The NBA playoffs are about to begin, and this season can be described as a star-studded one, with the number of stars in their heyday, and while the old-school supergiants have not yet fallen off the altar, a new generation of young stars is also rising, and the future is expected to become the new face of the league. This season, the most impressive young stars are probably Alexander and Doncic. Doncic can be said to be the peak of his debut, he showed his dominance when he first entered the league, compared to the past few years, he has made a breakthrough this season, and his ability to lead the team has improved, averaging 33.9 points per game, ranking first in the league, at the same time, he can also average 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game, and his personal ability is quite comprehensive. Alexander, on the other hand, is different from Doncic, he didn't start from a high start, starting as a role player early in his career.
In recent years, Alexander's progress has been rapid, and he soon became the star of the Thunder team, he has two characteristics, one is the integration of offense and defense, offense and defense are the top in the league, and the other is stable scoring, after all, Alexander's scoring is not like many projection guards who rely on three-point shots, which is very enjoyable. He is more likely to attack from near mid-range and under the basket, and his offensive efficiency can always stay around a certain value. This season, Alexander averaged 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game, and led the Thunder to evolve into a super dark horse in the West, and rushed to the first place in the West in the final stage of the regular season. Alexander and Doncic have both played at an MVP level this season. Among the MVP ballots that have been announced so far, Doncic has 1 vote and Alexander has 4 votes.
The two are also ranked second and third on the MVP list. In fact, earlier this season, there was one player whose stats were quite terrifying, and if he kept it up, he would definitely be the MVP, and that was Embiid. In the first half of the season, Embiid averaged 35+ points per game, but unfortunately he suffered a serious injury after that, and the number of games he played was not enough to select the award. As a result, there is only one player who can really compete for MVP this season, and that is Nuggets center Jokic. At present, 22 voters have announced their votes for this season's regular season MVP, Doncic has 1 vote, Alexander has 4 votes, and Jokic has 19 votes. In the regular season, Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists per game.
In fact, judging from the basic data alone, Mr. Yoo does not have much advantage over Alexander and Doncic, and the Nuggets' regular season record this year did not reach the dominant level and failed to win the first place in the West. However, Jokic's advantage is that his on-court influence is too strong, and various high-level statistics are also strong in the list, ranking first in the league in terms of on-court contribution value, player efficiency value, and win rate contribution value. In addition, although the Nuggets, as the defending champions, have a strong overall strength, in fact, there is no All-Star teammate around Mr. Yoo, and Murray, the second leader, has never been an All-Star. Jamal Murray in the regular season is indeed just an ordinary second-in-command, averaging only 20 points per game, and there are still a lot of injuries, and Murray has also missed a lot of games this season.
In the playoffs, Jokic and Murray will usher in further sublimation and explosion. Looking back at last year's playoffs, the Nuggets team has been soaring all the way, and they have not encountered any opponents on the road to winning the championship. Jokic also led the team to subdue Durant and James, two old-school superstars. The Western Conference semifinals eliminated Durant's Suns with a score of 4-2, and the Western Conference finals swept Lao Zhan's Lakers team 4-0, giving James the first sweep in his career. In the series with the Suns, Mr. Yoo exploded the data constantly, and he didn't paddle at all. G3 blasted 30 points, 17 rebounds and 17 assists for a big triple-double, and G4 blasted 53 points and 11 assists. In the Western Conference finals against the Lakers, Jokic G1 scored 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists.
Bomb 53 points!Explode 34+21!Defeat Lao Zhan and Durant, you want MVP and championship. In the first round of the playoffs this season, the Lakers and Nuggets met again. I have to say that the Lakers really can't beat the Nuggets, this season's regular season, the Nuggets swept the Lakers 3-0 again, the past 8 Lakers and Nuggets games, the Nuggets won all, and James's 40,000-point mileage sad night was also created in the game with the Nuggets. In this situation, Jokic remained humble and cautious, and he praised the Lakers' strength in an interview: "Last year's Western Conference finals, it was probably the hardest series we ever played. Yes, we beat them 4-0 but they are really a team with a lot of talent. Their team building is really great. I have a lot of respect for them. "Mr. Yoo is not only great on the court, but also has a good character off the court, do you think the Nuggets will defend their title this year?