five Eagles in the league with offensive efficiency.
Clippers vs Pelicans April 16 at 10:00
Compared to the Hawks- cavaliers play-offs, the Clippers and Pelicans have more key points in their game.
In the last game, the Clippers lost to the Timberwolves, and the Pelicans they are about to face have many similarities in configuration with the Timberwolves. The Pelicans' Fifth is dominated by Valanciunas, who is both inside and out, with Ingram and McCollum on the flanks and backcourt. The Clippers lost to the Timberwolves, who limited Carl Anthony Downs' play but were blown up by Anthony Edwards and D'Angelo Russell.
"You can't limit Ingram and McCollum on your own, you have to rely on the whole team to work." Batum said, "We also saw what happened in the last game against the Timberwolves, we struggled to limit Edwards, Russell, so the Pelicans we have to correct this problem." ”
So the Clippers and pelicans a battle, first of all, depends on where the Clippers' defensive strategy is focused. Zubac should still go to a player like Herbert Jones or Jaxon Hayes who is less of a threat to outside projection and devote more energy to helping the basket. Batum or Morris Jr. will have more alignment with Valanciunas, and Zubac may be able to pack at any time, but the Clippers' pack of Valanciunas is certainly not as strong as the Clippers have against Downs, and they will focus more defensively on Ingram and McCollum.
Of the Clippers' starting Five, George will most likely take over the defense against McCollum, while Batum or Morris Jr. will take over the defense against Ingram. Entering the rotation time, the contribution of Mann and Covington on the defensive end is crucial, and if they can hit three-pointers while limiting Ingram and McCollum, the Clippers will be much easier. Offensively, the Clippers have to find a way to target McCollum, Graham and Valanciunas, which are holes in the Pelicans' defensive end, which will test the efficiency of George and Jackson's ball-holding offense.
One of the tangled points Tyrone Lue faced was that the Pelicans would open with a duo of Valanciunas and Hayes, but the Pelicans had only one interior line on the bench, with Derwent Graham and Alvarado being defenders. In the last game against the Timberwolves, Director Lu did not succeed in the choice between the big lineup and the small lineup, how would he line up against the Pelicans? If Lue used Zubac more, Zubac would easily be "named" by McCollum, whose ball-holding break-up mid-range shots and three-point shots were no worse than Russell's. If Lu guides a small lineup, norman Powell and Reggie Jackson's defensive loopholes are always hidden dangers.
From the Pelicans' perspective, the Pelicans want to win first of all to limit George's play, the good news is that the Pelicans saw the talent in last year's draft and chose Jones. Jones had the opportunity to compete for a spot in the best defensive team during his rookie season, and his defense has been widely recognized. As a 2.03-meter tall defensive gatekeeper, he can either take over the defense against George and help Ingram share the pressure, or he can go to Jackson or Powell and leave George to Ingram.
In addition, the Pelicans have to consider, when the Clippers use a small lineup, how should Valanciunas use this well? He is a more reliable low-post scorer than Towns, scoring more than Downs in low singles this season and having a lower turnover rate. Can the Pelicans take full advantage of Valanciunas and Hayes' high-altitude dominance over offensive rebounds? The Pelicans are the fourth-highest team in offensive rebounding rates this season, while the Clippers are the fifth-worst team in protecting defensive rebounds. When the Clippers use a big lineup, how the Pelicans give McCollum, Alvarado (who has a hand to block and throw), Andrum create opportunities for the Clippers' interior is crucial.
epilogue
Since the launch of the play-off format, a total of 11 play-offs have been played, of which the team playing at home has won 10 games, with a high winning rate. From that perspective, the Clippers and Cavaliers have greater hopes of advancing to the playoffs. But the charm of a game-setting format is here, and who dares to say that the Hawks and Pelicans can't win on the road like last year's Grizzlies to lock up playoff tickets?