There is still the last round of the NBA play-off competition, and the four teams will compete for the last two playoff tickets, I have to say that the play-off format makes the game more intense, and more teams are expected to participate in the playoffs. In the two games of the final round of the play-offs, the Pelicans faced the Kings in the West and the Heat faced the Bulls in the East. At such a critical juncture, there are two participating teams that have suffered heavy losses, and the core players have been affected by injuries, that is, Zion Williams of the Pelicans and Jimmy Butler of the Heat, both of whom are the stars of their respective teams, and they also suffered injuries in the last round of the play-offs.
Zion of the Pelicans, who gave everything in the last game against the Lakers, blasted 40 points and 11 rebounds and almost led the Pelicans to a big reversal, it was when the final quarter of the game led the team to counterattack, but Zion twisted his foot in the process of an offensive breakthrough and returned directly to the locker room, Zion was also very annoyed at that time, if he was not injured, the Lakers may not be able to enter the playoffs as the 7th in the West. According to the official statement issued by the Pelicans team to update Zion's injury situation, after an MRI, he was diagnosed with a strained hamstring muscle in his left leg. He will be examined again in about two weeks. This also means that Zion will inevitably miss the second game of the play-off game, which is likely to be the last game of the season for the Pelicans, and even in the playoffs, Zion will not be able to return in time.
The ESPN reporter also said: "Zion's injury is so serious that we may have watched his final game of the season. He basically missed at least one full series. "The Pelicans, as a dark horse in the West this season, have even outperformed the Celtics on the road, ranking first in the league. The Pelicans' paper strength itself is not weak, with Zion, Ingram, McCollum three All-Star level players, role players at the center, and strong enough defense, if they can enter the playoffs with full health, they will definitely become a big threat point in the playoffs. It's just a pity that this season's Pelicans are plagued by injuries, Ingram has just returned and is still looking for form, Zion has encountered serious injuries, no way, Zion's violent style of play needs to take the high risk of being easily injured.
In addition to Zion, the Heat's Butler was also unlucky. In the last playoff game against the 76ers, Jimmy Butler collided with Oubre in a layup, resulting in a knee injury, and also returned to the locker room immediately, and the Heat also lost the game and missed the seventh place in the East. According to the Heat's official update on Butler's injury, he suffered a sprained right medial collateral ligament and is expected to miss several weeks and miss the final do-or-die play-off game. Like Zion, even if the Heat make the playoffs, Butler won't be able to return for a while. After learning of his specific injury, Butler expressed his displeasure with Oubre, who caused his injury, on social media, and told Oubre that he wanted to fight him. In the past four seasons, Butler has led the Heat to three Eastern Conference Finals and two Finals.
In the first round of the playoffs last year, the Bucks were eliminated by the Heat and Black, and Butler had godly performances in several consecutive games. And now that there is no absolute core of the Heat, can they create another miracle? The possibility is very small. With Butler's injury, the overall strength of the Eastern Conference has been further weakened, and the Celtics, who have the league's highest regular season win rate, are about to have no opponents. From the perspective of the lineup, there are three stronger teams in the East, the Celtics, 76ers and Bucks. However, after the 76ers sent Harden away, they did not do much to replenish the team's immediate combat strength, and Embiid also suffered serious injury troubles in the middle of the season, and there are also many potential injuries.
Although the Bucks are Lillard and Brother Alphabet, but this combination did not play the dominance they should have, Lillard joined the Bucks after feeling up and down, the state and when he was the boss of the Trail Blazers, the difference is too far, the Bucks in order to get Lillard, but also sacrificed the team's defensive system, this season the Bucks' regular season win rate, is their lowest value in the past 6 seasons, if Lillard does not explode in the playoffs, the Bucks' ending is estimated to be no better than last season. Only the Celtics are still strong this season, the only team with 60 wins in the regular season, and the offense and defense are among the top in the league. The dual-core Tatum + Brown have improved, and they have two more All-Star players than last year, Boshen + Holiday have greatly increased the team's ceiling. When the Celtics face Eastern Conference teams in the playoffs, it is estimated that it is difficult to find a defeat, and neither the Heat nor the Bulls meet the Green Army in the first round, which does not pose much threat to the Green Army.