All things go against the flow, good or bad, and man cannot predict it.
In the second game of the first round of the playoffs between the Suns and pelicans, Devin Booker felt the double heaven of ice and fire. In the first half, Booker was in a fiery state, and he still had leisure to touch the fist with the little baby on the sidelines. However, 4 minutes and 35 seconds before the end of the third quarter, Booker suddenly left the field to return to the locker room without warning, and In the fourth quarter, Booker returned to the bench, but the Suns officially announced that Booker was withdrawn due to tight hamstring on the right side.
This isn't the first time Booker has been knocked down by a hamstring injury this season, as He missed seven consecutive games with the same injury in early December. It's still uncertain how badly Booker's injury was, but the Sun's path has buried a huge hidden danger. After losing 114-125 to the Pelicans today, the Suns have lost home-court advantage. If Booker can't play in the next two away games, if Booker is going to take a more break, the Suns are not likely to fall prey to the Pelicans' Black Eight miracle.
How long could Booker need a truce?
Hamstring injuries are a very torturous injury with different degrees of strain, treatment and recovery time. Even if many players recover, their competitive status will decline greatly after their comeback, and this painful Rocket era Chris Paul, last season and this season James Harden know best.
According to medical experts, there are generally three types of severity of hamstring injuries. The first-degree strain is the lightest and requires a 1-2 week suspension. Secondary strains are usually accompanied by partial tears that require a 4-8 week truce. Grade III strains are complete tears and require surgery.
Booker's last hamstring injury was a first-degree strain, and he was on a two-week hiatus and missed seven games, which is already a blessing in disguise. A similar example this season is Lakers veteran Cameron Anthony, who suffered a hamstring strain against the Clippers in February and missed five consecutive games. However, Anthony happened to catch up with the All-Star break, so he took a total of 21 days off before returning.
At present, the severity of Booker's injury has not been updated, and judging from Booker's return to the team bench, perhaps the Suns have made Booker withdraw from the game just for safety reasons. If Booker is a first-degree strain, then it is certain that Booker will not be able to play in the next two away games, and it is not certain whether he can catch up with the fifth game.
If Booker needs a truce, then the sun's troubles come. The playoffs are not like the regular season, the playoffs are in contention, and every game is critical. The Suns are going to New Orleans for the next two games, and without Booker, the Suns will be hard to play.
Will the sun be blackened?
In the regular season, the Suns won 64-18, making them the best team in the league, and their number of wins also broke the team's history record. But after entering the playoffs, even before Booker was injured, the Suns did not show the dominance they deserved. Now that the prospect of Booker's injury is unknown, the likelihood that the Sun will fall prey to the Black Eight miracles increases.
Taking today's game as an example, Booker scored 31 points in the first half, brushing the record. In the Suns' layered offensive system, Booker, who has both the ability to hold the ball offensively and the ability to shoot without the ball, is a key link. Usually, Paul is used to taking over at key moments, and it is Booker who is responsible for the lead, who is also the first quarter scorer of the season. If Booker can't play, the Suns' offense will be greatly affected, and the pressure on Paul's shoulders will be heavier.
This season, when Booker was on the floor, the Suns' offensive efficiency was as high as 117.6 points, and the 100-game goal difference reached 9.5 points. When Booker wasn't on the floor, the Suns' offensive efficiency dropped to 107.5 points, and the 100-game deficit dropped to 4.7 points. With or without Booker, the Suns scored more than 10 points out of 100 rounds. They could make up for Booker's absences by increasing the intensity of their defense, but without Booker, the Suns have a lot less room to make mistakes.
One issue to consider is Booker's adjustment of form after his comeback from a hamstring injury. After Booker returned from a hamstring injury in early December, he was in extremely unstable form for the next 12 games, shooting just five of 19 against the Warriors, 7 of 26 shooting against the Celtics, and shooting no more than 34 percent from the field in three consecutive games. In the playoffs, the Suns couldn't afford Booker's instability due to a hamstring injury, and they needed a 100% form Booker.
After two games against the Pelicans, the Sun exposed a problem: rebound protection. In last year's Finals, the Suns were overwhelmed by the Bucks in games three to six, losing a lot of defensive rebounds and being played twice by their opponents, shooting much less than their opponents in almost every game. In the offseason, the Suns introduced Javier McGee and in the middle of the season, Biyombo was introduced, and the inside height problem was alleviated a lot. But in two games against the Pelicans, against the twin-tower combination of Valanciunas and Jaxon Hayes, the Suns couldn't do much.
In the first game, the Suns led by up to 23 points and won by 11 points. But in that game, the Suns were taken 29 points by the opponent using the second offense, and lost 22 points in the second offense score, and they finally won the game by virtue of Paul's last quarter. In the second game of today, the Suns' protective rebounds have improved, but the second offense still lost 15 points. Not only can the Suns not defend the inside line, but the outside line is also lost and hit by the opponent's 17 three-pointers, which is not a problem that Booker can solve if he can play.
Of course, sensoryly, the sun wasn't stretched to full strength, and they didn't seem to look at the Pelicans who made it to the playoffs through the playoffs. Suns center Ayton only played 33 minutes today, Paul only played 36 minutes, the third quarter pelicans established the lead when Monty Williams did not replace him, the Suns will be very slack in the defense counterattack, after the game Paul used "loose" to describe the Suns' defense.
If the sun has a correct attitude and does not take the enemy lightly, and pulls the load of the main force, perhaps the sun can avoid falling victim to the black eight miracle without Booker. But if the Suns can't change their attitude, rebounding protection, defensive issues, they're not likely to be nailed to the shame post.
NBA playoffs are out, predict a wave, don't be afraid to punch in the face!
Tencent Sports' "Playoff Big Prophet II" campaign was launched
Playoffs predict the correct series to draw red envelopes
All the predictions of the finals are correct and there is a chance to win the 10,000 yuan red envelope jackpot
The playoffs are not just about watching, it's about having a lot of fun!