He is from Slovenia and is seen as the next league top player after James and Curry. NBA League New Wang Zhi, let's walk into Luka Doncic today.
Today's Lone Rangers have the same problems as yesterday's Celts.
In a particular series, when you can grasp the weakness of the opponent, you can play a super performance. But after changing an opponent, the player may not be able to carry the previous magical performance to the next round of the series.
On May 3, Beijing time, the Phoenix Suns defeated the Dallas Mavericks 121-114 at home and won the second round of the Western Conference semifinals.
The Last Green Army Gemini was dizzy in the Green Army's defense. Brunson also had trouble with this game, scoring just 13 points on 6-of-16 shooting.
Throughout the first half, Brunson and Dinwiddie, two ball carriers, scored just three points on just one-of-10 shooting.
Of the three ball carriers, only Doncic can handle the Suns' defense, so the Lone Ranger has become a single-core team leader mode. So the Sun's strategy is to choke the others of the Lone Ranger and then constantly consume Doncic.
The most obvious is the fourth quarter, although the Lone Ranger under Doncic once chased the point difference to single digits, but the Suns initially used Bridges + four substitute rotation lineups, and even later replaced Bridges with Craig, the purpose is to constantly consume Doncic.
After all, it's a seven-inning, four-win game, and the one who wins four games can advance to the next round, and it's good for Doncic to "lose weight" more.
At the beginning of the game, the Suns were in the lead, and the point difference between the two teams was mostly in double digits, and even reached 21 points at the maximum. When Doncic desperately tried to catch up with the score, but when the Suns replaced the main force, the Lone Ranger ultimately fell short.
Throughout the game, Doncic shot 15-of-30 and 11-of-14 free throws, and one man blasted down 45 points while grabbing 12 rebounds and delivering eight assists.
Doncic became the first player in the team's history to cut 40+10+5 multiple times in a single playoff game, and was also the player in NBA history who played the most 40+ games in the playoffs (6 games) under the age of 24.
Doncic's offensive brilliance goes without saying, but it's not a good thing to make a big deal on the playoff stage, because this is the fourth time Doncic has scored 40+ in the playoffs and still lost.
This was a situation that many players of the same period experienced, such as Booker, Lillard and Mitchell, who all lost two playoff games with 40+ points.
As Paul said of the Suns' defensive strategy after the game: "We knew Doncic would hit the shot, but we had to make it difficult for his teammates to play. ”
Throughout the game, the Suns used Bridges against Doncic, mainly single defense, and the blocking and dismantling mixed shrinking baskets and changing defenses, giving Doncic a certain personal attack opportunity, but cutting off his contact with his teammates.
So after Doncic's game, the career playoff average rose to 33.4 points per game, tied for the first place in history with Jordan, but the more he played, the more he resembled the team's name: The Lone Ranger.
Because of this game, Doncic alone scored more than the other 4 starters of the Lone Rangers combined.
In addition to substitute center Kleber, who scored 5 of 6 from three in the first half and shot 16 points, Doncic experienced a deep sense of powerlessness.
On the other hand, the Suns played quite a team on the offensive end. In today's game, the Suns' five starters all scored in double figures.
Among them, Ayton scored a team-high 25 points, Booker contributed 23 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, Paul had 19 rebounds and 3 assists, and Crowder, Bridges, including Cameron Johnson on the bench, also had double-digit scores.
However, this is also related to the two sides of the lineup, the Pelicans' overall tall lineup characteristics once made the Suns quite a headache, and to the Lone Ranger side, whether it is Powell or Kléber, can not give Ayton enough oppression.
So throughout the game, the Suns' offensive success rate was frighteningly high, with a team-wide shooting percentage of 50.5%, 39.3% and 100%, respectively, and the team's 27 assists were 11 more than those of the Lone Ranger.
I have to sigh, the Suns 18 penalties in 18 penalties, it is really difficult for the lone ranger to take advantage of any loopholes.
According to statistics, the Suns are the third team in history to shoot more than 50% in the first seven games of a playoff trip, the first two being the Lakers in 1984 (10 games) and the Lakers in 1986 (7 games).
So Doncic's post-match assessment was: "I think tonight's problem is not in the attack, but in the defense." The defense was so poor that we lost the game. ”
In Doncic's view, on this helpless night, teammates helped him on the offensive end, even more than on the defensive end.
