(Translator's note: The author of this article is B/R writer Greg Swartz, the views in the article do not represent the views of the translator and the platform, and the data in the article is as of April 25, Beijing time)
The 2022 NBA playoffs are in full swing. Some teams already look like strong contenders for the championship, while others should probably start thinking about their offseason plans.
While most of the storylines are expected — like healthy warriors showing dominance, chris Paul, who is about to turn 37, continues to "kill" opponents with a steady mid-range jumper, and Alphabet brother destroys everything on the court at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends — but there are also some good or bad things that deviate from convention.
Here are the biggest disappointments and surprises of the first week of the 2022 NBA playoffs.
Disappointment One: Kevin Durant
With James missing the playoffs, Durant has a chance to stand in all the spotlight and prove himself to be the best player in the NBA right now.
However, the Nets found themselves on the verge of being eliminated, and Durant's poor performance was the main reason for this result. At present, the Nets are behind the Celtics by a large margin of 0-3, and Durant is averaging 22 points per game, shooting only 36.5% from the field, ranking 22nd in points per game. Of all the 29 players who made more than 50 shots in the playoffs this season, Durant ranked 25th in shooting.
In addition to poor shots, Durant did not handle the ball well, with a total of 17 turnovers. In Durant's 129 minutes on the court, the Celtics scored 25 more points than the Nets.
Especially in the final stages of series G1, Durant shot a three-pointer that could have determined the game, and then let Tatum cut in from the side on the defensive end to complete the layup.
Such a blunder simply could not have happened to one of the greatest players the NBA has ever made.
What we should have seen was Durant scoring a 40 or 50-point spree, leading such a team with him at its core to victory and further cementing his "legacy", rather than a poor shooting performance on 4-of-17 shooting or a key mistake on the defensive end.
Durant needs to get back in shape right away because the Nets are "moribund" this season.
For such a star who can enter the discussion about who is the best player in the NBA, Durant has removed himself from the discussion (temporarily) with performance.
Disappointment two: Downs' erratic performance
In terms of statistics alone, Towns' playoff performance is not bad: In the series against the Grizzlies, the three-time All-Star player averaged 21.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.
However, his instability and lack of leadership/aggressiveness are likely to have cost the Timberwolves the loss of this series.
In series G1's unexpected 130-117 away win over the Grizzlies, Towns delivered a strong performance of 29 points and 13 rebounds. But in the next two defeats, Downs made only 11 shots in total.
After G3's 20-point lead was reversed and he lost 95-104, Towns refused to answer the question of why he only shot four times. In that game, the Timberwolves lost to their opponents by 25 points in the fourth quarter alone. Timberwolves bench center Naz Reid played just ten minutes, but he had more shots (5) than Downs. The Downs G3's score tied for sixth place on the team alongside Jaden McDaniels.
As the winner of the 2015 draft, when asked after G3 why he only shot four times, Towns' "next question" answer showed his lack of leadership and responsibility. He shouldn't let 20-year-old Anthony Edwards bear all the offensive pressure, who led the team with an average of 24.8 points per game in this series.
If Towns can deliver a decent answer in G3, the Timberwolves are likely to take a 3-1 lead now and continue to maintain good momentum. And now, they're drawing 2-2 with the Grizzlies, with two of the three games they could play next, both on the road to Memphis.
If Towns wants to put himself in the league's best center discussion, to be on a par with Nicola Jokic and Joel Embiid, he must not have a precarious performance in the playoffs, not to mention that in his seven seasons with the Timberwolves, the team has only reached the playoffs twice.
Disappointment Three: Sir Utah
The Jazz have failed to make past the second round of the playoffs every season for the past five years, and the team has been in a "shaky" situation, and now they are in danger of being eliminated in the first round for the third time in four seasons.
Considering that their opponents, the Lone Ranger, still take a 2-1 lead without Doncic in the first three games, if eliminated in the first round again this year, it could be their worst exit in recent seasons. But fortunately, in G4, Mitchell and Gobert's aerial relay in the last 11 seconds of the game helped the team pull the total score to a 2-2 draw.
But, given the poor start to this series, the Jazz still can't take it lightly.
The Jazz's weak outside defense not only made Brunson look like Wade at his peak, but even made the regular season "ice shooter" Maxie Kleber (shooting only 29.8% and 18.8% from three-point range in the second half of the regular season; averaging 13.8 points and 60% from three-point range in three games with the Jazz) to shoot hot.
The Jazz are also at the bottom of the assist rate (49 percent), forcing opponents to make just 8.5 percent turnover, the lowest in the playoffs to date. Although Donovan Mitchell is the highest-scoring average in the playoffs this season with 30.3 points per game, he shot just 39.6 percent from the field, shot as little as 23.5 percent from three-point range, and frequently delivered points on the defensive end.
