Judging from the lineup, the Cleveland Cavaliers no longer have the ability to win the championship. Apart from James, the only star player on the team is Love, who averages 17 points and 9 rebounds per game.
It's no wonder that James wants to run away.
The Lakers management has a headache because of Wang Feng's attitude. After all, James is too tempting for them. Unfortunately, the trade channel has been closed now. They can struggle with this issue until the end of this season and the free market opens in the summer.
Decide.
After the Lakers All-Star Weekend ended, the morale of the entire team was greatly improved, and they went on to win five games in a row.
On February 23, the Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 124:102 at home.
On February 24, the Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings 113:108 in an away game.
On February 26, the Lakers defeated the Atlanta Hawks 123:104 in an away game.
On March 1, the Lakers defeated the Miami Heat 131:113 in an away game.
On March 3, the Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 116:112 in an away game.
A thrilling five-game winning streak has made Lakers fans extremely satisfied.
It was originally thought that after the All-Star Weekend and in the final sprint of the playoffs, the increase in competition intensity would make it difficult for the Lakers' young players to adapt, leading to a significant decline in record.
Unexpectedly, the Lakers' performance was even better than before the All-Star break.
In these five games, Wang Feng averaged 35 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game as efficiently as ever, and the performances of young players such as Ingram and Kuzma were also remarkable.
On March 5, the Lakers lost to the Portland Trail Blazers at home, but the score between the two teams was extremely close, 108:107, and the Trail Blazers narrowly won by one point.
Damian Lillard, who scored 39 points in the game, was the main contributor to the Blazers' victory, but the highest score in the game was Wang Feng's 42 points. The only flaw was that Wang Feng failed to hit the final shot.
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Although they lost the game, the Lakers were proud of their defeat.
On March 9, the Lakers easily defeated the Magic 125:116, but after this game, the Lakers faced another wave of bad schedule.
Two games against the Denver Nuggets, plus a home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and a fourth game against the Warriors on the road.
Although the Nuggets are currently ranked outside the eighth place in the Western Conference, they have every opportunity to compete with several other teams in the Western Conference for playoff spots. In fact, from fifth in the Western Conference to ninth in the Western Conference, the winning difference between the five teams is
There are only 2 games. Even if you win one more game, you may have an advantage in the playoff spots.
Under this premise, the entire Nuggets team seemed to be on fire, fighting desperately against the Lakers.
The inexperience of most of the Lakers' young players was exposed. Ingram and others were included. The Lakers players were scrambling and making frequent mistakes under the Nuggets' desperate pressure. They failed to win in both home and away games.
On the contrary, facing the Cavaliers, the Lakers won a victory because the Cavaliers' Love was absent due to injury. James led the team with a single core and led a group of role players. Looking at the extremely talented young players of the Lakers,
A look of melancholy.
After facing the Warriors for the last time in the regular season, Durant finally felt proud in front of Wang Feng.
In this game, many of the Warriors' main players took turns. Curry, Thompson, and Green all took a break. Durant led the team with a single core, just like James of the Cavaliers in the previous game.
But the difference between the Warriors and Cavaliers shows up here.
Durant, who scored 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting, actually had mediocre personal performance and his scoring did not reach the 28.4 points he averaged this season. However, seven Warriors players scored in double figures.
In addition to Durant, Nick Young scored 18 points, Quinn Cook 13 points, Kevin Looney 11 points, Pachulia 10 points, Casspi 15 points, and Livingston 13 points.
It's a habit of Warriors head coach Steve Kerr to like to use role players. It's hard to say whether it's good or bad. Sometimes he does go too far. He clearly has the league's most capable outside partner, but he still wants to use it.
Demonstrating his ability to employ people, the Warriors suffered a tragic comeback.
But sometimes, his method can really dig out some shining role players, which is at least better than the Lakers who won't play at all as long as James is not on the court.
4 losses in 5 games, knocking down the Lakers who had just won 5 consecutive games and seemed to be going to the sky.
Lakers fans realized at this time that although the current record ranks third in the Western Conference, the Lakers' record is actually a bit bloated. When the wind is down, these young players are more confident than one and perform very well.
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But when they encounter adversity and their confidence is hit, they will also appear timid on the field and their performance will also become worse.
After the game against the Warriors, the Lakers played against the Miami Heat at home on March 16.
In early March, the Lakers had a great game against the Heat on the road, winning by 18 points.
However, when the Heat welcomed the Heat at home again, the Lakers had an extremely difficult time.
Finally lost the game 91:92.
With 5 losses in 6 games, a losing streak has directly caused the Lakers to be gradually overtaken by the Trail Blazers, who are fourth in the Western Conference in terms of record.
Fortunately, due to the fierce competition in the end, the Trail Blazers lost a lot of times, otherwise the third position in the Western Conference would have changed hands now.
…
On March 19, the Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers 110:100 in an away game. They finally put an end to their losing streak and breathed a sigh of relief.
With the end of this game, the Lakers' regular season schedule has completed 70 games, and with 12 games left, the regular season is about to end.
In these 70 games, the Lakers have won 42 and lost 28, with a winning rate of just over 60%. If they continue to play the next 12 games at this winning rate, the Lakers are very likely to win 50 games.
The last time the Lakers won 50+ games, it was back to the 10-11 season. This is really a long time.
Who would have thought that the Lakers would bring such big changes to the team just by signing Wang Feng last summer?
Wang Feng's personal data has stabilized at 35 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. He is currently ranked second in the regular season MVP list, second only to James Harden.
This season, Harden's personal data has dropped slightly compared to last season. His average data per game has stabilized at 30 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists, which is slightly lower than last season's 29 points, 8 rebounds and 11.2 assists. However, the slight decline in data has
Let the Rockets make a qualitative leap in their record.
This season, the Rockets have led the league in record from the beginning. Although they were overtaken by the Warriors for a period of time, as Curry, Durant and others suffered minor injuries and missed more games, the Rockets again