The five players selected for the All-NBA Third Team are Kyrie Irving and Paul George of the Nets, Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell of the Jazz, and Anthony David of the Pelicans.
S.
The Nets and Jazz ranked first in the Eastern and Western Conference records respectively. The Nets were a little better, as they also had Durant in the second team. The Jazz won 60+ games in the regular season, but in the end only two people were selected to the best third team.
, which is somewhat unsightly, especially since the Clippers, whose record is far inferior to theirs, have two people selected to the best team.
However, considering that the fans of the Jazz team are not as large as either James or Leonard, there is no way to do this.
And being selected for the All-NBA Team is already very good. There are still many top players who are embarrassingly unable to even make the third team.
This includes James Harden, who was in the first team last season.
After Harden was traded to the 76ers this season, his tactical status declined. At the end of the regular season, he averaged 25 points, 7.8 rebounds and 10.1 assists per game.
In fact, this data is quite good, not inferior to any second or third team player.
But for Harden, who averaged 30+10 points per game in the past few seasons, this is obviously a step back. Whether it is due to a decline in personal competitive level or a change in the team's tactical status, the decline in personal data has directly led to Harden's decline.
Missed the best lineup.
Harden's former partner, Russell Westbrook, was also not selected for the All-NBA Team. However, compared to Harden, Westbrook's personal data declined more seriously, averaging only 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists per game, and his shooting percentage was 40.
%, averaging more than 4 turnovers per game.
It is now generally believed that Westbrook is the main reason why the Clippers have dropped to sixth place in the Western Conference.
In order to get Westbrook, the Clippers sent out a number of capable players such as Lou Williams and Harrell.
The offensive tactics were affected, and James and Leonard had to give some of the ball to Westbrook. After all, Westbrook would only be weaker without the basketball in hand.
Thanks to the schedule in the second half of the regular season, Clippers head coach Rivers decisively adjusted the tactical system, allowing James to regain control of the ball and letting Westbrook play without the ball. Although it directly led to further decline in Westbrook's personal data, it was successful.
This allowed the Clippers to regain a certain degree of competitiveness, and finally achieved the sixth record in the Western Conference.
It is a pity that Lakers forward Ingram also missed the best team.
This season he had the best performance of his career, averaging 24.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. When Butler was unable to play due to injury, he successfully shouldered the responsibility of being the team's second offensive scoring point and did a very good job.
At least the Lakers management is very satisfied. It was really a wise decision to renew Ingram with the maximum salary last summer.
You must know that Ingram is only 24 years old now, and he can already contribute 25+6+5 steadily. He has a bright future!
Unlike the best team, which has been subject to various controversies, the announcement of the best defensive team is not that controversial, because compared to the best team, this blue-collar award itself attracts less attention, and the best defense in the league
There are only so many players, and there won't be much change if they come back and forth.
The five players on the All-Defensive First Team are Wang Feng, Ben Simmons, Draymond Green, Antetokounmpo Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert.
The five players on the All-Defensive Second Team are Jrue Holiday, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Bam Adebayo and Joel Embiid.
Wang Feng's defensive efficiency has actually declined significantly this season.
It is normal for the defensive intensity to decline when more energy is devoted to offense.
However, due to the characteristics of the two purple defensive badges of defensive perpetual motion and defensive shock, it is destined that Wang Feng's defense will not be weak even if he puts more emphasis on the offensive end.
This season, Wang Feng averaged 2.2 steals per game, which was significantly lower than in previous seasons, but he still led the league in steals, and averaged 1.1 blocks per game. Looking at the entire best defensive team, he is the only one who can do it.
Do it.
As strong as Giannis Antetokounmpo, his steals and blocks are only 1.2.
Of course, defensive ability cannot be judged simply by steals and blocks, but Wang Feng is not bad at this point either.
The purple Hall of Fame level defensive shock badge directly determines that Wang Feng can effectively reduce the opponent's shooting percentage even if he just defends with his eyes. How can the defensive effect be poor?
Therefore, Wang Feng's defensive ability has declined only in relative terms. Looking at the defensive players in the entire league, Wang Feng is still the most outstanding one.
…
April 29, 2021.
The second round of the playoffs, that is, the conference semifinal series has officially begun.
At the Energy Solutions Arena, home of the Utah Jazz, fans cheered loudly without hesitation, welcoming the stars of their home team to take the stage.
The Lakers generals who appeared on the other side received waves of boos.
It is normal to be booed by home fans in away games. Anyone who has played in the NBA for several seasons, especially in the playoffs, will be familiar with this situation.
But the Lakers players still feel a little bit violated.
This is the first time in the past three years that the Lakers have lost the opening home court advantage in a playoff matchup.
The Lakers, who topped the league in record in the past two seasons, had home court advantage even in the Western Conference Finals and Finals because of their record advantage.
But this season is different. The Lakers, who are only fourth in the Western Conference, face the Jazz, who have the first record in the Western Conference, and can only play away from home.
Of course, this is just a trivial matter.
Whether it is home or away, the only thing affected is the noise of the fans and the fatigue of traveling long distances.
How the game should be played or how it will continue to be played.
There are no changes to the Lakers' starting five, which is still point guard Wang Feng, shooting guard Jordan Poole, small forward Brandon Ingram, power forward Kyle Kuzma and center Brook Lopez.
The Utah Jazz's starting lineup is point guard Mike Conley, shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, small forward Bojan Bogdanovic, power forward Royce O'Neal, and center Rudy Gobert.
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Compared with the Lakers, the Jazz's starting lineup is mediocre, but the strength of this team is its outstanding role players and rotation strength.
The Jazz have a number of outstanding role players on their bench, such as Joe Ingles and Jordan Clarkson, who played for the Lakers last season.