The Jazz should have easily beaten the Lone Ranger without Doncic early, not just equalised, and they would have returned to Dallas to face the Lone Ranger who already had Doncic again.
Unless the Jazz can win two of their last three games, including at least one win on the road, the Jazz's roster could face a huge change in the offseason.
Surprise one: Jordan Poole
Imagine if two seasons ago someone told you that a rookie who averaged 8.8 points per game and shot only 33 percent of the time could start stephen Curry in the 2022 playoffs and lead the team in scoring.
But now that's the truth. Curry voluntarily ceded the starting spot to Poole after fully recovering from a sprain and bone contusion in his foot. The 22-year-old jumped at the chance to help the Warriors take a big-score 3-0 lead in the series against the Nuggets. In all three games, Poole averaged 28.7 points per game (fifth with Jimmy Butler), three rebounds, 4.7 assists and one steal, shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 59.1 percent from three-point range.
Now, the Warriors' Hall of Fame trio of Curry, Clay, and Drummond Green is surrounded by a rising star like Poole, which is a bit unfair.
Poole can run without the ball and shoot three-point shots through low cover like Thompson, and like Curry, he can create space to hit three-pointers and impact the basket by dribbling. Apparently, Poole has incorporated his teammate's "kill moves" into his arsenal.
Whether it's as the main ball-handler or the point-and-shooter, or occasionally in both roles in a particular round, he can do well whenever the team needs him to complete. In addition, Poole is also a good defender, which is a necessary factor in order to occupy a rotation position in the Warriors.
We expected Curry (25.7 points per game, 44 percent three-point shooting) and Klay (22 points per game, 45.2 percent three-pointer) to be the Warriors' big players in the playoffs, but we didn't expect Poole to perform so well.
Surprise two: Jaylen Brunson
Although judging by his regular season performance, we all know that Brunson is a great player. But we didn't expect him to have such an explosive play in the playoffs.
In the first three games of the series against the Jazz, Brunson averaged 32 points, 5.3 rebounds and five assists per game, shooting 60.2 percent from the field. In addition to Brunson, the only players who can get this statistic in the playoffs are James (3 times), Jordan and Wade.
While Brunson still has a long way to go to stabilize that statistic, it does speak volumes about his dominance-level performance, after all, he averaged just eight points per game as a substitute in last season's playoffs.
On paper, the Jazz could have easily beaten the Mavericks in a game without Doncic, but Brunson's strong performance helped the team unexpectedly lead the Jazz by a large margin of 2-1 (Doncic returned in G4, and although he and Brunson scored 30 and 23 points respectively, the Jazz equalized).
Like Doncic, Brunson is an expert at controlling rhythm, getting stuck and using cover. He averaged the number of breakthroughs per game (24.7) and the average breakthrough points per game (17.3 points) among the top players in the playoffs this season, shooting 54.8% from the field.
As an unrestricted free agent this summer, Brunson is boosting his stature as he proves he can play the role of primary possession and shooter on a team with a winning percentage of more than 50 percent.
Surprise three: The injury problem of key players has been solved
Injuries are the worst part of the playoffs, and this year's playoffs have only started a week, and there are already a lot of injury problems.
Doncic (calf), Devin Booker (hamstring), Chris Middleton (medial collateral ligament in the left knee) and Lowe (meniscus) are all key players in the top four seeded teams in the East and West, and their injuries could deprive their teams of their hopes of winning this year's NBA championship.
At least, from our hypothesis, this is indeed the case.
But the good news is that despite injury problems, these teams have remained stable, which is a big surprise for fans of the Lone Rangers, Sun Bucks and Celtics, as well as passers-by who simply want to enjoy high-quality basketball games.
In the seven games that four players missed, their team finished with a record of 6 wins and 1 loss, the only loss was the Lone Ranger's loss to the Jazz's G1.
Better news is that some of the four players have already made a comeback (Doncic and Lowe) and some (if their team makes it to the final) are expected to return in the second round or divisional finals (Booker and Middleton).
That's especially important for the Suns, who lack Booker, because they won't meet the in-form Warriors until at least until the Western Conference Finals. The Bucks could also avoid the Heat or the 76ers before the Eastern Conference Finals.
Injuries have negatively affected too many NBA Finals (like the 2020 Heat, 2019 Warriors, 2015 Cavaliers, etc.), so it's great to see teams with injury problems still play so well without key stars.
By Greg Swartz
Compilation: Can't hold the basket at all