Reversed for the seventh time in his career, Rivers may part ways with the 76ers! Averaging 20 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks per game, Davis became the fifth man in history! 20 years of park west showdown repeated!
Reversed again! Rivers or after class
In this season's Eastern Conference semifinals, the 76ers won the battle of Tenno Mountain to win the match point, but were won in the next two games in two consecutive games, especially swallowing a humiliating defeat in the crucial tie-breaker, and once again missed the East Finals. At present, with being eliminated early, the 76ers are also facing a lot of problems internally.
In addition to Harden's possible exit from his contract, the 76ers are most likely to leave this offseason with head coach Rivers. After all, in these seasons, Rivers, who took over the 76ers coach, has always led the team to play well in the regular season, but has never been able to go further in the playoffs, regardless of whether the core of the backcourt is Simmons or Harden, the outcome has not changed much. Although being eliminated is not the sole responsibility of the coach, players also need to bear fault, such as the poor performance of Simmons and this season's Diden combination in the best-of-seven match, but from the perspective of his coaching career, his coaching ability has indeed been greatly questioned.
Throughout his coaching career, although he led the Green Army to victory in 2008, his victory revealed that he only gave encouragement to the players, and there was no tactic. In the past decade, although he has coached strong teams such as the Clippers and 76ers, he has never led the team to the divisional finals, and has been reversed many times when leading the way. This season, it is the seventh time in his career that he has been reversed in the case of a big lead, and in the previous reversal experience, the experience of being reversed and eliminated by the opponent in the case of a big 3:1 lead has been common, such as the Magic in 2003, the Clippers in 2015, the Clippers in 2020, and the case of winning the Tianwangshan losing series is also very common, in NBA history, according to statistics, the probability of a 3-2 lead being reversed in history is only 16%, a total of 55 times. Among them, Rivers alone has 7 times, so he is also given the nickname "Human Reversed Essence".
Therefore, the parting of ways between Rivers and the 76ers this offseason has also become expected, after all, for the 76ers, winning the championship has become a very urgent task. Embiid is at the peak of his season these seasons, and Harden is likely to execute the player option. It stands to reason that this squad should be able to play more power, so changing the head coach may be the right choice.
The fifth man in history! Davis is on par
In the past two seasons, Davis has been repeatedly questioned and criticized, on the one hand because of his glass man attribute being repeatedly injured, on the other hand, he has gradually lost his previous dominance, often became low on the field, and even been involved in trade rumors many times.
But in this season's playoffs, Davis has shown a very different state, according to statistics, in the 12 playoff games so far this season, he has played 37 minutes per game, averaging 21.2 points, 14.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 3.3 blocks per game, shooting 53% from the field, including the first rebounds and blocks per game among the players currently playing in the playoffs. In many games, it was Davis' huge containment on the inside that made the Lakers' offense easier, and on the defensive end, Davis also dominated the box, and there were many games that sent key blocks at key moments. According to statistics, Davis has also become the fifth player in NBA history to average 20 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks per game, and the other four are all-time superstars, namely Olajuwon, Robinson, Abdul-Jabbar and Duncan, which can be alongside these celebrities, which also shows how hot Davis's state is this season.
In the next Western Conference Finals, Davis' condition will also become a key factor in whether the Lakers can win and enter the Finals, after all, the opponent in the West and his opponent has become Jokic, who can average 30.7 + 12.8 + 9.7 per game since the playoffs, and the opponent's strength is very strong, which is also a huge test for Davis. However, in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, Davis has already proven himself. Therefore, if the Lakers want to defeat this season's first place in the West to advance to the Finals, whether Davis can defeat Jokic in the opposite position will largely determine the direction of the series. And if this can be done, then Davis' status in recent seasons will undoubtedly be greatly improved.
The final showdown is out! Repeat in 2020
After the Green Army defeated the 76ers in the best-of-seven to advance to the Eastern Conference finals, the two sides of this season's East-West Finals have all been released, with the Heat playing eighth in the East against the second-place Celtics, and the Lakers in the West playing the No. 1 Nuggets, both the Heat and Lakers entered the playoffs through the playoffs and went all the way to the divisional finals.
And such a matchup, exactly the same as the 2020 park division final, history so coincidentally repeated. In the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat, who also reached the Eastern Conference finals, eventually eliminated the Celtics in six games, and in last season's Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat, who ranked first in the East in the regular season, met the Green Army again, but finally lost the Green Army in the best-of-seven battle and was eliminated, and this season, the two teams met in the divisional finals for the third time in nearly four years. In the first two matchups, the two teams were very close in strength, and each time they played sparks, each with a victory, but neither team reached the finals and failed to win the championship. In this season, although the Heat are not as strong on paper as they have the three Scouts and Smart while also bringing in Brogdon's Green Army, and also lost two big players Hiro and Oladipo, in this season's playoffs, the Heat is definitely not to be underestimated.
In the West, this season's Lakers once ranked last in the West, and finally entered the playoffs through the playoffs, but in the playoffs they burst out with amazing energy, first eliminating the Grizzlies, the second place in the West, and then eliminating the defending champion Warriors to enter the Western Finals, and this season's Nuggets under the leadership of Jokic and others are also very incomprehensible. In the last Western Conference showdown, the Lakers easily eliminated the Nuggets, but this time, the Lakers need to work harder to replicate 2020.