The NBA play-off time is confirmed! The Rockets, who want to replace the Warriors, will be difficult, and the Lakers will also be aborted
The NBA regular season is coming to an end! It has been announced that the NBA play-offs will be played on April 17-20. The suspense about the Western Conference play-offs is also slowly getting smaller. Especially about the suspense of the Rockets attacking the Warriors, and the probability of the Lakers advancing to the top eight is also increasing, and there is a possibility of miscarriage in the much-anticipated play-off "Lake Warrior Battle".
According to the latest rankings, the Lakers are in 9th place with 42 wins and 33 losses, 1.5 and 2 wins respectively from the top eight Kings and Suns, and 1.5 wins from the 10th-place Warriors. In terms of the difficulty of the schedule, the Lakers have a very low degree of difficulty, ranking 7th from the bottom of the league, which is a little lower than the Warriors.
The data shows that the average winning rate of the Lakers' next opponents is 46.6%, of which there are 4 teams with a winning percentage higher than 5 percent, namely the Timberwolves, Cavaliers, Pelicans and Warriors. Of these four teams, Timberwolves' Towns are still recovering from injury, and the Lakers have won 1-2 in the first three meetings of the season. In the two games lost, Downs scored 21 points in one game and 9 points in one game, and won one game in which Downs was absent. So the Lakers can also win this game. In addition, the Pelicans' Ingram has been plagued by a knee injury, and the Lakers have a 2-1 record against them this season. Therefore, it is not too difficult for the Lakers to guarantee a winning rate of more than 6 percent.
First of all, the Suns have the most difficult schedule in the league, and the teams they have met in the next seven games have a win rate of more than 5 percent, so the average win rate has reached 63.3%. However, they have a big three, Booker and Durant's offensive firepower should not be underestimated, and with their attraction, other teammates get more opportunities. At the same time, these opponents are not in full form.
In a previous meeting with the Timberwolves, the Suns and Booker Durant scored 31 points each, and four other teammates scored double-doubles to beat the Timberwolves. Therefore, the results of the next two encounters cannot be easily concluded. As for the current state of the Clippers, there are many ups and downs, and Xiaoka has suffered from injuries again. The Pelicans also have a lack of workhorses. Looking at it this way, the Suns are not unlikely to maintain their lead in the context of leading the Lakers by two wins.
On the other hand, the Kings, due to the injuries of Monk and Huerter, suddenly stopped being so terrible, and lost both times against the Mavericks, directly cutting off the possibility of a top-six finish. Six of the next eight games had a win rate of more than 5 percent, making them fourth in the league. Considering the lineup, the probability of the Kings dropping the top eight is obviously higher. Then the outcome is likely to be the Suns Lakers in the top half of the play-offs.
In this way, considering that the hole dug by the Rockets in the early stage was too big, the Warriors gradually regained some form, making the suspense of the last playoff spot very small. As for the matchup between the Lakers and the Suns, in a decisive game, the competitiveness of the Lakers always gives people a sense of confidence, and if the Lakers are upgraded to the level of the midseason tournament on the defensive end, then the Suns are obviously more than lucky, so the "Lakers vs. Warriors" may not be there. Of course, no matter what kind of matchup there will be in the play-offs, the game must be very interesting. What do you think about this? Welcome to the comment area below to communicate and interact with "DK Talk Sports".