The NBA playoffs are still in full swing, compared with the first round of the playoffs, the second round of the playoffs is not one-sided, and the four groups of the East and West divisions are very competitive. In the first round, two teams were swept 0-4, and both teams were eliminated 1-4. In the second round of the series, the two teams, the Pacers and the Nuggets, both fell behind 0-2, and forced the big score back, and the series dragged into Tianwang Mountain, and the other two groups of four teams also won the game. To be honest, from the perspective of the team's combat strength, the Nuggets and the Timberwolves, the Thunder and the Mavericks, the Knicks and the Pacers, are opponents of each other, and their own strength is very close and has its own characteristics. Although the Nuggets are the defending champions, the Timberwolves, as a rare team that can match the Nuggets in size, will inevitably put a lot of pressure on the Nuggets.
Besides, Edwards has played super well this year and is in explosive form, even if the Timberwolves eliminate the Nuggets, it is not a strange thing. The Thunder and the Mavericks, the two teams play completely differently, one with a fast rhythm and one with a slow rhythm. Although the Thunder are very young and have no playoff experience, after all, they are the first in the West in the regular season, and they have Alexander, a relatively mature star, and it is not impossible for the dark horse to be dark in the end. The Mavericks' Eastern European duo has full offensive firepower, and their interior resources are much more abundant than last year, so they definitely have a chance to impact the championship. The Knicks and the Pacers, although the two teams do not have any superstars, but they are both super dark horses in the Eastern Conference, and the game must be very intense. In the divisional semifinals, only the Celtics and Cavaliers seem to have a real difference in strength.
Whether it is in terms of roster configuration, regular season record, or team heritage, the Celtics are undoubtedly superior, and it stands to reason that they should crush the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers lineup itself is very deformed, and the interior Allen and Mobley are too crowded at the same time, both of whom are traditional interior players, and they do not have different individual attributes like the Timberwolves twin towers Gobert and Towns, who can open up space in the game to play together. And the Cavaliers' outside double guns, Mitchell and Garland, are only 1.85 meters tall, and the outside double guns have become double short, and the offense may be very sharp, and the defense will inevitably suffer. In such a situation, the Celtics can still defeat the Cavaliers at home in G2, losing the Cavaliers by 24 points, you know, the Green Army's home record during the regular season reached 37 wins and 4 losses, with a winning rate of more than 9 percent.
Even though the Celtics were the only team in the league with a win percentage of more than 60 games in the regular season, there are still many people who don't believe they can win the championship, and the reason is actually very simple, that is, their core players are not as good as other top teams, and you don't know who is their big boss. Nominally, Tatum, but Jaylen Brown is better in terms of personal data, averaging 24.1 points per game, one more than Tatum. Judging from the actual performance in the playoffs, it is not impossible to regard Derrick White as the boss of the team, after all, White is offensive and defensive, extremely efficient, unrelenting at critical moments, and has the potential to be a savior. Of course, in most people's impressions, it must be Tatum as the boss of the team.
However, Tatum's performance in the playoffs was too poor, averaging only 23 points, 10 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, making the core identity a blue-collar and giving the right to Brown as the main attacker, Tatum He also knew that he was extremely inefficient, shooting only 41% from the field and 27% from three-point range. During the playoffs, he also set a record of shame, according to statistics media StatMuse: In the playoffs, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum shot 32.6% from the field, which is the lowest percentage of any player who is still playing in the playoffs and has taken more than 75 shots. In fact, Tatum's personal ability can be summed up in one sentence, covering a wide range of things, none of them are proficient, and everything is loose and general. He usually attacks with the ball, just dribble twice, and just pull it out.
There is no one-handed move, and this is Tatum's problem, which seems to be all-round, and the offensive and defensive ends are relatively balanced. The lack of exclusive skills also makes Tatum's performance at critical moments quite powerful, and there is nothing he can do when he is targeted, which is why the Celtics can enter the playoffs every year, and the super high winning rate in the regular season every year, but they can't achieve a breakthrough in the playoffs and can't win the championship. During the regular season this season, Tatum shot 15-of-46 from the field in crunch time, shooting 32.6 percent, ranking 25th out of a total of 25 players (with a minimum of 45 shots). With an average of 23 points per game, he went from the eldest to the second! The softest star in the NBA, are you sure you want to lead the team to win the championship? Of course, Tatum has been in the league for so long, and he is only 26 years old now, and there is still room for improvement, but I don't know if he can completely evolve in the future.