NBA: Top 3D talents to start

Chapter 399 The end of the regular season, the Clippers' showy operation
In the March schedule, due to the reduction of Wang Feng’s playing time and possession of the ball, the Lakers’ record remained in the early 3s. The gap between the top three teams in the Western Conference has gradually widened, but the fourth position in the Western Conference is still. Can still sit still.

The New Orleans Pelicans, ranked fifth in the Western Conference, have always been close to the Lakers by about 4 to 5 games. The regular season is drawing to a close. not easy.

On the contrary, behind the Pelicans, the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks began to catch up in the second half of the regular season, and their record has a faint tendency to approach the Pelicans.

For the Clippers, after more than half a season of running-in and fumbling, it was finally determined that Westbrook is not suitable for the Clippers' existing tactical system, or the facts have proved that Westbrook's technical characteristics are only suitable for the team. He built a tactical system around the tactical core, and even in that case, the team's ceiling is still not high.

The big trade that shook the league last summer officially failed.

The Clippers can only suffer this loss by pinching their noses, and re-build a tactical system around James and Leonard, which made the Clippers' record gradually pick up in the second half of the schedule.

James, who is still in his prime, and the healthy Leonard are really fierce. During the All-Star Weekend, the Clippers could only rank eighth or ninth in the Western Conference, and even gave people a sense of entering the playoffs. Sai all felt strenuous.

However, after the All-Star Game, when the competitiveness and confrontation intensity gradually increased, the records of most teams in the league declined slightly, but the Clippers did not decline but rose, and they continued to win three and five consecutive games. Shengsheng chased the record to sixth in the West, and was only 2 games away from the fifth Pelicans in the West.

And the Dallas Mavericks, who are ranked seventh in the Western Conference, cannot be underestimated.

This season's Doncic's average data per game has declined slightly compared with last season. So far, he has averaged 27.7 points, 8 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game. It has increased to 48%, and the three-point shooting percentage has increased from 31.6% last season to 35%.

While Doncic played well, the 2020-21 season is also a rare healthy and excellent season for Porzingis, another All-Star player in the Mavericks.

Porzingis averaged 20.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this season, shooting 47.6% from the field and 37.6 from three-point range.

The Lone Ranger can occupy a place in the highly competitive West. It is difficult for Doncic alone. Porzingis' contribution to offensive firepower is crucial.

……

From the perspective of the Lakers, the Clippers, Pelicans, and Mavericks are the three teams. In the first round, the Lakers are most willing to meet the latter two teams. If possible, the Mavericks are obviously the best soft spot. persimmon.

Although the Clippers have a poor record and their strength has not improved but declined compared to last season, the combination of James and Leonard must not be underestimated in the playoffs.

Even the Lakers, who were fully healthy last season, still had a bloody battle with the Clippers in the Western Conference Finals before winning seven games.

Many people believed at the time that the team that won the Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and the Clippers was basically the winning team of the season. Compared with the Bucks led by Antetokounmpo in the East The two teams are still too young.

Fortunately, the Lakers think so, and the Clippers think the same way.

Even without Butler in the first round, the presence of Wang Feng is enough to make any team feel the pressure.

In the second half of the regular season, the Lakers' record was mediocre, and Wang Feng's average data per game also declined. No matter what the outside world said, all teams in the league knew very well that the reason for this was because Wang Feng continued his physical fitness to prepare for the playoffs. prepare for the big battle.

The Lone Ranger has the most say on how strong Wang Feng is at full strength. After all, Wang Feng just scored 83 points on them more than a month ago.

Compared with the Lakers led by Wang Feng, the Nuggets, who are ranked third in the Western Conference, seem to be easier to deal with.

掘金队核心球员尼古拉.约基奇虽然数据也很华丽，但是场均26.4分10.8篮板8.3助攻的数据表现力跟王峰目前依然稳定维持在40+13+11三双的数据相比无疑逊色不少。

Although the Nuggets still have Murray, a strong outside scoring point, the Clippers themselves have Leonard, the league's top perimeter defender, so it is not a problem.

