The matchup in the first round of the NBA playoffs is still in full swing, and the first round series has been played so far, three teams have been born and three teams have been eliminated. The Suns were swept 4-0 by the Timberwolves, which was indeed a bit unexpected, after all, the Suns had a more luxurious book strength, with Durant, Booker and Beal in the super triumvirate, and the offensive firepower was full. The Timberwolves are a dark horse team that has just risen this season, with little playoff experience, and the star Edwards is also very young, despite this, the Suns were completely crushed by the Timberwolves in the series, losing every game. In fact, according to the Suns' lineup, it is not difficult to analyze the reasons for their loss, the Suns are obviously a little flashy, the lineup structure is too deformed, and there is a lack of blue-collar interior players and organizational guards.
After being swept out, the Suns also had locker room conflicts, blamed coach Vogel for the loss, and asked Vogel to step down. In the 19-20 season, Vogel led the Lakers to win the championship, he is a defensive coach, but unfortunately the Suns are an offensive team, and it is worth mentioning that the Suns do not have a first-round pick in the next 6 years. After the recent round of the playoffs, the Pelicans were swept out of the game by the Thunder 4-0, and such a point difference is also somewhat unexpected. Although the Thunder is the first in the West in the regular season, they are too young after all, and the Pelicans are the same dark horses in the West, the gap between the strength of the two teams may not be as big as imagined, and the Pelicans are not weak on paper, with Zion, Ingram and McCollum three All-Star level players.
Unfortunately, Zion was injured in the previous play-offs, Ingram and McCollum continued to slump throughout the series, and the Thunder did play well, unlike a team that lacked playoff experience, and the Thunder also completed the first round of the game without suspense. At the same time, the Lakers were also eliminated, and after the Nuggets returned to their home court, G5 relied on Murray to beat the Lakers again and narrowly beat the Lakers to advance. It's a pity for the Lakers, they have played tenaciously enough in this series, and they can basically maintain the lead in the first half to take the initiative, but in the second half, often because of physical fitness and other factors, they are overturned by the Nuggets with a wave of explosive scoring, plus the Nuggets' key ball ability is too strong, Murray is tougher and tougher at the critical moment, and he has beaten the Lakers twice in the first round of the series, which is amazing.
Curry missed the playoffs, James and Durant both suffered in the first round of the playoffs, which also announced the complete end of the Giankudu era, according to statistics, this is the first time since Stephen Curry entered the league in the 2009-10 season that LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Curry missed the second round of the playoffs at the same time. It is worth mentioning that James and thick eyebrows can also prepare for this summer's Olympics, and they have become the fourth or fifth members of the U.S. men's basketball Olympic team to start the offseason after Curry, Durant, and Booker, and can form a starting lineup to train. After the Lakers and Pelicans are out, the situation in the West is clear, and the three teams that have advanced to the division semifinals, the Thunder, the Timberwolves and the Nuggets, are all in the West.
Among them, the opponent of the Thunder team will be produced in the winner between the Mavericks and the Clippers, and now the Clippers and the Mavericks are tied 2-2, which can be called the most fierce group of matchups in the first round, and the Clippers are also the only remaining Western giants traffic team. The Nuggets and Timberwolves will meet in the Western Conference semifinals, and the defending champion Nuggets will face a huge challenge. As can be seen from the series with the Lakers, the Nuggets are not as strong as they thought, and the first half will be a problem for them, mainly because the outside touch of the role players is not stable, and compared to last year, the Nuggets also lost two key rotation players, Bruce Brown and Jeff Green. The Timberwolves are on fire this season, Gobert and Towns' interior twin tower combination is very intimidating, and the outside core Edwards is a superstar, sweeping the Suns series, he averaged 31 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists per game.
In the playoffs last year, the Nuggets and the Timberwolves met in the first round, when the Timberwolves lost 1-4 to the Nuggets, but they also put a lot of pressure on the Nuggets in the series. Moreover, last year's Timberwolves, there was no McDaniels in the playoffs, and the twin towers combination did not run in place, and this year, with the growth of Edwards, the cooperation between Gobert and Towns has become more and more tacit, and the Nuggets may not be able to pass the Timberwolves. On the Eastern Conference side, there are no teams that have been promoted yet, but the three teams have already got match points, with the Celtics leading the Heat 3-1, the Pacers leading the Bucks 3-1, and the Knicks leading the 76ers 3-1. There is no suspense for the Green Army and the Pacers to basically advance to the next round, because the Green Army is crushed, the Bucks' two core alphabet brothers + Lillard are both injured, and the Bucks are estimated to go home. Only the 76ers may turn the tables and see if Embiid can wake up. In addition, the Cavaliers and Magic are tied 2-2, and the two teams are equal in strength as dark horses in the East.