Ja Morant, the fastest improving player of the 21-22 season, had a quasi-kill performance in the first round. However, this still does not hide Morant's slump in the first round, averaging 21.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game, but 38.6% shooting and 20% three-point shooting rate are a bit chilly. The 22-year-old Morant has a bright future, and the short slump is also reasonable, and the opposite Patrick Beverley is definitely a hard bone to gnaw, which is when young players pay tuition.
There is some controversy about Morant's fastest-improving player award, and his teammate Desmond Bain is also a strong contender for the award. In the 20-21 season, Bain averaged 9.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, and in the 21-22 season he averaged 18.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Compared with Morant's list background, coupled with the best rookie, the progress of The thirtieth pick in the first round of Bain is actually very obvious, and it is also a regret for Bain not to get the award for the fastest improved player. Of course, after playing the first six games, Morant was afraid to give Bane a bow and shout "thank you."
In the first six games, Bain averaged 23.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, shooting 50% from the field, 49.1% from three-point range, 90% from free throws, and averaging 4.5 three-pointers per game, the highest in the league in the first round. Moreover, Bain's performance was more stable, scoring 17 and 16 points in the first two games, and 26, 34, 25 and 23 points in the next four games, respectively, and as the game deepened, Bane's performance was more stable and more efficient.
It's clear that Bain in the playoffs is more scary than he was in the regular season, and the key is that he doesn't take possession of the ball. Of the 48 goals scored in the first round of six games, Bain scored 41 by teammates, with a 85.4 percent assist rate. On three-pointers, Bain shot 19-of-36 from the field, shooting 52.8 percent from the field. In the first round of the series, the league had a total of 7 players who shot 35+ on three-pointers, Bane was the only player to shoot 50% of the time, Klay Thompson shot 19 of 39, shooting 48.7%, Danny Green shot 14 of 38, shooting 36.8%, the latter two are the league's top 3D players, Bain has a clear advantage in three-point shooting.
Defensively, Bain's performance can't be ignored either. Anthony Edwards shot 41.4 percent from 41.4 percent of 29 from the offensive end against Bain on the offensive end, including 6 of 19 from three-point range, or 31.6 percent from the field; D'Angelo Russell shot 5-of-17 from the offensive end against Bain, shooting 29.4 percent from 2-of-7, including 28.6 percent from 7 three-point range. As a result, Bane not only remained efficient on the offensive end, but also performed well on the defensive end, and he already had the potential to become the league's top 3D in his second year. Then, in the next divisional semifinals, Stephen Curry and Thompson will be Bain's touchstones, and if they can withstand the test, Bain's future will be bright and his salary will be respected enough.
Text/Duncan's laugh