Killed by the Spurs, ridiculed by the Clippers! The championship has become the biggest joke, and a good card is played badly, you should really disband!
Text: Lao Kan Kanqiu
Editor|Lao Kan Kanqiu
The NBA regular season has come to an end, and the excitement is hanging over the league. The teams in the East and West bared their fangs and launched a final frenzied sprint with one goal in mind: to make the playoffs and fight for a better position. The competition in the Eastern Conference is a little clearer, but there is still no shortage of highlights. The Celtics have a unrivaled record, topping the league and becoming the biggest favorites to win the championship this season. However, the 76ers, who were originally close behind the Celtics, suffered a knee injury to their core player Embiid, and their strength was greatly affected, and their ranking fell all the way, from the original second place in the East to the seventh place now, for them, if they want to qualify for the playoffs, there is a high probability that they will have to go through a round of play-off tests.
At the same time, the Bucks' recent performance has also been a big surprise, unexpectedly experiencing a wave of consecutive losses, which makes people question head coach Rivers' tactical arrangement. To make matters worse, the team's core brother also suffered a serious injury unexpectedly, which undoubtedly cast a shadow over the Bucks' playoff prospects. Now, whether they can make a difference in the playoffs has become a huge question mark.
In contrast, the battle in the Western Division is even more intense. The three teams, the Timberwolves, Nuggets and Thunder, have equal records, and the competition for the top spot is still uncertain. The Clippers have been up and down since the All-Star break, and their roster has also begun to have injury problems, Leonard and Harden's two core players have been injured, which has greatly reduced the team's combat effectiveness, but they have successfully locked up the division championship and become the first group of confirmed playoff first-round opponents in the West with the Mavericks.
The five teams of Pelicans, Suns, Kings, Lakers and Warriors are also fighting for the last direct spot, and the competition between them has entered a white-hot stage, and every game is related to the final standings. Today's Western Play-off Zone is indeed turbulent and full of champions. The Suns, Lakers and Warriors, the three championship teams, are all together, which can be described as full of highlights.
The Lakers and Warriors have already confirmed that they will play in the play-in tournament, and today the Kings lost and locked up the play-in spot, and there is only one team left in the play-off area that has not yet been determined, which will be produced between the Pelicans and the Suns. And the next day of competition is the key to affecting the rankings. If the Pelicans beat the Warriors and the Suns lose to the Kings, the Pelicans will lock up the No. 6 seed in the West early and advance to the playoffs, while the Suns, Kings, Lakers and Warriors will play in the play-in tournament for the final two playoff spots.
Judging from the current situation, whether it is James, Curry and Durant, as they get older, their dominance is beginning to decline. And rather than saying that the Lakers and Warriors made too many mistakes in the first half of the game, which led to the embarrassing situation today, then the Suns' current ranking may indeed surprise everyone.
In the offseason, after the Suns management made a comprehensive upgrade to the original championship lineup, they successfully formed a luxury lineup of the "Big Three", and the outside world agreed that the Suns will rise in the new season and become the favorite team to compete for the championship. In fact, on paper alone, the Suns' lineup is indeed a champion. Not only is their player mix perfect, but their age mix is also very reasonable.
The 27-year-old Booker is in his prime, the 30-year-old Beal is experienced, the 29-year-old Nurkic and the 28-year-old Allen are in their prime, and the 35-year-old Durant, who is entering the latter stages of his career, can still make a decisive impact on the team.
However, despite having such a strong roster, the Suns have been a surprise in the new season, with their final quarter points and efficiency values at the bottom of the league off a cliff, and they are also outside the top 25 on both offensive and defensive ends. Now, the Suns have fallen to the point where they need to play in the play-in tournament, which undoubtedly surprises everyone.
And this also profoundly confirms two truths: first, huddle for warmth is not necessarily a shortcut to success, sometimes, the tacit understanding and cooperation of the team is far more important than the strength of the individual; second, even if the team has more superstars, there is no guarantee that it will be able to win, because basketball is a team sport after all, and individual ability must be integrated into the whole team in order to exert the greatest power.
Indeed, for a team with three of the league's top offensive players, Durant, Booker and Beal, such a result is clearly unacceptable. So far this season, Durant has averaged 27.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, and his scoring ability is still amazing. Booker is also averaging 27.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and seven assists per game. Beal, the team's third-leading scorer, averaged 17.8 points and five assists per game. However, even with these three players' stats, the Suns' offensive and defensive performances have been extremely inconsistent.
On the offensive end, the Suns Big Three do have a strong scoring ability. Defensively, however, the Suns looked stretched. Their defensive strategy is not clear enough, and there are problems with communication and collaboration between players. This allows opponents to easily find a break when attacking and thus have a chance to score. For example, the Spurs, who were the bottom of the West, were double-killed, and the Clippers played a 35-4 disparity in the first quarter. And in the last game, when the Clippers took the initiative to release the water, Tyronn Lue took a rest of the entire main lineup, and in the face of the three-line Clippers, the Suns' Big Three lineup fell behind in three quarters, and was teased by the Clippers bench lineup, if it wasn't for the Clippers in the last quarter, the Suns might have to lose another game, which is a shame.
To make matters worse, over the next two seasons, Durant's annual salary will reach a staggering $51.18 million and $54.71 million, respectively. This means that when his contract expires, he will be 37 years old. At the same time, Beal's huge contract of up to $171 million, as well as the trade veto power he has, undoubtedly put up a huge obstacle for the Suns to strengthen the road in the next 2-3 years. Once this year's playoffs are in the air, the Suns' roster could become stretched thin, leaving only the lone Big Three.
In the eyes of many people, the Suns really played a good hand of cards, and from the moment they decided to send Paul away in exchange for Beal, they made the biggest mistake, after all, Paul is not old anymore, and he is also an experienced point guard, who has led the Suns to a good record, and Beal's arrival completely disrupted the team's chemistry.