The NBA playoffs have been playing for a week, and the first round of eight-group showdowns is gradually clear, not only a number of dark horse teams have emerged, but also some highly anticipated teams have performed disappointingly.
Compared with the encounters in the regular season, in the playoff series, it is more testing the ability of a team as a whole, as well as the ability and quality of a star.
To this end, the US media "Open Air Stand" also scored the performance of the top players in 16 playoff teams so far in the playoffs, including Durant D+, Harden B, Curry B+, only one person won an A+.
Suns vs Pelicans (2-2): Paul A-, Booker absent, Ingram A
If paul has a well-deserved A-rating from the first three games, he can average 12.3 assists per game, an exaggerated 12-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and an average of 11.3 points per game in the final quarter.
But with the G4 team blowing up again, Paul only scored 4 points in the game, and his rating should undoubtedly drop sharply, and Booker did not get a rating for the time being due to injury.
On the Pelicans side, Ingram scored an A rating, which is very pertinent, and so far in the playoffs, he has averaged 29.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5 assists per game, and his three-point shooting rate is as high as 50%, which is the core reason for the Pelicans' continuous upset.
Grizzlies vs Timberwolves (2-2): Downs C, Morant C-
As the big dark horse this season, the Grizzlies achieved the second-best record in the league in the regular season, and as a result, they have been upset twice in the playoffs against the Timberwolves.
Among them, Morant lacks projection ability, and there are shortcomings in defense, resulting in the Grizzlies being limited at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and the strong depth of the lineup can not be played out at all.
Towns' performances in the first three games were equally bad, but in G4 Towns completed self-proof, so the rating improved to a passing C.
Warriors vs Nuggets (3-1): Curry B+, Jokic C+
As a core, Curry can play 4 consecutive games as a substitute, which is undoubtedly a model for the league, and averaging 27.5 points, 3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game is also good enough, after all, he only averaged 28.5 minutes per game.
But his 38.9% three-point shooting rate is not perfect compared to his own, so the US media did not give A a rating, but a slightly lower B+.
Jokic, while handing over enough gorgeous stats, failed to show MVP-level dominance in the series, especially on the defensive end, where he constantly became a hole in the Warriors' attacks.
Lone Rangers vs Jazz (2-2): Mitchell C, Gobert C-, Doncic PEND, Brunson A
With Doncic sidelined in his first three games, Brunson led the Lone Rangers to a 2-1 lead, and the Jazz simply couldn't limit him from sending the ball to the basket, especially at key moments.
Mitchell and Gobert's abilities were completely exposed in this series, Mitchell was too obsessed with individual singles, completely regarded the inside advantage as nothing, Gobert's defensive end could not deal with small players, and was frequently attacked.
Heat vs Hawks (3-1): Trae Young F, Butler A-
Despite a near-time shootout, Trae Young's performance was still terrible, shooting just 21.2 percent from three-point range, a huge difference from his 38 percent regular-season three-point shooting percentage.
And the average points per game quickly slipped from 28.3 points to 16.5, and it was clear that he was completely limited by the Heat.
In contrast, Butler delivered a tough enough performance, averaging 30.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.75 steals per game, and improved his three-point shooting percentage from 23.5% in the regular season to 43.8%.
Green Army vs Nets (3-0): Tatum A+, Durant D+, Irving D
There is no doubt that the only A+ in the first round so far should belong to Tatum, who played his best performance in the playoffs so far.
Averaging 29.7 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2.3 steals and 1 block per game, he is the best player in both teams in this series on both ends of the game.
In contrast, Durant was completely crushed, with an overall shooting rate of only a pitiful 36.5%, and Irving was completely invisible.
Bucks vs Bulls (3-1): Alphabet Brother A, DeRozan D+, Lavin C-
This round of the series is also one-sided, alphabet brother showed absolute dominance, averaging 30 minutes per game, he can bomb 27.5 points, 14.5 rebounds and 7 assists.
In contrast, DeRozan shot 40% and LaVine 42.9%, and the overall performance was completely crushed, which also made the Bulls sit as a pseudo-strong team.
76ers vs Raptors (3-1): Harden B, Embiid A-, Siakam D, VanVleet D-
Before the playoffs began, the outside world thought it would be a set of evenly matched confrontations, and the 76ers directly crushed the opponent.
Embiid showed MVP-level dominance, and although Harden's offensive end was not as good as in the past, his overall tandem ability was remarkable.
In contrast, Siakam and VanVleet were disappointing, and apart from the occasional flash of inspiration, the rest of the time was a disaster.