Accidental 9 points of defeat, embarrassing 4 points of defeat! A good hand of cards is played badly, and the west is really about to lose suspense

Lao Liang commented

2024-05-12 22:29Posted in Shandong Sports Creators

In this season's playoffs, many legendary supergiants have gone out early, resulting in a lack of topics, but a generation of newcomers replacing the old, and the rapid growth and rise of young people have gradually led the team to replace the dominance of stars such as James, Durant, Curry, Antetokounmpo and Harden. Several teams in the East that have reached the semifinals, except for the Celtics, the other teams are very young, Brunson averages 34.6 points per game to lead the playoff scoring list, Mitchell averages nearly 30 points per game and leads the Cavaliers forward, including the Pacers led by Haliburton and Sika, the team has too many scoring points, not to mention the Celtics who basically guarantee the Finals. The typical representatives of the West are naturally Edwards and Alexander, two young men who have been competing for the top spot in the West since the regular season, and they don't take the Nuggets seriously. Naturally, other old giants can only lean down.

Of course, the advantages of young people are naturally impact power, physical strength, and a better willingness to execute tactics, after all, every step forward means a new record. But the biggest disadvantage must be the lack of playoff experience, anyone can be full of firepower on the tailwind, but once the wind is against the wind, the lack of rhythm of control, and even often the defensive end of the defensive end careless. The two young teams in the West, the series of the Timberwolves and the Nuggets, the Timberwolves' interior three highs, the seamless combination of twin towers, the defensive oppression of the forward Madan + Walker + Lee Kyle, including Edwards' ability to step up, is obviously more balanced overall, and they have the capital to cut off Jokic + Murray from his teammates. As the No. 1 Thunder in the West in the regular season, they easily swept the Pelicans 4-0 in the first round without encountering much resistance, and met the Mavericks in the second round, slowly exposing their shortcomings! It's a pity that 9 points are lost, and 4 points are embarrassed, and the west is really going to lose suspense.

Starting from a set of data, before the playoffs started, the American media "BR" once listed the probability of each team winning the championship, when the Celtics were close to 60% of the probability of being far ahead, and the second place was the Thunder, with a probability of winning the championship of nearly 19%, the first in the West! The strengths and weaknesses of this team are obvious, the advantages are good at shooting, good at catching opponents' mistakes and counterattacking, including the team's mobility on the defensive end, Holmgren and Jewi cover a large area, and Alexander leads by example, even in the playoffs, the team's average blocks per game, scoring with turnovers, three-point shooting percentage, defensive efficiency and other values, either first or second. But the shortcomings are also obvious, first of all, the frame is relatively average, Holmgren's chopsticks are a real loss in the playoffs, and they will be bounced off as soon as they fight. Secondly, the team is too young and has no experience in the playoffs.

Here are two examples. The Thunder played the Mavericks in the first game, and won easily by 22 points, and the Mavericks were directly stunned! However, G2 lost the Thunder by 9 points in the first battle, and G3 lost by 4 points in the embarrassing first battle, causing them to fall behind by a large score. The reason is very simple, Washington scored 29 points and 11 rebounds in one game, 27 points and 6 rebounds in one game, and the blue-collar super exploded! Thunder players are a tendon against Doncic, including but not limited to: Dort dropping Doncic (waist), Holmgren and Alexander pinching Doncic's top knee, Alexander's elbow, Jayway's muffled punch, and Dort's unnecessary early confrontation directly kicking Doncic's calf. Truth be told, Doncic has an unprecedented defense, but can the Thunder win if they play like this? Doncic's playoff efficiency is not high, Irving can break out with Washington, and at critical moments, Irving is much more stable than Doncic.

The important thing is that the Thunder can't support anyone other than Alexander, who has a stable finishing ability. The Thunder are not short of resources, but compared to the regular season, the team's top five scorers (except for Jay +0.8) are all down in scoring. In the regular season, the Thunder shot 49.9% from the field and second in the league with a three-point shooting rate of 38.9%, but why did the decline drop so obvious in the playoffs? There is no shortage of talent, and there are no physical problems, coach Daigneault is a rookie (and was also voted NBA best coach this season), except for Alexander and Dort, the others in the lineup have almost 0 playoff experience, which is why they were touched by the Mavericks, although Doncic suffered, but the Mavericks can win. Maybe Doncic created too much illusion of pressure on the Thunder, but it was too late to make amends.

The West is really losing its suspense. The remaining four teams in the West in this season's playoffs, with the exception of the Timberwolves, have obvious shortcomings. The Nuggets are seriously lacking in the thickness of the lineup, Murray can't break the bag, Jokic is highly restricted by the Timberwolves, the Nuggets win a game, the Timberwolves are obviously slack, and the referee blows the penalty is also up for discussion. The problem with the Mavericks is whether Doncic can play healthily, if he really falls, then it will be difficult for Irving, in addition, the Mavericks' forward and interior advantages do not exist in front of the Timberwolves, and the Eastern European combination can name the Timberwolves inside, but the Timberwolves are strong in addition to Gobert, others can rotate, Gobert does not come out, wait for Doncic to enter, just go to the confrontation. The depth of the Timberwolves lineup is too good, and there are Lee Kyle + Reed + Alexander Walker on the bench, basically a full-size forward!

As for the Thunder, being young is both a good thing and a bad thing. The sudden rise of the Thunder this season really scared everyone, Alexander + Jay + Holmgren, and even was compared by fans to Durant + Wei Shao + Harden. But they want to bring down the Mavericks, on the one hand, there is a lack of confrontation and effective basket protection, on the other hand, the Thunder only have one Alexander, and the Mavericks except Doncic and Irving, because of the Thunder's own choices, the opponent has more and more output points. As long as the Thunder falls, it is really Edwards' turn to reach the top this season, and as for the Celtics in the East, as well as their core Tatum, they really can't hold up the title of team boss.

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