Heading into the final stages of the regular season, the battle for playoff tickets is still fierce. The pattern on this side of the Eastern theater is relatively clear, and there has been a clear stratification, and the Bucks, Celtics, 76ers, Cavaliers and Knicks, who are currently in the top 5 in the East, have officially locked their playoff spots, and the Nets, ranked 6th in the East, are not far from entering the playoffs. Even though the Nets have undergone major changes this season, sending away two All-Stars, Durant and Irving, they have not given up hope of making the playoffs, and a new core scoring point, Bridges, has appeared. Now, with a 43-35 record, the Nets are 6th in the East, two wins ahead of the Miami Heat, who are No. 7 in the East, and have a very good chance of getting a direct playoff ticket.
On the Western side, it's a bit more chaotic, with only three teams securing playoff spots for the time being: the Nuggets, Grizzlies and Kings. The Suns are currently 4th in the West, four wins behind the Kings in 3rd place in the West and 2.5 wins ahead of the Clippers in 5th place in the West, and unsurprisingly, 4th place in the West will be the Suns' final ranking. The Clippers, Warriors and Lakers were all very close, and the Clippers and Warriors had the same record, leading the Lakers by 0.5 wins. Among the multi-star teams, the Dallas Mavericks are arguably the worst, with 1 win and 7 losses in the last 8 games, and since the arrival of Irving, the Lone Rangers have fallen from fourth in the West to the play-off zone. Now, with a record of 37 wins and 42 losses, 11th in the West, the situation is not optimistic.
Contrary to the Lone Ranger, the Lakers and Suns have had a good time playing recently, with the Lakers winning 6-1 in the past seven games and the Suns now enjoying a five-game winning streak. Some time ago, the core players of both teams suffered from injuries, on the Suns' side, Durant sprained his ankle during pregame training and missed 10 consecutive games, and James also suffered a tendon injury in a game at the end of February without confrontation and rested for nearly a month before returning. Now, the team the two are on, basically there are no injuries, the Lakers are still one Bamba away from returning, and the Suns' injury list has been cleared, both teams have a bright future, as long as they stay healthy in the next games, both sides have a chance to impact the championship.
There is such a statistic, since the trade deadline, the Suns have won 6-0 in games played for the Suns, while James has played for the Lakers, the Lakers are 6-1. Two of the greatest players of this generation are back, and there are certainly quite a few fans who wish they could meet in the Western Conference Finals. Once James and Durant, as the league's big and small kings, each occupied a place in the league, and the two also met many times in the NBA Finals. And now, from the point of view of honor, James is still the first person in the active league, and Durant is afraid that he will be surpassed by Curry and cannot be regarded as a "little king". From the point of view of strength, both of them have become veterans, that is, their combat power is certainly not comparable to other stars of the year, and the statement of "big and small king" of Jandu seems to be a thing of the past.
However, many old fans still like to call them that. From the performance of this season, James and Durant are still in the tail of their prime, James this season, averaged 28.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game, while Durant averaged 29.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. Compared with their respective peaks, James' current athleticism has declined, but his impact is still there, tank crushing layups still have a certain aggressiveness, in addition, James' current role in the Lakers is also based on organizing tandems, as the team's offensive hub, they also have thick eyebrows, and a number of dynamic role players. Although the Lakers had a messy performance at the beginning of the season, they won 2-10 in their first 12 regular season games, and once ranked first in the West.
But since the Wei Shao trade, this Lakers team has been renewed, the offensive rhythm is more fluid, the team's projection shortcomings have been solved, and they really have a chance to complete the comeback from the bottom one to the championship. Durant, like James, has lost his athleticism due to age and injuries, and his defense has declined a lot. However, now Durant, the shooting efficiency has not regressed in the slightest, and even due to the change in the general environment (the league's overall defense is more lax than before), shooting is more stable than before. Durant's arrival has also enhanced the team atmosphere of the Suns, while also activating teammates, Booker and Ayton are more motivated than before.
6 wins 0 losses, 6 wins 1 loss! NBA's two supergiants are back, the league's big and small kings are back, it is worth mentioning that the Suns and Lakers will meet in the penultimate round of the regular season on April 8, James and Durant are also expected to usher in head-to-head, are you looking forward to this game?