Bombarding 10 consecutive wins, the NBA era has changed! What the alliance doesn't want to see, it will slowly become a reality

Lao Liang commented

2024-05-08 23:22Posted in Shandong Sports Creators

In this season's NBA playoffs, more and more surprises have arisen as the schedule deepens. First of all, on the Eastern side, in the past few years, it has been the Celtics + Bucks + 76ers + Heat who dominate the regular season and playoffs, but only the Celtics are left this season, the Bucks self-destruct the Great Wall, the appointment of the old Rivers, plus the exchange for Lillard, the team's winning rate is less than 6 percent, Lillard is still proud, but he was eliminated by the Young Army Pacers in the first round. The 76ers can't even make it to the second round without Harden; The Heat also ended the season in a hurry, and Butler was left with only a hard mouth. And on the western side, the four major traffic giants, the Warriors + Suns + Lakers + Clippers have been out, and in the past ten years, Lao Zhan, Durant, and Curry who have accompanied us are gone! In their place was a group of young people, who were on top at an unprecedented speed.

After several giants were out, the Nuggets, as the defending champions, were the most favored by the outside media and fans. But after a few games in the series with the Timberwolves, I found out that something was wrong: the advantage of the Nuggets, Jokic's strategy was cut off, Murray couldn't break through the layers of packs, and the depth of the lineup was seriously insufficient, while the Timberwolves were consolidating their defense, Edwards averaged 32 points and 6 assists per game in the playoffs and quickly moved up! The Nuggets are used to overcoming rigidity with softness, but unexpectedly encountered a steel plate! The three-high combination of Gobert + Towns + Reed, switching the twin tower forms at will, and Edwards' dominance at critical moments, to put it simply, the Timberwolves almost locked a ticket to the Western Conference finals! And the other set of duels is even more surprising! Bombarding 10 consecutive wins, the NBA era has changed! What the alliance doesn't want to see, but it has to slowly become a reality!

As the No. 1 in the West in the regular season this season, it is safe to say that after the departure of Wei Shao and George, the Thunder rebuilding work has been completed, and it is time to make a result! In the regular season, the team used Alexander (30.1 points, 6.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game) + Jay (19.1 points, 4.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game) + Holmgren (16.5 points, 8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game) as the cornerstone of the framework, and the Thunder can achieve the top four in the league in offensive and defensive efficiency, including three-point shooting percentage (38.9%) + blocks (6.6 times) + steals (8.5 times) + scoring with turnovers (20.5 points) and many other data No. 1 in the league! The tempo is fast, the counter-attacks are sharp, everyone can shoot, and the defense is fierce and the execution is particularly strong. And in the playoffs, the Thunder's defensive efficiency is 93.5, ranking first in the league in a cliff-like manner! The second-ranked Magic has a defensive efficiency of just 100.0.

And from the end of the regular season, the Thunder began to exert their strength, including an 18-point victory over the Bucks, a 49-point victory over the Mavericks, a 38-point victory over the Spurs, etc., and achieved 5 consecutive wins! In the playoffs, the Pelicans were swept 4-0 in the first round, and in addition to the first game, which just adapted to the rhythm of the playoffs, the other three games averaged a net victory over the Pelicans by 17 points per game! And in the Western Conference semifinals, they defeated the Mavericks by 22 points, and won 10 consecutive victories before and after! Although the Thunder frame protection and confrontation are obvious shortcomings, their biggest advantage is that they can carry out confrontation and pressing in advance, restricting the opponent from attacking the inside, so as to speed up the counterattack, and repeatedly tried, the opponent is a little inattentive, and the Thunder will open up the point difference in a wave. And the Mavericks, the opponent, is exactly the Thunder's favorite, there is no speed in the backcourt, there is no projection on the inside line, the overall rhythm is still slow, and the Thunder is too easy.

The Timberwolves have Edwards, and the Thunder have Alexander. Like Edwards, Alexander also has a big heart, averaging 3.4 points + 58% shooting per game at key moments in the regular season, playing in the playoffs, only 1 key game, the opponent could not force the Thunder to a corner, and the game was spent. The Thunder's Jay Wei also contributed a lot, playing the Pelicans in the first round, Jayway's plus/minus +74, the highest plus/minus in the league's first-round series! As a 23-year-old player, this is only the second year of Jayway's career, and he was just a chip for the Clippers to trade George to add to it, but this season he has become one of the best wings in the league, shooting 50.6% + 39.1% from two in the playoffs, and a net efficiency of +23 per 100 possessions, fourth in the league! This is definitely a qualified second-in-command!

The times of the NBA have changed! The Nuggets, who won the championship last season, are facing the fate of being kicked out by younger teams this season, and they really don't have a way to deal with the Timberwolves, especially Murray, because the Timberwolves have the best defensive resources in the league. Although Jokic can train thick eyebrows and become the Lakers' biggest nemesis, he has little advantage in the face of some European interior players, including Sabonis and Gobert. As the most experienced "veteran" among the remaining eight teams in the playoffs this season, Irving is just a second-in-command, Doncic's temper and inefficient performance in the playoffs (39% + 23.5% shooting rate in two games, setting a career low), they can't compete with the Thunder. The so-called super inside line Gafford and Lively really can't catch up when they run.

If the West ends up being a meeting between the Timberwolves and the Thunder, I'm afraid the league really doesn't want to see that. James + Curry + Durant these traffic supergiants left, but fortunately, there are still the Eastern European combination of defending champion Nuggets and Mavericks to support the scene, but compared with young teams, they can't hold on. It's so fast, sometimes it's years, sometimes it's just a playoff game. But it is certain that no matter which team in the West ends up making it out of the encirclement, there will not be much pressure to face the Celtics in the East. At the end of the day, Alexander and Edwards' superstar colors are above the double tanhua.

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