Chapter 398 The regular season is over, the Clippers' show
In the March schedule, due to the decrease in Wang Feng's playing time and ball possession, the Lakers' record remained at just over 60%. The gap between the top three teams in the Western Conference has gradually widened, but the fourth position in the Western Conference remains.
I can still sit still.
The New Orleans Pelicans, ranked fifth in the Western Conference, have always been close to 4 to 5 games behind the Lakers. The regular season is coming to an end. The Pelicans want to catch up with the Lakers and enter the top half of the Western Conference.
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 records were faintly approaching the Pelicans.
For the Clippers, after more than half a season of trial and error, it was finally determined that Westbrook was not suitable for the Clippers' existing tactical system. In other words, facts have proved that Westbrook's technical characteristics are only suitable for the team's current tactical system.
He built a tactical system around the core of the game, and even under those circumstances, the team's upper limit was still not high.
The big trade that rocked the league last summer has officially failed.
The Clippers had no choice but to bite their noses and suffer this loss, and rebuilt their tactical system around James and Leonard. This allowed the Clippers' record to gradually pick up in the second half of the schedule.
The fighting ability of James, who is still in his prime, and Leonard, who is healthy, is really impressive. During the All-Star weekend, the Clippers could only be ranked eighth or ninth in the Western Conference, and even gave people the impression that they would not enter the playoffs.
It feels like a lot of effort.
However, after the All-Star Game, as the competitiveness and intensity of confrontation gradually increased, the records of most teams in the league declined slightly. However, the Clippers improved instead of falling, winning three and five consecutive games.
Shengsheng has chased the record to sixth in the Western Conference, and is only 2 games away from the fifth-placed Pelicans in the Western Conference.
The Dallas Mavericks, ranked seventh in the Western Conference, cannot be underestimated at all.
This season, Doncic's average data per game has declined slightly compared to last season. So far, he has averaged 27.7 points, 8 rebounds, and 8.6 assists per game. However, while the data has dropped slightly, Doncic's efficiency value has further increased, and his field goal percentage has increased further.
It increased to 48%, and the three-point shooting percentage increased from 31.6% last season to 35%.
While Doncic performed well, the 2020-21 season was also a rare season for Porzingis, another All-Star player on the Mavericks team, who was healthy and in excellent condition.
Porzingis can steadily contribute 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 Mavericks can occupy a place in the highly competitive Western Conference. It is difficult for Doncic alone to do so. Porzingis' contribution to the 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 team to win.
persimmon.
Although the Clippers have a poor record and their strength has declined instead of improving compared to last season, the combination of James and Leonard cannot be underestimated in the playoffs.
Even last season, when all members were healthy, the Lakers still struggled to win the Western Conference Finals after a bloody battle with the Clippers in seven games.
Many people believed at the time that the winning team between the Lakers and Clippers in the Western Conference Finals would basically be the winning team that season. Compared with the Bucks led by Antetokounmpo Antetokounmpo in the East,
Both teams are still a little too young.
Fortunately, the Lakers think so, and the Clippers think the same way.
Even though Butler was missing in the first round, Wang Feng's presence was enough to make any team feel the pressure.
The Lakers' record in the second half of the regular season was mediocre, and Wang Feng's average data per game also declined. No matter what the outside world said, every team in the league knew that this was because Wang Feng continued to maintain physical fitness for the playoffs.
Prepare for the war.
The Mavericks have 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 to the Lakers led by Wang Feng, the Nuggets, ranked third in the Western Conference, seem to be easier to deal with.
Although the Nuggets' core player Nikola Jokic's statistics are also very gorgeous, his data performance of 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game is undoubtedly compared with Wang Feng's current statistics of 40+13+11 triple-doubles.
Much inferior.
Although the Nuggets still have a strong outside scoring point in Murray, the Clippers themselves have the league's top outside defender in Leonard, so it is not a problem.
With this idea in mind, the Clippers began to perform poorly in the few remaining games in the next April, trying to avoid surpassing the Pelicans in record and meeting the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
This kind of cool operation was also used by the Clippers in another time and space. Unfortunately, the cleverness was mistaken for the cleverness. It was obviously a deliberate attempt to touch the weak persimmon, but unexpectedly, he became the weak persimmon and was pinched by others.
.
Of course, in this time and space, Paul, one of the two strikers of the Clippers, has been replaced by James, who is still stronger in strength. The funny scene of being pinched by a soft persimmon should never happen again.
…
The Lakers only have the last 7 games in April, which are 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 Jazz respectively.
And with the last game, the team lost 96:101 to the Utah Jazz at home, all 82 regular season games in the 2020-21 season were finally played.
"call--"
On the field, although he lost the game, Wang Feng still breathed a long sigh of relief.
It's not easy.
Without a strong player like Butler, and now that 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. This is compared to Wang Feng's experience when he first came to the Lakers.
The first season was quite difficult.
After all, at that time, the Warriors were the only one in the entire Western Conference. The only team in the Western Conference that could compete with the Warriors was the Rockets. Among the other teams, the Trail Blazers' 200 million-dollar backcourt combination limit was there. It has been the same for so many years. The Thunder themselves
There is no guarantee that the combination of the Big Three is 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 than it is now.
