As the Warriors beat 76 people and the Lakers beat Thunder, both traffic teams won 3 consecutive victories. There are still seven or eight games left for each team in the regular season. According to the current situation, it is better for the Warriors to rush to the top four. However, the Lakers have wasted great opportunities before and have to play a play-off.
According to the current ranking, Clippers, Suns, Warriors, Timberwolves, Lakers and Pelicans occupy relatively favorable positions, but in the end, it is difficult to decide who can avoid playing the play-in. According to the rest of the schedule, it is difficult to judge who is more favorable, but if the Warriors can seize the home advantage, there is full hope to get rid of the play-offs and avoid the embarrassment of the eighth in the West in 2021but not playing the playoffs. Chasing Dreams has clearly expressed the determination to enter the top six, bluntly speaking, “the play-off is too dangerous, we ‘d better avoid it”.
The Clippers, originally ranked fourth in the West, had just been defeated by Pelican 110-131 due to George’s recent injury, which not only made the situation in the West more complicated, but also the Clippers might be forced to play the play-in.
The biggest problem of the Warriors is the absence of Wikins. So far, there is no clear explanation. Because it is not injured, it is even worse. The Warriors must be prepared that he cannot return to the playoffs. Even if wikins’ status can barely come back before the end of the regular season. Since igodala was also out of battle for at least one month due to injury, the advantage of the warrior’s small lineup was greatly reduced.
The replacement of wikins’ is kuminga. Fortunately, kuminga has made remarkable progress in attack recently. He has performed very well on grizzly bears, rockets and calves. Warriors have also stepped out of the downturn of three consecutive defeats recently, he won 3 consecutive victories. The good news is that Peyton, the champion, will come back in the first world war against the Timberwolves. He keeps Cole’s faith in the small team.
The schedule of Warriors is not bad. According to their super high home court winning rate, if they can win all four home courts, then Warriors have a chance to win the top four. Their three away games were against the Nuggets, Kings and Blazers respectively. Because they were near the end of the regular season, the strong teams would relax to preserve their strength. If they could take one out of three, the Warriors would play 5-2 in the last 7 battles, there will be a chance to rank fourth with 44 wins.
After defeating Thunder, the Lakers also won 3 consecutive victories and climbed the winning rate to 50% for the first time. Another good news is that James’s playing level has been improved, and the status of the bull at home has become “suspicious”. Although they have not returned to the level of “possibility”, players who have been out of war for a long time return to “doubt” the day before the game, and most of them may return.
But I don’t think James is the key to whether the Lakers can reach the top six. The key lies in whether Davis can turn over the river. James missed 13 games in a row this time. Davis played 11 of them, with the Lakers winning 7 and losing 4. Davis averaged 27.3+12.8, of which there were two 3 consecutive wins.
Another key figure was Reeves, who replaced part of James’s role. From 1 to 3, he participated in all 13 games that James missed, winning 8 and losing 5, with an average of 17.8 points, the assists were 6.0 times, especially the total of 44 free throws in 3 games. In contrast, Reeves played 43 games before James’s absence, with an average of 10.6 points and 2.2 assists.
Coach Ham also adjusted the lineup in place, because besides James, Russell also missed six games. The substitute center Bamba was injured and the pitcher Beasley was very unstable. Ham decisively adjusted Beasley to the substitute, reducing the pressure of his opening. Reeves started well.
The biggest difficulty for the Lakers is to have five consecutive away games and the next two consecutive bulls. Generally speaking, there are two consecutive battles with the same opponent. The result of 1-1 is more realistic, but the Lakers can no longer afford to lose. They must regret letting Davis take a break with the Rockets, but they didn’t play well with the Mavericks. If those two games are won, the Lakers will have a good chance to win 44 in the first six or even the first four, but now they can finish the last 5-3 and play the play-in with 42 wins.
The Clippers had very bad luck. They finally turned over with a 4-game winning streak and walked out of the trough of the 5-game losing streak. George was injured at the critical moment and lost to Pelican in the very critical card position battle. Next, there are seven games. Several away games of the Clippers are very difficult to play. Among them, two games are needed to fight the grizzly bear and then fight the Pelican, but the last game is very favorable to fight the sun. If the sun has already confirmed the ranking, it is likely to let the main players take turns. As long as you win 43 with 4-3 in the end, the Clippers can still avoid the play-off.
In contrast, the Suns, which just won 76 people 125-105, had a chance to bottom out and rebound. Since Durant was injured, the Suns suffered two 3 consecutive defeats, of which the second 3 consecutive defeats superimposed the injury and absence of center Elton. I don’t know the specific timetable for Alton’s comeback yet, but it seems that he will come back before the end of the regular season. Once the sun line-up is neat, no matter which place it falls in, it will become a hot spot to win the championship.
The situation of Timberwolves is complicated and subtle, because downs finally returned and the Twin Towers effect needs to be verified. In the first game of comeback, Downs seemed to be in good condition. He only played for 26 minutes but was very efficient. He contributed 22 points and scored two points, winning the eagle easily. The remaining three Masters and five guests of the Timberwolves game are still card battles for Warriors, the Sun, the Lakers and pelicans. Running in with such a key game, there is no loss.
At present, there are forest wolves, Lakers and pelicans in the West, all of which are 37-37, among which Pelicans have won 4 consecutive victories after winning the Clippers. The previous Pelicans had a relatively favorable schedule, and their opponents were relatively weak for six consecutive games. The last eight card battles were relatively critical, especially the rewar Clippers, the away match against Warriors and Timberwolves, they must not place their hopes on the return of Zion from injury.