With this in mind, the Clippers began to play poorly in the few remaining games in the next April, trying to avoid surpassing the Pelicans in record, and met the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

This kind of coquettish operation was also used by the Clippers in another time and space. Unfortunately, the cleverness was misunderstood by the cleverness. It was obviously a deliberate attempt to touch the soft persimmon. I didn’t expect that I would become the soft persimmon and be pinched by others. up.

Of course, Paul, one of the two major strikers of the Space-Time Clippers, was replaced by James, who is still stronger in strength, and the funny scene of being pinched back by a soft persimmon should not happen again.

……

The Lakers have only the last 4 games in April, against the Celtics, Clippers, Rockets, Trail Blazers, Timberwolves, Thunder and Jazz.

In 7 games, the Lakers finally achieved 6 wins and 2 losses, losing two games to the Celtics and the Jazz.

And with the last game, the team lost 96:101 at home to the Utah Jazz. The 2020 regular season games of the 21-82 season are finally all over.

"call--"

On the field, although he lost the game, Wang Feng still let out a long sigh of relief.

It's not easy.

Without a strong player like Butler, and the competitive environment in the Western Conference has become increasingly fierce, it is really not an easy task to maintain the Lakers' record in the top half of the division. Compared with Wang Feng's first arrival in the Lakers A season is a lot harder.

After all, at that time, the Cosmic Braves were dominant, and the only team in the West that could compete with the Warriors was the Rockets. For the rest of the teams, the Trail Blazers had an upper limit of [-] million worth of backcourt combinations. It has been the same for so many years. No guarantee, the Big Three are obviously incompatible, and the remaining teams such as the Jazz, Pelicans, and Spurs are even weaker.

At that time, it was much easier for Wang Feng to lead the Lakers to win 50+ games and reach the top half of the division than it is now.

It's just that the relief now is only temporary. The end of the regular season means the arrival of a more intense playoffs.

The first and second rounds of the playoffs are the real test for the Lakers.

With all the games over, the results of the East and West have finally settled.

On the west side, there were unexpected results for everyone.

Ranked first in the West is the Utah Jazz with 60 wins and 22 losses.

Before the start of the regular season, no one could have imagined that the Jazz could become the team with the best record in the Western Conference. They are not the top superstars in the league, but under the leadership of the two, the Jazz showed a strong tacit understanding and cooperation in the regular season, and thus stood out from the Western Conference with strong enemies.

The second place in the West is the Warriors with 57 wins and 25 losses.

The record of the Warriors is still as stable as an old dog. Facts once again prove that as long as the Splash Brothers are in a healthy state, the Warriors are definitely one of the biggest favorites to win the championship.

Curry averaged 32 points per game this season, averaging 30+ points per game for the second consecutive season, fully proving his explosive scoring power.

The Nuggets are third with a 55-27 record.

Nikola Jokic played the best performance of his career. According to the historical process of another time and space, this season Jokic should be elected as the MVP of the regular season for the first time relying on the data of 26+10+8 per game, but looking at it now The possibility of coming is a bit low, because the Antetokounmpo Antetokounmpo in the East has not even had a regular season MVP so far.

Influenced by the team's record this season, Wang Feng currently only ranks third in the regular season MVP list, ahead of him is Jokic in second and Antetokounmpo in first.

Ranked fourth in the West is the Lakers led by Wang Feng.

Almost everyone knows that the Lakers have encountered a lot of trouble this season. The team's second-in-command, all-star small forward Jimmy Butler was accidentally injured in the regular season opener and was reimbursed for the regular season. Wang Feng led the team The Lakers, who lacked one of the main cores, overcame all obstacles and won the fourth place in the Western Conference.

The Lakers' record is 52 wins and 30 losses, with a winning percentage of 63.4%.

Among the teams in the Western Conference, there are only four teams in the upper half of the division that have won more than 50 wins.

