Shocked 8 consecutive defeats! The bottom of the league! The strongest champion in the NBA is this? 19 points on 17 shots, and his weaknesses were exposed
As the NBA regular season deepens, the true strength of each team will be revealed. For the traditional giants, they don't need to embellish the team too much off the field, and focusing on the game to achieve a good ranking is their goal in the regular season. The defending champion Nuggets remain in first place in the West in the absence of core guard Murray. On the Eastern side, the Celtics and 76ers, as well as the Bucks, have been criticized by trades at the start of the season, but the depth of the roster is already there. To date, these three teams have also taken the top 3 spots in the East. However, the deepening of the season will also make the league more stable.
The "dark horses" that were short-lived at the beginning of the season will also be revealed. Of course, there are many dark horse teams that really have the strength to disrupt the situation, and this phenomenon has permeated the entire Western League. The Timberwolves bore the brunt of the victory, and after beating the Pelicans, the Timberwolves shared the No. 1 spot in the West with the Nuggets with a 9-3 record. The Timberwolves' performance was absolutely unexpected, and although the team made the playoffs last season, not many fans believed that they could compete to rush to the top spot in the West. You must know that the Timberwolves' schedule during this period is not simple, beating the Warriors, Nuggets, Celtics and Heat in a row, all of which are the favorites to win the championship this season. Defeat 8 in a row! The bottom of the league! The strongest champion in the NBA is this? 19 points on 17 shots, and his weaknesses are exposed!
In addition to the Timberwolves, the Thunder also ranked fourth in the West after beating the Warriors twice. The Rockets were ended by the Clippers after defeating strong teams such as the Lakers and Nuggets and launching a wave of six consecutive wins. But the team is still in 6th place in the West. The entire Western Conference playoff division, the top 6 spots, occupies three teams that were not favored at the beginning of the season. However, as mentioned above, the league is more of a flash in the pan. They had an impressive start to the season, but as the regular season progressed, their true quality was revealed. After the Spurs drafted Wembanyama, the strongest champion who is considered to be the best player who could change the league's landscape, whether it's the hype or the Spurs' actual move, they look like a rising star team ready to make the playoffs this season.
The Spurs did well at the start of the season, and against the Durant-led Suns, the Spurs completed a double-digit comeback in the first game. In the second matchup, even if Booker returned, the Spurs did not give the Suns any chance to lead in the whole game, and finally completed the double kill against the Suns by a double-digit point difference. Wembanyama also scored a season-high 38 points, a record-breaking. Just when fans thought this was the starting point for the return of the "Spurs dynasty", the Spurs' nightmare began, and the Spurs have not won a game since winning the Suns. even lost to the remnant Grizzlies by a double-digit margin, and the Spurs also suffered a wave of 8 consecutive defeats and fell directly to the bottom of the West. Tied to the Pistons, who are also at the bottom of the East, these two teams are already at the bottom of the league.
Wembanyama, the core of the team, averaged 18.5 points per game during the Spurs' eight-game losing streak. But as an interior player, Wembanyama's shooting percentage is miserable, at just 37 percent. Some fans believe that the Spurs did not attack through Wembanyama most of the time, and there are even ridiculous claims that other teammates are jealous of the top pick. However, these are nonsense, as Wembanyama is by far the most used player on the Spurs team, averaging almost 30% per game. This figure is also higher than James, Tatum and other players who serve as the absolute core of the championship team. Before coming to the league, Wembanyama even said that the NBA is not as confrontational as the European league, which means that it is easier to score in the NBA.
However, Wembanyama is averaging 16.8 shots per game so far this season, the highest on the team, while shooting only 28.4 percent from the field. Wembanyama's weaknesses were also exposed early, averaging 2.4 assists per game but receiving 3.8 turnovers. Obviously, the newcomer's biggest problem right now isn't just not just not being able to pass, his ball handling, shooting and defense aren't as good as expected. In the past two games, Wembanyama even played a performance of only 27 points on 26 shots and 19 points on 17 shots.
The Spurs' starting lineup has a lot of potential on the defensive end, but the team has only averaged 41.9 rebounds per game so far, which ranks seventh from the bottom in the league. The overall defensive efficiency value of 119.8 ranks second from the bottom in the league. On the offensive end, the Spurs did not improve, averaging 111.2 points per game, which is 11th from the bottom of the league, and the offensive efficiency of 106.9 ranks second to last in the league, along with defensive efficiency. It's the first season for this young team to wrap up their rebuild and there's still a lot to get used to. But Wembanyama, as the cornerstone of the team, needs to do better.