With the results of the first round of NBA playoffs, there have been many unexpected situations. The first is that there are two teams in the East, and the Miami Heat swept the Milwaukee Bucks, the league's first place in the regular season, 4-1, creating the sixth "Black Eight miracle" in league history. The New York Knicks also finished the next gram against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who performed very well in the regular season, and they also easily eliminated their opponents 4-1 to advance to the next round. At this point, the New York Knicks will meet the Miami Heat in the semifinals, and the Knicks also have home-court advantage. Secondly, the Clippers' 4-1 elimination by the Suns in the West was also very surprising and disappointing, and as we all know, the Clippers with a full roster have always been a championship contender, but every year when the playoffs come, they lose their core. This season is also the same, George was injured at the end of the regular season, and Leonard was injured in two games in the first round of the playoffs, which suddenly lost the suspense of what should have been the most competitive series showdown in the West.
For now, the league situation is basically a foregone conclusion, with the Western Conference Nuggets and Suns meeting in the Western Conference semifinals. In the East, after the 76ers took the lead in advancing after the 4-0 Nets, the Celtics and Hawks also came to an end, and with the collective outbreak of the double scout, the Celtics successfully eliminated the Hawks and met the 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and the Heat and Knicks also met in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The battle for the second half of the Western Conference has not yet been divided, but the Warriors and Lakers currently have game points in hand, and they have a better chance of winning the series. In fact, the overall situation in the West is similar to what the outside world expected, although the regular season Lakers and Warriors have poor records, but they have superstars, and in the playoffs, they are still really strong teams with championship contention. However, for the Lakers, although the lineup is complete and has the advantage of match points for the time being, the Lakers do have obvious problems in this round of the series as a whole, and the road to the championship is very dangerous.
First of all, in the just-concluded fifth game, the Lakers lost by a large margin, which exposed the inconsistent shortcomings of the team's two core players in shooting. In the five games of this series, James can average 22.2 points, 12.4 rebounds and 5 assists per game, but the overall shooting rate is only 45.7%, and the three-point shooting rate is as low as 16.7%! The data shows that James made 7.2 three-pointers per game in the playoffs, but only 1.2 shots, which was James's least effective performance in previous series. Secondly, from James' performance in the playoffs, it can be seen that his style of play has changed a lot, he not only needs to shoot frequently on the outside, but also needs to stay focused on the defensive end, although considering that James is now less physically strong than before and cannot continue to kill the inside with high intensity, but this also exposes the Lakers' lack of reliable shooters, whether it is Beasley or Russell, can not contribute stable shooting performance to the team.
Davis is averaging 21.8 points, 13.6 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game so far in the playoffs, but is shooting only 47.1% overall. After winning the championship, Davis gradually lost his crosshair, and what was originally a beautiful mid-range shot is now very rare. Therefore, the Lakers' current offense is basically relying on Davis to play strongly, and Davis will continue to play hard for James without a chance, because other players really don't have much certainty. In addition, the way Lakers head coach Hamm hired people is also debatable, no matter how bad Beasley and Schroder are, he has always been reluctant to give Vanderbilt and Bamba more opportunities. Coach Hamm's frequent three-guard lineup not only cannot be exchanged for offensive space, but also consumes the physical strength of James and Davis on the defensive end. I believe that with the deepening of the playoffs, if the Lakers still cannot change their style of play, then they must be eliminated.
The duel between the Suns and the Nuggets will be very intense, after all, Murray's performance in the series is very eye-catching, and the Suns' forward Gordon is very defensive, and he can also match Durant from height, speed and size, but the Suns still win more, because whether it is Paul, Booker or Durant, they all have the ability to train Jokic, and Murray, although strong, is still not comparable to a scorer of Booker's level, when there are too few players who can share the pressure for Jokic, and the Nuggets' error tolerance rate cannot be compared with the Suns. On the inside, Jokic is more versatile and has a good ability to control the ball, while Ayton has to do more than just shoot from the middle, but more to attack the basket. However, the Nuggets' bench is slightly better than the Suns, and Paul's height does not dominate against the Nuggets' Pope and others. However, the Suns still have a good chance of advancing to the finals 4-3 with a strong starting lineup. However, the Suns will also face physical problems in the late games due to excessive use of the main force, and it will be difficult to compete for the championship.
The battle between the Warriors and the King will end in G6, and there is little problem for the Warriors to advance. When they were 2-0 down, everyone was looking down on the Warriors, and now after five games, the Warriors have won the Tianwang Mountain holding the match point. In fact, Green's suspension can be seen as a turning point in this series, and replacing Green with Pu'er has completely activated the Warriors' offense, and Green came off the bench to show off offense and lead the bench to bite the score. Before the start of this series, the outside world was generally looking down on the Kings, which also made the Warriors players have the idea of underestimating the enemy, and after being beaten by the Kings, Green spoke in the locker room to make everyone pay attention to this opponent, which also made the Warriors more united and more efficient in the games behind. After advancing to the semifinals, the Warriors will most likely play the Lakers, the Lakers' projection ability and conversion rate are difficult to match the Warriors, and the Warriors' roster is also the most balanced in the Western Conference playoff teams, and their weakest interior is greatly compensated for by the rise of Rooney. The Warriors' offensive system is on the outside, the arrow is the splash brothers, the role of the inside is to ensure rebounding and defense, and can not occupy the ball, Rooney is simply born for the Warriors, in the series, he averaged 14.4 rebounds per game, ranked first in the league, and cut 20+ rebounds in two games, which is very crazy, and also gives the Warriors the confidence to shoot outside. Therefore, the Warriors will be the team most likely to break out of the West.
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