This season in the NBA, there are many super teams, and the competition for playoff spots is very fierce. Especially in the Western Division, there are very few bad teams, and there are two Trail Blazers and Spurs, and the remaining 13 teams are all going to impact the playoffs, the third-to-last Grizzlies in the West, because Morant's comeback opened the way to the Northern Expedition, and the Jazz, who are fourth-to-last in the West, have also been in hot form recently, winning 8 of the past 11 games. The fifth-to-last in the West is the Warriors led by Curry, and the sixth-to-last in the West is the Lakers led by James. It can be seen that this season's Western Division is fighting for hegemony, and of course, in fact, the Eastern Division is also turbulent. On the surface, there are three strong teams in the Eastern Conference: the Celtics, the Bucks and the 76ers, and the three are really strong, and last season they were the last to rank in the top three in the East, and each of the three teams has its own superstars.
The Celtics' starting intensity is directly full, with the four All-Star players of Double Tanhua + Boshen + Holiday in charge, and the starting fifth White, as one of the most underrated players in the league, White obviously also has All-Star strength. The duo of the Bucks is very spiritual, Lillard + Brother Alphabet, it is perfectly compatible, one inside and one outside, one shot at a time. Last season, the Bucks were eliminated in the first round, but they suffered the loss that Brother Alphabet couldn't play key shots, and Lillard this season can help Brother Alphabet solve this problem. Although the 76ers are missing Harden, young Maxey is rising again to help Embiid share the pressure, Embiid is really dominant in the regular season, averaging 35 points per game, scoring like drinking water, and his personal performance has reached a phenomenal level. These three teams all have a chance to hit the championship.
However, there is much more to the East than these three capable teams, and the Miami Heat are eyeing the Miami Heat, who have always been a low-key team, hiding their strength in the regular season and hitting hard in the playoffs. In the past four seasons, the Heat have reached the Eastern Conference finals three times, which is enough to show their strength, and there are two super dark horses in the East, the Pacers and the Magic, including the New York Knicks, which are also a team that should not be underestimated and is expected to stand out in the East. The popularity of the Knicks is definitely not low, after all, he is in the big ball city of New York, and the average ticket price of the Knicks is even the highest in the league. However, for a long time, they have not been able to attract superstars to come to the group, and in previous seasons their star was Randle, and Randle's coffee position was really almost interesting compared to the stars of other teams.
In the 21-22 season, Randle was in a slump, the Knicks fell to the bottom, they didn't make the playoffs, and the management once decided to rebuild the lineup, Randle Barrett and other starters were all put on the trade rack, but I didn't expect the Knicks to make much lineup adjustments in the end, but only completed a signing, signing Brunson, a guard from the Mavericks for 104 million US dollars in 4 years, which made fans a little puzzled. What level of player was Brunson at the time? During the Mavericks period, he spent most of his time as a substitute, after all, his starting point was not high, as an 18-year second-round pick, his talent was mediocre, and even among the players in the same position, the talent was very poor, he was too short to be less than 1.9 meters, and his athleticism was also average, but the Knicks gave him a contract of hundreds of millions of yuan.
What I didn't expect was that it was this signing that became the genius of the Knicks. In the 22-23 season, Brunson and Randle led the Knicks back to the playoffs, and also played in the second round, Brunson averaged 24.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game last season, the team status is equal to Randle, and he also activated Randle to a certain extent. When Randle led the team single-handedly, he needed to put a certain amount of effort into the organization, which led to a decline in his offensive efficiency. And now with Brunson, Randle can focus more on scoring. This season, Brunson's personal ability continued to break through, averaging 25.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game, and the three-point shooting rate was 43.1%, creating a career high in a single season, and this season Brunson also hit 40+ high points many times.
In the game with the Pistons, Brunson scored 42 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, and in the game with the Bucks, Brunson scored 45 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. In the game with the Suns, Brunson faced Durant and Booker, slashing 50 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals. 50 points + 45 points! From the bench to the team boss! It is gold that will always shine, and 100 million in 4 years is too worthwhile. From the current point of view, the Knicks made a too wise choice back then, with a price of more than 20 million in 1 year, they brought in a leading star, and it is not surprising that Brunson is going to be selected as an All-Star this season. And the Knicks also know that they are on the rise, and have just welcomed Anunoby and Achiuwa through a trade to improve their defense and continue to strengthen the lineup, do you think the Knicks are expected to reach the Eastern Conference Finals this season?