Compared with the East, the stars in the West attract more attention from the outside world, and there is also a set of matchups in the West with very little attention, that is, the Thunder who are first in the West versus the Pelicans who are eighth.
Due to Zion's absence, the strength of the two teams has also opened up a lot of grades, and the current Thunder is leading 3-0, only one win away from advancing to the second round.
The Pelicans are starless because of Zion's injury, and although the Thunder are the first in the West, they are a proper youth army, the biggest card is Alexander, and the others are basically new recruits.
So compared to the series between the Nuggets and the Lakers, the Suns and the Timberwolves, the attention is naturally a lot less, but the lack of spotlight is obviously not a bad thing, they can focus more on the game, especially the Thunder.
Just today, the NBA officially announced that Thunder head coach Mark Dagneault was successfully elected as the best NBA coach in the 2023-24 season.
This season's Thunder is indeed impressive, with a youth army, successfully topped the first place in the West with a record of 57 wins and 25 losses, which is also the first time in 11 years that the Thunder has entered the playoffs with the first place in the West.
The rebuilding in the past few years is definitely something that other teams can learn from, and I have to admire the vision of the team's general manager, Holmgren and Jalen Williams were all hand-picked by the Thunder.
Jalen has been quite calm this season, and in 2022, he was selected by the Thunder with the 12th pick in the first round, and it is worth mentioning that this pick was obtained from the Clippers.
In 2019, which was also the year when the Thunder frantically harvested draft picks, they reached a 1-for-9 deal with the Clippers, sending George to the Clippers for Alexander + Gallinari + 5 first-round picks + 2 first-round swaps.
Jalen, 23, has played in 71 games for the Thunder this season, averaging 19.1 points, 4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 54%/42.7%/81.4% from three. Ranked 9th in the league in three-point shooting percentage and 18th in the league in plus/minus per game.
Although this year is his first trip to the playoffs, Jalen's performance has been perfect, and he can contribute 20.3 points, 7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game in the three games against the Pelicans, shooting 52.9%/41.7%/66.7% from three, and his average plus/minus per game is as high as +20, ranking second in the league.
This year is Jalen's second season in the NBA, and for him, Huazi once said that he is the most underrated player in the league.