In this season's playoffs, some star players have sprung up and played at a super level. Edwards and Brunson, who are in the top three in the playoff scoring charts, are impressive. Edwards is too superstar-like, with a strong style of play, strong ability to play key balls, and the courage to take responsibility, a bit of Kobe Jordan's flavor, and in a few years, he definitely has a chance to become the face of the league. And Brunson is one of the most inspirational players this season, leading the remnants of the Knicks to the second place in the East in the regular season, and they can also pass the first round in the playoffs, but they have three main rotation players who are reimbursed for the season, and during the playoffs, Brunson has scored more than 40+ points in 4 consecutive games, comparable to Jordan and other stars. In fact, Brunson is an inspirational exemplar in his own right, starting as a role player.
When he first entered the league, he was just an inconspicuous second-round pick with mediocre physical talent, and now he has evolved into an All-Star. In addition, there is also Mitchell of the Cavaliers, who has performed quite well in the playoffs overall, averaging 29.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, as the only true core of the Cavaliers. In fact, Mitchell has always been tough in the high-end game, and he is the record holder for the most points scored in a single game by an active player in the playoffs, and Mitchell once blasted out 57 points in a single game against the Nuggets in the first round of the season. Some people say that Mitchell is a data brush, can only score, and cannot lead the team to win, but in fact, he just hasn't joined a real strong team. In this year's playoffs, stars such as Mitchell, Brunson, and Edwards played well, but they are not the strongest players in the active league.
If you want to say that the current player is the first person in combat power, it has to be Jokic, the star of the Nuggets. MVP has always been the most appropriate standard to measure immediate combat power, and Mr. Yoo has won three MVPs in the past four seasons. You can say that Jokic has never led the Nuggets and created a team dynasty, or you can say that Jokic's influence is still far from the peak of superstars such as James and Kobe. But at least among the current stars, you won't find a better player than Jokic. Earlier this season, the MVP race was still a bit suspenseful, Embiid was fierce in the first half of the regular season, averaging nearly 36 points per game, and the efficiency of the game was comparable to that of the NBA's ancient monster Chamberlain, and all the statistics were also far ahead. However, Embiid's combat power is all empty.
First of all, his body is too brittle and he gets injured at every turn, and secondly, Embiid's style of play is still soft, he can't play high-intensity games, and he has never proven himself in the playoffs. And Jokic can withstand these tests, Mr. Jokic seems to be a little fat, slowly swallowing on both offensive and defensive ends, in fact, he can keep up with the pace in the fast-paced game, and his physical fitness does not suffer at all. His defense is not the top among interior players, but at least it is above average, after all, the body advantage is here, he is tall and big, and the sense of defensive pressure is still very strong. On the offensive end, Jokic is even more omnipotent, rarely as a center, can hold the ball alone, can shoot long-range three-pointers, and has such a wide field of vision, sending exquisite passes, there seems to be no player like him in NBA history.
In the second round of the playoffs, the Nuggets actually pulled the score back on the road after losing two games in a row at home, this is the adjustment ability of the defending champions, Jokic also showed his dominance, G4 had a showdown, and the big quasi-triple-double of 35 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists was blasted out in the whole court, and the aggressiveness has improved a lot compared with the previous games. In fact, the Nuggets in this year's playoffs are not as strong as last year, which has little to do with Jokic, who has always been in stable condition, averaging 27.6 points, 14.0 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game in the playoffs, which is terrifying enough. The main reason for the Nuggets' decline is the dumb fire power outage of second-place leader Murray in the playoffs and the collective inaccuracy of the three-point shooting of role players.
Still, there are plenty of NBA insiders who question Jokic. A-Smith said: "I can't understand why Alexander is not the MVP, I think he is the guy who really deserves it, he is so good and not valued. NBA star Arenas also said: "I really don't understand the meaning of MVP, Jokic relies on Murray at critical moments, he doesn't deserve the title of the best player in the game." "In fact, Mr. Jokic is originally a team player, and he is strong in his team influence, so it is impossible for Jokic to do all the tasks. What's more, the league has always hoped to bring out a "new king", after all, Mr. Yue has also won two MVPs. That's a bit unfair to Jokic, because he's the best star in the league. Who do you think will have the last laugh in the series between the Timberwolves and the Nuggets?