Average 29 points 29 points! The peak Harden under the worst record in history, the fate of the Big Three is uncertain!
The NBA regular season has been played for most of this season, and the situation in the East and West has also stabilized. In the East, during the regular season, the Celtics, Bucks, and 76ers will not face too much pressure, and the Knicks, Cavaliers, and Pacers will depend on who can compete for the fourth place, after all, the disparity in strength between the 8 teams in the East is too big and basically uncompetitive. It's a different story in the West, where no one would have guessed that the Warriors would still be in 12th place in the West for most of the season, while the Lakers would continue to hover outside the eight. To put it simply, when James and Curry are getting older, their physical fitness is affected, and they can't maintain a normal level of continuation in the regular season, any trade is an itch in the boots, and if the knife is moved, the run-in in the second half is another problem. Relatively speaking, the Clippers, under the leadership of Harden + George + Jr., are ready to lead the first place in the West!
Although the Clippers do not have particularly gorgeous player data, the gap between Harden, George, and Xiaoka is more than 15 points per 100 rounds, ranking among the top five in the league! Their ability to easily beat the league-leading Celtics in back-to-back games is the biggest charm of the team's basketball, and it is the positive impact of everyone's selfless dedication. On the other hand, the Suns, who are also led by the Big Three, have 26 wins and 20 losses since the start of the new season, ranking sixth in the West, which is not good at all, and it is far from the time when Paul led the team. The upper limit of the Suns is **, with an average of 29 points per game + 29 points per game, and the team has set a new record for the worst record in NBA history! That's the price of disrespecting Harden.
Let's start with Boss Booker. In the last two Suns games, Booker beat the Pacers and scored 62 points, and the Suns were reversed; Booker scored 44 points against the Magic, and the Suns were reversed; There is an interesting statistic, in the scoring list of two consecutive losses in the past 60 years, Booker is first with 109 points (set in 2019), Beal is second with 108 points (set in 2020), and Booker is third with 106 points (just set this season). It's not easy to have both at the same time! Counting the previous Suns wins, playing the Mavericks Booker and scoring 46 points, beating the Pelicans Booker and scoring 52 points, why did Booker skyrocket? Quite simply, he doesn't want to play point guard and sacrifice his physical strength to pass the ball to his teammates. Booker's points per game average has also risen to 28 this season6 points, close to 29 points! In terms of scoring ability, Booker could be in the top five in the league.
Durant is averaging 28 per game this season5 points, 64 rebounds and 5With seven assists, he noted that he averaged 32 turnovers followed. Share this set of data: The Suns lost to their opponents by double digits or more 11 times in the fourth quarter, the worst in the league! The Suns scored 137 points in the final quarter of the season and shot 31 from three-point range4%, the worst record in the league! The Suns have a final offensive efficiency of 1034 points, a net minus 15 in the final 100 rounds7 points, the worst in the league! What level? According to the statistics of the United States**, since the 96-97 season, with a net score of 100 rounds, the Suns have set a record for the worst net score in the NBA at the end of the quarter! Even the 76ers in the 15-16 season have a 10-72 record that is not as bad as the Suns! The reason is very simple, the opponent knows that the Suns are for the fourth quarter, and only Booker, Durant, and Beal are sporadically involved, and they are defending these people.
And with the decline in physical fitness, the footsteps of the Big Three in singles mode can no longer be moved. Last season, Paul came, Paul controlled the ball, and the Suns were the top five teams to win points in the final quarter, but Paul left, relying on Durant to control the ball, and made 3 turnovers in 2 minutes; Rely on Booker to control the ball, dribble and do it yourself, bypassing teammates from the big gap without passing; Beal's ability is not good, his defense is full of holes, and even his actual contribution to value wins is not as good as Allen and Nurkic! Beal was recruited by Durant, Booker is Durant's partner who wants to be famous, and today's game of the Suns is also according to Durant's model, with the three-point shot scoring at the end, and then what? Section 4 became the worst in history? To put it simply, Durant has always disliked the way Harden leads the team, and he has hit the iron.
When Harden was better for two months in a row under the basket, Durant came with a result of working hard for the team; When Harden wanted to play the ball-handling big core (a role he now plays with the Clippers), Durant led the opposition; Even when Harden left the basket, he taunted and taunted, and it was not until half a year later that it gradually"Forgiveness"Harden. Harden doesn't owe Durant, on the contrary, a super scorer like Durant, including a super scorer like Booker, if he pays for Harden on the sidelines? If Harden can keep Gordon, Allen and Nurkic averaging around 40 points per game, will Durant and Booker get tired? As for the fourth quarter, crash crash? There is nothing wrong with individual heroism, but Durant is wrong, he played like this in the regular season, and Booker also played like this, which must be half the effort.
There's no doubt that the Suns won't have much of a problem making the playoffs this season, but they won't be competitive in the playoffs. They'll do their best, just like in last season's series against the Nuggets, where Booker and Durant averaged over 65 points per game, were too tired to speak, and then watched their opponents blossom lightly on the team's head to end the suspense of the game. Of course, all of this assumes that Durant and Booker don't burn out when the playoffs arrive, but that probability is slim. That's the price of disrespecting Harden and preferring to do it yourself: a few hard stabs or a few hard stabs? The answer is simple, everyone understands the truth!