But the relief now is only temporary. The end of the regular season means the arrival of more intense playoffs.
The first and second rounds of the playoffs are the real test for the Lakers.
With all the games over, the records of the Eastern and Western Conferences have finally been settled.
The west side showed results that everyone expected.
Ranked first in the Western Conference is the Utah Jazz with a record of 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. This team's lineup is quite civilian, with Mitchell, the core of the team's offense, and Gobert, the core of the defense, both playing well.
They are not the league's top superstars, but under the leadership of the two, the Jazz showed strong tacit understanding and cooperation in the regular season, and thus stood out from the Western Conference with many powerful enemies.
Second in the Western Conference is the Warriors with 57 wins and 25 losses.
The Warriors' record is as stable as ever. Facts have once again proved that as long as the Splash Brothers are healthy, the Warriors are definitely one of the favorites to win the championship.
Curry averaged 32 points per game this season, averaging 30+ points per game for the second consecutive season, which fully proves his explosive scoring power.
The Nuggets ranked third with a record of 55 wins and 27 losses.
Nikola Jokic played the best performance of his career. According to the historical process of another time and space, Jokic should have been elected regular season MVP for the first time this season by averaging 26+10+8 per game, but now it seems
The possibility of coming is a bit low, because Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Eastern Conference has not even won a regular season MVP so far.
Wang Feng has been affected by the team's record this season. He is currently only ranked third on the regular season MVP list, followed by Jokic in second and Giannis Antetokounmpo in first.
Ranking fourth in the Western Conference are the Lakers led by Wang Feng.
Almost everyone knows that the Lakers have encountered very big troubles this season. The team's second leader, All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler, was accidentally injured in the opening game of the regular season and was reimbursed for the regular season. Wang Feng led this team.
The Lakers, who were missing one of their main core players, overcame all obstacles and secured the fourth position in the Western Conference.
The Lakers' record is 52 wins and 30 losses, with a winning rate of 63.4%.
Among the Western Conference teams, there are only four teams in the top half of the division that have won more than 50 games.
The New Orleans Pelicans, ranked fifth in the Western Conference, had a final record of 49 wins and 33 losses, one game shy of reaching 50 wins in a single season.
It must be mentioned that the last time the Pelicans achieved 50+ wins in a single season was back in the 2007-08 season. At that time, the Pelicans were still called the Hornets. Under the leadership of Paul, the team finally achieved 56 wins and 26 wins.
With a negative record, it ranks second in the Western Conference, second only to the Lakers with 57 wins.
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 47 wins and 35 losses. They successfully avoided meeting the Lakers in the first round and are about to face the Denver Nuggets, which are ranked third in the Western Conference.
gold.
The Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks are ranked seventh and eighth in the Western Conference respectively. The two teams have the same record, 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 first team is the league's powerful Trail Blazers with a $200 million backcourt of Lillard and McCollum, and the other team has Popovich, the greatest active coach, and DeRozan, who is as stable and efficient as ever.
Spurs.
Unfortunately, in the highly competitive Western Conference, the two teams had no choice but to 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's record.
The Indiana Pacers, ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference, have a record of only 39 wins and 43 losses, a record of less than 50%.
In the Western Conference, this record would only rank 11th or 2nd, but in the Eastern Conference, it successfully entered the playoffs.
Ranked first in the Eastern Conference is the Brooklyn Nets, which achieved 62 wins and 20 losses in the regular season and is also the league's best 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 compared to last season, but the team's strength is recognized to be stronger than last season.
The main reason is that Wall, who was acquired from the Wizards in a stud trade, is good. Although he has been injured this season and has never returned to his best health, he has steadily averaged 20.3 points and 6.9 assists in the 46 games he played.
Wall's 20+7, plus Antetokounmpo's 28+11+6, and Middleton's 20+6+5, the Bucks' Big Three are not much worse than the Nets in terms of statistical performance.
The Philadelphia 76ers, third in the Eastern Conference, have a regular season record of 55 wins and 27 losses.
The 76ers are not worth mentioning originally. 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 something big before the All-Star break.
They sent away point guard Ben Simmons and two future first-round picks, and traded for star James Harden from the Houston Rockets.
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 battle for the scoring title is extremely exciting. Although Harden has never won against Wang Feng, it is undeniable that without Harden pressing behind him step by step, Wang Feng's three super high scoring averages cannot be forced.
The scoring champion.
This season, Harden's personal data has declined significantly.
During his time with the Rockets, Harden's average points per game could probably 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 changed his way of playing and gave up his position to Embiid.
Embiid's averages of 29 points and 10.6 rebounds per game this season are also the highest in his career.
Different from the Big Three combination of the top two in the Eastern Conference, the 76ers Embiid + Harden are similar to a dual-core drive, but the team also has Tobias Harris and others who average 20+ points per game to rotate role players.
It is stronger than the Nets and Bucks, so it has become one of the strongest three teams in the Eastern Conference.