The NBA's regular season has entered a white-hot phase this season, and it's not just teams that have been decent at the start of the season that are starting to push for a playoff spot. Teams that already have the title to win the title themselves and are at the top of the table are also trying to hold on to their positions, but unlike the others, they have some options and the opportunity to experiment with more tactical lineups. The Celtics are the only team that hasn't lost at home this season, and after winning the Jazz, the Celtics are on a 17-game winning streak at home and are in first place in the league with an overall record of 27 wins and 7 losses. The performance of the defending champion Nuggets during this period was unpredictable, taking the last game against the Magic as an example, the Nuggets were defeated by the Magic's 18-point lead in a short period of time when the starting five were fully played.
The Nuggets are ranked 8th in the league in offensive and defensive efficiency this season, so the way they lost is really incredible. But no matter what, Jokic has maintained his MVP performance this season, and the core lineup of the championship has been retained. The Nuggets currently sit in third place in the West, and that ranking is a great place to pick opponents before heading into the playoffs. For these two teams in the top ranks of the East and West, what they have to do this season is to experiment with a more reasonable lineup as much as possible so that they can easily defuse any team when they enter the playoffs. However, the league is more about teams fighting for a playoff spot, and it's this uncertainty that makes the game even more unique. 13-point reversal!Upset 14-point defeat!NBA's No. 1 pseudo-strong team, the two giants are both data brushes!
The Clippers got a lot of skepticism from fans after getting Harden, because the Clippers were in league for a while after that, but after the run-in period passed. The Clippers have only lost 2 of their last 16 games, and under Harden's organization, Leonard has also been fully stimulated, averaging 24.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, with a three-point shooting rate of 44%. The Clippers have risen from 12th in the West to 4th in the West. On the other side, the situation of the Lakers is very different from that of the Clippers, and the Lakers, who frequently played outstanding performances at the beginning of the season, have shown a trend of opening high and going low.
The Lakers have won just two of their last 11 games, dropping to 17-19 and sitting in 11th place in the West. And since head coach Darvin Ham was rumored to be in a crisis of confidence in the team, the Lakers' overall performance has become even worse. In the last 2 games, the Lakers are experiencing their most disappointing game of the season. In the game against the Heat, in Butler's absence, the Lakers allowed rookie Harkes to score 16 points, and the plus/minus was a game-high +24, and finally lost by 14 points. The situation got worse in the ensuing game against the Grizzlies, who eventually trailed by as many as 16 points after taking an early 13-point lead by the Grizzlies. In the end, it was still a double-digit margin of point loss.
One thing in common in these two games is that the Lakers duo James and Thick Eyebrows have both remained healthy and played. Especially in the game against the Grizzlies, James scored 32 points in one fell swoop, and Thick Eyebrows also scored 31 points. When both duos scored more than 30 points, but the team still lost, this Lakers team was really overrated by the outside world. In the past five games, the Lakers have shot just 31.9% from three-point range, the worst in the league. At the same time, although Ham relegated Reeves and Russell to the bench in quick succession, he brought in the defensive combination of Reddish and Vanderbilt. However, the Lakers' actual defensive performance did not live up to expectations, which will also highlight the holes on the offensive end.
The Lakers' reversal against the Grizzlies was largely due to the Lakers' inability to defend against opponents' three-pointers. The Grizzlies shot 23-of-45 from the field and shot 51 percent from the field. The Lakers, on the other hand, only made 28 three-point attempts and shot less than 36 percent from the field. The Lakers' two cores, James and Thick Eyebrow, have only missed five games so far this season, while James averaged 25.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game, shooting 40% from three-point range. But when he was already behind by double digits in the final moments of the game against the Grizzlies, he chose to make a layup, which was questioned by fans that he was scoring points.
And James' attitude on the defensive end this season is also a point that has been criticized, especially when fighting for rebounds, it is easy for opponents to get a second chance to attack. Thick Eyebrows has averaged 25.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game so far this season, and Thick Eyebrows can contribute the fourth most blocks in the league with 2.6 blocks per game. But he's only 112.8 on the defensive end, and there's no denying that Bushy has dominated the paint in many games. However, most of this is when the opponent does not have a strong center, and when facing a strong interior level in the league, the thick eyebrows will have a big decline in both scoring and basket protection. This is also the reason why the two cores can still lose when they have scored 30+ points, and the Lakers are definitely the representative of the league's pseudo-strong teams this season.