Almost every season, the NBA will always have one or two teams that play the role of "championship goalkeeper", and their common features are:
There is an excellent offensive and defensive system, a team goal of unity of purpose, and a strong regular season record.
And, there is a lack of a superstar with super ability that can turn things around.
When you meet more than 90% of the league's teams, they can easily grasp it. When you encounter an opponent with a top superstar, you are often overwhelmed.
But if the superstars don't play the best, they will also be frustrated in front of them. But as long as you climb over this mountain, the championship is close at hand.
Typical teams like the Pistons in the first decade of this century, the Spurs after 2007, the Rockets in previous years, the Heat after 2020, and the Suns today.
And now in the East and West semifinals, the Suns and Heat, who are the first in their respective divisions, are such teams.
Paul, Booker, Butler and Adebayo are all All-Stars now, but there is still a gap between Jankudou and top talents such as Jokic, Doncic, Embiid and Alphabet Brother.
The reason why they can lead the team to the first place in the east and west is that they have the ultimate team.
In the first two games of the semi-finals, they each led 2-0 at home, but now the big score has come to 2-2.
Because their opponents happen to be the Lone Rangers with Doncic, and the 76ers after Embiid's comeback.
First, Philadelphia Vs Heat, the long-lost "Harden Personal Show"
In the fourth game, the Heat, who had already lost a game, did not dare to slacken off, and sacrificed their good defensive tactics of high-density human staring + strong side accumulation. The meaning is clear:
One-on-one heads-up is fine, but rely on Harden Embiid to connect the whole team, don't think about it.
But Philadelphia scored 64 points at halftime.
In addition to the three-pointers of 9-of-16, the 76ers also played quite hard, and they only scored three goals in the three-second zone in the entire first half. They are:
Maxi shifted, harden on the weak side of the anti-hanging Embiid, the layup scored two points.
Harden once again hung the emperor and scored under the three-man siege.
Harden lured the three-man bag clip and assisted Reed in the air to cut a dunk.
The Heat's defense is second only to the Celtics in the East and fifth in the league. In recent years, their highly contractive defense has killed top attackers such as Alphabet Brother, Tatum and Trae Young, as well as Harden in the first two games.
But when Embiid returned, he was a little stretched against Harden and Embiid, two superstars with outstanding personal ability.
In the first half, Harden scored seven points and seven assists, the fewest in the first four games.
But 7 assists is the most.
Embiid's return completely loosened his grip on the offensive end.
In the second half, Butler began to take over, and Coach Spoo took out the extreme five he had for Butler to play the number five, and he scored 17 points in the quarter on 5-of-7 shooting. The Heat also caught up to 85-89.
But embiid and Maxi also scored 16 points in the same quarter, allowing Harden to complete the respite.
So there was Harden, who scored 4 of 6 three points in the fourth quarter and scored 16 points alone.
He played 12 minutes in the quarter, scoring five goals, except for another one that was Maxi's assist for three points, all of which were the most feared one-on-one heads-ups at his peak, including three retreat three-pointers.
It is said that it is the return of the emperor and the return of Harden's "father", so that Philadelphia has two consecutive wins.
But in fact, these two games only scored a total of 45 points, which is not the same as the regular season.
The biggest meaning of his existence is actually to make the Heat dare not attack Harden unscrupulously.
In the first two games, Deng Ge led the team alone, encountering a "Box-1" defense similar to Curry's sixth game in 2019, and "there was a wall in front of him" at all times (Spoo's coaching language).
After Embiid returned, the penalty area was plagued by the super center who had the fiercest scoring points in the regular season, and the Heat did not dare to bully Harden like this.
And once too much defensive resources are poured into these two men, Philadelphia's shooters have space. Danny Green had 10-of-13 three-pointers in the last two games.
That's what superstars mean in the playoffs, where their presence forces opponents to choose between limited defensive resources.
Either pack them, prevent shooters and cut them empty.
Either stick to the head-to-head, but you have to bear their "punitive blow".
Compared with the peak of 2017-20, Harden may not have the ability and physical strength of the easy 50+. But now with Embiid, he can still do it with a single quarter of 15+.
The team is as good as the Heat, and it can't withstand the bombardment of two MVP-level superstars.
Second, the Suns vs Lone Rangers - it's not just the referee who is crazy, but also the three points fed by Doncic
The Lone Ranger can win two games in a row at home, and the referee is indispensable.
It's not that they have obvious miscalculations and missed judgments. Rather, most of their penalties at key points are in favor of the Lone Ranger.
Paul made 2 fouls in the first quarter, played 8 minutes, 0 points and 0 boards,
2 fouls in the second quarter, played 11 minutes, 5 points and 4 boards.
In the third quarter, it was less than 3 minutes before he got a fifth foul, 0 points and 0 boards.