Harden, on the other hand, may be facing the biggest crisis of trust since he became famous. Before the game, Harden said: "We need to let go and play, as a team, we have to have the ultimate confidence to win the game." ”
As a result, the heat was released, with Hiro contributing 25 points and 7 assists, Adebayo having 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the team's five-man scored in double figures to win Philadelphia 106-92 at home.
Harden, who thought he was missing Embiid, might be able to stand up and explode, and even Perkins said before the game of the 76ers Heat G1: "I believe Harden will play very well." ”
As a result, after a game, Perkins did not speak. Harden played 34 minutes and 35 seconds today, shooting 16 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 turnovers on 5-of-13 shooting.
Yes, that's the super-scorer who averaged 36.1 points per game in the regular season and 31.6 points per game in the playoffs four years ago. While his figure gradually swelled, Harden's desire was also decreasing year by year.
Aside from Harden, who has scored less than 25 points in 11 consecutive playoff games, he's even made fewer shots.
Harden has never made a 20+ shot since coming to the 76ers, and the highest number of shots in a single game is 19. This season at the Nets, Harden has made more than 20 shots in 12 games, with the highest being 25 shots.
In the fourth quarter of this game, Harden only had one sports battle shot, and did not score in a single quarter.
Perkins lamented after the game: "Everyone at different times in their careers will encounter the impact of the time old man, and we are now witnessing the time old man capture James Harden. Harden wasn't fast or explosive enough to deal with opponents, he couldn't get close to the rim, he couldn't end the game by touching the ball, and he didn't even have enough room to shoot three-pointers. ”
Such a Harden, it is already difficult to tear apart the Heat's defense. According to statistics, the three-point shot of the Philadelphia player receiving Harden's pass in this game was a pitiful 10-of-0 shot, equaling the worst state in the past 8 years. The last time a similar situation occurred was thomas jr. in 2016.
In this game, Philadelphia made 34 shots from outside the three-point line, hitting just six of them, shooting as low as 17.6 percent. In the absence of Embiid, Harden's lack of initiative, and the team's iron skyline game, Philadelphia's loss is also natural.
Of course, in addition to Harden, there is Embiid's stand-in Jordan Jr. today. Because Embiid confirmed his absence from the first two games in the East, Jordan Jr. took on the role of the starting center of the game.
Jordan Jr. played 17 minutes and had 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Philadelphia lost 22 points. In other words, in the 30 minutes that Jordan Jr. was not present, Philadelphia actually beat the Heat by 8 points.
It is worth mentioning that throughout the first half, Jordan Jr. only played 4 minutes in the first quarter, during which Philadelphia lost 12 points to the Heat, and in the nearly 20 minutes of his absence, Philadelphia actually beat the Heat by 13 points.
If you look back, the data may surprise many people. In the last round of the series, Jordan Jr. played 0.8 seconds in the G3 game.
Such playing time is normal, after all, since joining the 76ers, Jordan Jr. has only played 21 games for the 76ers, with a total of 214 minutes.
During this period, the offensive and defensive efficiency of the 76ers was 109.7/117.4, respectively, and the net loss of the opponent in 100 rounds was 7.7 points; when he was not on the court, the offensive and defensive efficiency of the 76ers reached 117.8/111.9 points, and the net victory in 100 rounds was 5.9 points.
If you follow up, Jordan Jr.'s last game in the playoffs was 5 years ago in 2017.
Jordan Jr., who was still in the Clippers at the time, played 39.5 minutes in the seven-point game with the Jazz, and had 24 points and 17 rebounds.
So when The Elder Rivers pulled out Jordan Jr. to start in the second round of G1, it was really a dare to use, a catch-up.
I don't know if Lao Li's performance art is recalling the past and the glory days, hoping that time can return to 2017. Jordan Jr. was in the All-Star for the first time, and Harden was about to become the leading scorer.
What's even more frightening is that this head-iron behavior of Rivers may continue.
After the game, Lao Li swore: "We like him (Jordan Jr.) and whether you like him or not, we will continue to make him start because we like him and our players believe in him." ”
It is not excluded that this passage is Rivers playing smoke bombs, but the next game in the old is really still using little Jordan, which really can only be interpreted by metaphysics.
But now the Philadelphia fans have only one sentence in their hearts: "Embiid, you're coming back!" Harden alone can't bear it! ”
Past reading: The Grizzlies have a good time and place, but they have less experience with the Warriors
NBA Playoff Quarterfinals Are Out!
Tencent Sports's "Playoff Big Prophet II" second round of predictions opened
The playoffs predict the correct single-group 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
Predict don't be afraid to punch in the face!