Clarkson is a very good role player who has been able to steadily contribute double-digit points in several seasons with the Lakers.
But as last season ended, Clarkson's contract expired. Due to the pressure on salary space brought by the Big Three's average salary of 30 million, the Lakers had to give up renewing Clarkson's contract.
The Jazz took the opportunity to sign Jordan Clarkson with a 4-year, 60 million contract.
After Clarkson, a two-time NBA champion, came to the Jazz, he still served as a substitute role player, but his playing time and ball ownership have significantly improved, which also allowed Clarkson to perform the best performance of his career.
This season with the Jazz, Jordan Clarkson played in 74 games, averaging 26.7 minutes per game, scoring 18.4 points, 4 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He ranked second on the team in scoring, even more than Bogdanovic averaged per game.
Even higher, second only to Mitchell who averaged 26 points per game.
To put it bluntly, the reason why the Jazz were able to go all the way through the regular season and get first place in the Western Conference was Jordan Clarkson's stable scoring contribution on the bench.
Wang Feng also knows this very well.
In another time and space, Jordan Clarkson's experience was completely different from this one, but the results were surprisingly similar.
As early as the 17-18 season, he should have been used as a trading chip by the Lakers to the Cavaliers in exchange for Thomas and others. After two seasons with the Cavaliers, Clarkson will be traded in the 19-20 season.
Jazz, and completed a contract extension with the team after playing for the Jazz for one season.
In the 20-21 season, which is the current season, Clarkson will also perform super well, help the Jazz win the first place in the Western Conference record, and be selected as the best sixth man of the season.
It's a pity that although he knows that Jordan Clarkson is very good, Wang Feng can only watch the Lakers let this outstanding player go.
The pressure on the Lakers' salary space to extend Ingram's contract is too great.
The original annual salary of 7 million suddenly turned into 28 million. This is no joke.
More importantly, at the end of this season, Wang Feng's contract is about to expire. Renewing Wang Feng's contract will be the Lakers' most important task. For this reason, giving up a role player is not unacceptable to the Lakers.
And at that time, the Lakers did not expect Butler to be injured, so they felt that even if Clarkson left the team, the impact on the Lakers would not be very big.
It's too late to say anything now.
Clarkson, who left the team, has now become an enemy, and he is also the opponent that the Lakers need to pay attention to most in this series.
The core of the Jazz's offense is Mitchell. This is not a problem. Although Mitchell is a very good player, he even had a scoring battle with Murray of the Nuggets in the playoffs last season.
Wang Feng is still too young in front of him. After all, he is not Durant. James, the league's top scorer, can completely limit Wang Feng's performance with his top defensive ability.
That's what the entire Lakers team thinks.
At the beginning of the game, Gobert won the battle for the ball.
After Conley held the ball for half the game, he immediately directed his teammates to move and execute tactics.
Mitchell immediately noticed Wang Feng following him, and couldn't help but feel a shiver in his heart.
Wang Feng, who was the point guard, did not guard Conley, who was at the same position, but instead focused on him. The person guarding Conley was Lakers shooting guard Jordan Poole.
Obviously, the Lakers plan to use Wang Feng, the strongest perimeter defender, to defend Mitchell specifically.
Once Mitchell, the team's strongest scoring point, is restricted, the Jazz's offensive rhythm will inevitably have problems.
The Jazz certainly expected this.
After all, Wang Feng has been selected to the All-Defensive Team for many years in a row. In his early years, he was famous for guarding top scorers such as James, Durant, and Harden.
Mitchell didn't think he had the ability to score efficiently in front of Wang Feng, especially in the first game of G1 of the series. It would be better to get a feel for it first.
Mitchell was running without the ball. After some running without the ball, he did not catch the ball. Instead, he came to the three-point line in the corner and stood still, taking Wang Feng away from the basket.
On the other side, Bogdanovic used his teammates' off-ball screen to cut to the basket, received Conley's pass and scored a layup.
When the ball is transferred, the offensive routine of the Lakers is not as complicated as that of the Jazz.
The basketball was handed directly into Wang Feng's hands.
The Jazz player responsible for defending Wang Feng is Royce O'Neal.
Royce O'Neal is 1.98 meters tall and weighs 103 kilograms. He is strong and tough in confrontation. He is the best defensive player on the front line of the Jazz. This is why his offensive ability is obviously not as good as Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles.
The reason why he can represent the Jazz in the starting lineup despite the circumstances.
Of course, compared with Wang Feng, Royce O'Neal's so-called tough confrontation is not so tough.
With a strength of 88 and the blessing of badges such as a powerful terminator, Wang Feng's physical confrontation ability is the best in the league, and he can definitely fight hand-to-hand with James, Antetokounmpo, and Zion Williams.
In order to limit Wang Feng, Royce O'Neal is only the first barrier for the Jazz. They also have Rudy Gobert on the inside, ready to help with defense and support at any time.
The defensive ability of the two-time Defensive Player of the Year cannot be underestimated.
Wang Feng calmly looked at Royce O'Neal's defensive position in front of him and raised his eyebrows slightly.
"So close?"
Obviously, Royce O'Neal, like most of the players who defend him, follows the attitude of guarding against shots and not against breakthroughs.
You can hold the ball and hit the basket. Anyway, Gobert is protecting the basket, but there is absolutely no way to take an easy shot from the outside.
Wang Feng is a three-point shooter even more threatening than Curry. Once he is allowed to fire from outside the three-point line, the results will be disastrous.
"If that's the case, then it's as you wish."
Wang Feng paused slightly while holding the ball, then suddenly turned into an afterimage, breaking straight towards the right side of Royce O'Neal!
Fast! Too fast!
In the first step, the master badge was activated. Wang Feng easily passed Royce O'Neal in one step and rushed to the basket at extremely fast speed.