When he played the sixth in the fourth quarter, he only played 1 minute and 30 seconds, 0 minutes and 1 assist
The game was played for 23 minutes, and only 4 minutes in the second half, a total of 5 points and 7 assists, and the playing time was cut to pieces.
This kind of ball, if it is at the home of the Suns, may be blown by Doncic.
But even if the referee is not Foster today, the league is not prepared to let the suspense of this series end prematurely.
Of course, as the league's number one strong team, the Suns didn't just lose to the referee today.
The Lone Rangers' three-pointers of 20 of 44 and 13 of 21 at halftime are the weapons that hurt them the most.
Although today's league is already the era of "three points + small balls", not all teams are Warriors, and Stephen Curry has only one.
Not everyone has the ability to face to face, the key is to see how to get as many empty/mid-air shots as possible.
At this point, when Harden is getting older and LeBron is absent, Doncic can be called the first master of the playoffs today.
His single pick is solid and brutal, and the score is not only accurate and timely, but also imaginative.
Taking the first quarter as an example, today's Lone Ranger opened with the first goal, he and Powell blocked, Ayton shrank under the basket, Paul made up for it, missed the bottom corner of Bullock, and hit a three-point shot.
Then it was Powell blocking, Ayton crouching, and Doncic pulling straight back for three points.
Then single-handedly Ayton missed a three-pointer, Bullock grabbed the rebound in front of the court, and Finney Smith finished outside the line.
Single out Ayton again, give Bullock a spin, and finally transfer to Kleber to hit again,
Then two straight times found Finney Smith's 100-step walk beyond the three-point line.
In the first six three-pointers the Lone Ranger scored, he scored 1, assisted 3, and the other 2 pulled the Suns' only height Ayton to the three-point line, leaving the opponent's penalty area vacuum and creating a vacancy.
In the middle of this, the Suns are also constantly changing their defensive strategies, and at the beginning Ayton blocks the squat pit, and he hits two in a row.
Then the Suns switched defenses, Ayton was pulled out, so the rebound was lost, the penalty area was vacuumed, and two more were scored.
Ayton was completely confused, the Suns switched to Cameron Johnson to defend him, and Doncic played two more unsteady feet.
The Lone Rangers scored 24 points from beyond the three-point line in the first quarter, while the Suns took 25 points.
The top attackers can always give their own responses according to the opponent's defensive strategy,
You block the demolition of the squat pit, then I directly open fire on the outside line,
You change defense to the outside line, I hit you in the box empty,
You change people to defend, I catch you on an unstable footing.
Doncic's own stability and versatility on the offensive end can be said to have completely pinched Ayton and the Suns in this game.
By the time Dinwiddie, Finney Smith, and even Bertans' hands were warmed, the sun couldn't hold back.
In this game, Finney Smith scored 36 points from 8-of-12 from three-point range, Bronson from 18 points, 4 boards and 4 assists, and the benches combined 8-of-14 shooting to score 36 points.
Doncic in this scene is finally no longer a "lone ranger".
Third, the sadness of the "champion goalkeeper" - the touchstone is also a stepping stone
Last year's Suns eliminated the Lakers without thick eyebrows, the Nuggets without Murray, and the Clippers without Leonard. Proves:
If you're not ready, if you're not 100%, wait for us to kick your ass.
But the finals were met with all-out, full-loaded letters and bucks, and fell.
The previous season, the Heat had wiped out the Bucks without Holliday, the Celtics with double probing, and the Raptors, who were as unstars as they were, and the overall strength of the Raptors, and killed through the East. Then the finals were killed by Zhan Mei.
Since 2015, Harden's Rockets have lost to the Warriors who won the championship three times in four years, and lost to the Lakers of Zhan Mei in 2020.
Harden lost three championships in the Rockets' final six seasons, and two were Western Conference champions.
Of course more famous is the Early 2000s Pistons, the Eastern Conference Champion for six consecutive seasons from 2003-2008.
From Kidd's Nets, Wade's Heat, LeBron's Cavaliers all the way to the Celtics Big Three.
They played all the top teams in the East at that time.
You say they're stronger, but they've only reached the finals twice and won one championship.
You say they're weak, 90 percent of the teams in the league aren't their opponents.
And Wade and LeBron were both taught a lesson by them before they became kings of the East.
If you can beat us, you are qualified to compete for the championship.
They are strong and outstanding overall, but the shortcomings are equally obvious and deadly.
Once the superstars have comprehensive skills and a strong heart, they can be crushed. But before that, we must undergo a "beating."
Such a team may be difficult to win a championship, but it is still worthy of respect, because they are the last touchstone and stepping stone before every talented superstar becomes king.
Today's suns and heat are also testing whether the young Doncic and Embiid, as well as Harden, who has been running away, have a strong heart.