Second in the Union! Second in the Union! Western Crouching Tigers, Hidden Dragons, they will be the big dark horses in this year's playoffs
On the trade deadline, the Suns reached a blockbuster deal with the Nets to get Kevin Durant to successfully form the Booker + Paul + Durant + Ayton four-man team, which made them immediately become the favorites to win the championship! But Durant played only three games before he was suspended due to injury, which clouded the Suns' championship prospects! The defending champion Warriors were expected to win two consecutive championships this year, but Wiggins' indefinite departure has greatly reduced their strength, and there is still no news of when Wiggins will return, so their championship prospects are naturally not optimistic! As for the Clippers, they had a good chance, but Paul George suddenly injured his right leg and made their playoffs a bad situation! So, who will have the potential to make it out of the West to the Finals this year? The answer may surprise you, because I'm afraid no one would have thought of the Lakers.
Indeed, the Los Angeles Lakers are currently in a bad situation, and they are still struggling in the play-off qualifying zone! But it is such a struggling Lakers that is expected to become a super dark horse in this year's playoffs. Unless the Western team can successfully intercept the Lakers rushing into the playoffs, the consequences will be unimaginable! Because the Lakers have shown their sharp fangs after the trade deadline, they are about to wreak havoc on the league. We didn't find out before that it was because the Lakers' record was not outstanding enough, so we ignored some of their super performance!
Previously, Warriors forward Chasing Green talked about the Lakers on the show. "The Lakers are a very serious threat to the West right now. You talk about the record, and if the Lakers make the playoffs, they're a serious threat. Obviously, chasing dreams is a warning to Western teams, even if the Lakers are struggling in the playoffs, but getting them to the playoffs will be super troublesome for Western teams!
The Lakers star Thick Eyebrows said in a recent interview that he wants to help the team win the 18th championship in team history as soon as possible, so as to surpass the Celtics to become the most championshipd team in the history of the league! Many people may think that thick eyebrows are a fool's dream, but they do hide this strength. Don't believe it, let's look at a set of high-end comparison data of the Lakers.
NBA on ESPN today posted several data comparisons between the Lakers and the 2019-20 championship season after the trade deadline. After the trade deadline, the Lakers are 2nd in the league in defensive efficiency (points lost in 100 rounds), 7th in the league in net efficiency (net win points per 100 rounds), and 2nd in the league in limited opponent shooting percentage; In the 2019-20 championship season, the Lakers ranked 3rd in the league in defensive efficiency, 5th in the league in net efficiency, and 8th in the league in limiting opponent shooting percentage.
Through the comparison of data, it is not difficult to find that the overall performance of the Lakers team after the trade deadline is definitely at the top of the league, even better than the performance of the 2019-20 championship season. So do you mean that the Lakers have a championship this season? Don't forget the NBA's wise saying: Never underestimate the heart of a championship!
So, don't be surprised if the Lakers can finally reach the Finals as a super dark horse this season! Because they do have the strength to create this miracle. As everyone knows, unknowingly, the Lakers have actually been transforming step by step to the point of being scary!