The New Orleans Pelicans, ranked fifth in the West, had a final record of 49 wins and 33 losses, one game short of achieving 50 wins in a single season.

It must be mentioned that the last time the Pelicans won 50+ games in a single season dates back to the 07-08 season. At that time, the Pelicans were still called the Hornets. Under the leadership of Paul, the team finally achieved 56 wins and 26 losses. The record ranks second in the Western Conference, second only to the 57-win Lakers.

Relying on the poor performance of the last few games in April, the Clippers got their wish and ranked sixth in the Western Conference with a record of 4 wins and 47 losses. gold.

The Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks rank seventh and eighth in the Western Conference respectively. The records of the two teams are the same, both of which are 45 wins and 37 losses.

It is worth mentioning that the ninth-ranked Portland Trail Blazers and the tenth-ranked Spurs have both achieved 44 wins and are only one step away from the playoffs.

The two teams, one team is the Blazers, a powerful league team with Lillard and McCollum's [-] million backcourt double guns, and the other team has Popovich, the greatest coach in active service, and DeRozan, who is as stable and efficient as ever. spurs.

It's a pity that in the highly competitive West, the two teams can only helplessly accept the result of missing the playoffs.

The four matchups in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs are Jazz VS Mavericks, Warriors VS Suns, Nuggets VS Clippers and Lakers VS Pelicans.

Compared with the extremely competitive west, the competitiveness in the east is relatively much smaller.

This can be seen from the team record.

The Indiana Pacers, ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference, have a record of only 39 wins and 43 losses, which is less than 50%.

In the west, this record can only be ranked No. 11 or second, but in the east, it has successfully entered the playoffs.

Ranked first in the East is the Brooklyn Nets, which achieved 62 wins and 20 losses in the regular season and is also the league's number one record.

When Durant, Irving, and George are all healthy, the Nets are definitely one of the strongest in the league.

The second-ranked Milwaukee Bucks have a record of 58 wins and 24 losses.

The Bucks' record has declined slightly from last season, but the team's strength is recognized as stronger than last season.

The main reason is that Wall, who was traded from the Wizards Stud, is good. Although he has been injured this season and has not recovered to his best health, he has averaged 46 points and 20.3 assists in 6.9 games played.

沃尔的20+7，加上字母哥28+11+6，以及米德尔顿的20+6+5，雄鹿队的三巨头数据表现力上并不比篮网队差多少。

The Philadelphia 76ers, third in the East, have a regular season record of 55 wins and 27 losses.

The 76ers have no special value worth mentioning. Although Embiid has good strength, his teammates are mediocre. Ben Simmons is not good at long-range shooting as a point guard. Tobias Harris and others in the team The strength is also very average.

However, the 76ers did a big thing before the All-Star break.

They sent the head point guard Ben Simmons and the next two first-round picks, and traded from the Houston Rockets to the head star James Harden.

This is a deal that shocked the entire league. Although the Rockets have not performed well in the past two years, they are undoubtedly among the top ten or even top five players in the league today. Especially in the past few seasons, Harden and Wang Feng The competition for the scoring title is extremely exciting. Although Harden has never won the competition against Wang Feng, it is undeniable that Wang Feng's three super high scoring averages cannot be forced if Harden is not pressing at the back. scoring champion.

This season, Harden's personal data has declined significantly.

During the Rockets period, the scoring average could be maintained at around 27 points, 7 rebounds and 10.4 assists. After being traded to the 76ers, Harden's data shrank further, and stabilized at 25.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 10.9 assists after the regular season.

Obviously, Harden, who changed his court, changed his way of playing and took the initiative to give way to Embiid.

And Embiid averaged 29 points and 10.6 rebounds per game this season, which is also a career-high season.

Different from the Big Three combination with the top two records in the Eastern Conference, the 76ers Embiid + Harden is similar to a dual-core drive, but there are also Tobias Harris and others who average 20+ points per game in the team, rotating role players The strength is stronger than the Nets and the Bucks, so it has become one of the strongest defenses in the East.

(End of this chapter)