Unexpectedly defeated by 42 points, and was defeated by a buzzer! The league s number one fell, and the championship also lost its suspense

This season, the NBA Finals are in full swing. After two young teams played the first three games, the Pacers led the Thunder 2-1. Judging from the historical statistics of NBA history, the team that led 2-1 in the finals was the first to win the championship, with a probability of winning more than 80%. The Pacers also have a home court advantage. It is reasonable that they are both closer to the championship. To be honest, half a year ago, no one would have thought that the Pacer, who was still ninth in the East, would have walked all the way to the end. Since entering 25 years, the Thunder and Pacers have been the two teams with the highest winning rate in the league. The Pacers have brought the performance of the whole nation to the extreme. The four-round series, from Toppin to Nasmith, from McConnell to Matherine, have been continually contributing energy to the team.

Instead, the regular season wins 68 times. Before the finals started, the Thunder, with a probability of winning over 95%, is getting lost the more they play. There are two undeniable points. First, since Alexander won the MVP + the first team + scoring champion of the best team, he has gradually participated in the discussion of the league's first person. He must need gilding in the playoffs, and the league's harsh treatment for Alexander, especially at home, is the highest level. To compare, Alexander scored 26 free throws in the first three games of the finals, and the Pacers' core Halliburton, with 0 free throws in three games. Secondly, the Thunder has risen rapidly in the past three years and won the first place in the Western Conference regular season for two consecutive years, but this team still has many shortcomings, and the championship is gradually losing suspense.

Let's start with a set of data. This season's playoffs, when the Thunder played a four-player combination of Alexander + Caruso + Dortmund + Jewe, they lost 5.8 points in a hundred rounds. This is the four-player group with the highest net win in the regular season! If you add one Harten to these four players, you will lose 19.4 points in a hundred rounds; if you replace Harten with Homgren, you will lose 10.3 points in a hundred rounds! Dortmund and Caruso are the top defensive elites in the league. Jewe has an average of 20 points per game, Homgren has a shooting, and Harten has the ability to attack the box + eat cake. What is the problem? Of course it's MVP Alexander. As we all know, Alexander relies too much on free throws. This year's playoffs are not counted as playing against the Grizzlies in the first round. When he does not score more than 8 free throws in a single game, the Thunder's record is 2 wins and 4 losses!

According to the US media, Alexander is indeed very smart in playing basketball and has been recognized by some celebrities, but his offensive goal is not to score goals, but to be persistent in creating fouls and increasing three-point shooting. After the opponent was slightly confronted, Alexander flew out and handed his fate to the referee. At the Thunder's home court, this move has been tried and done, which is why Alexander averaged 9.1 free throws per game in the playoffs, so it is difficult for the Thunder's home opponent to win. But on the away game, Alexander repeatedly sluggishly! Take the Thunder’s last three games as an example. In the finals, they made 9 of 20 shots, 5 of 6 free throws, and only scored 24 points. In the last quarter, Alexander scored 1 of 3 points and scored 3 points, completely invisible! In the finals G1 game, although Alexander scored 38 points at home, he was beaten by Halliburton.

Although 10 points were scored in the last quarter, there were 6 free throws, 2 of them were shots, and no assists were made. There is also the G3 match in the Western Conference Finals. The Thunder unexpectedly defeated the Timberwolves 101-143. Alexander made 4 of 13 and 4 of 4 free throws, only 14 points. The Thunder has a difficult problem, which is that the team's core Alexander has no organizational support ability at all. Although he averaged 6.6 assists per game in the playoffs, most of them were offensive and defensive transitions. Not to mention that compared with top support masters such as Jokic, Harden, Doncic, Halliburton, Alexander is not even as good as Tatum. After he found that he could not break in, he either forced a foul or stood up and found someone. It was easy for his opponent to judge. The center has less cakes, and the teammates have poor participation.

There is another problem, I can't play against the wind. In this year's playoffs, although Alexander averaged 30 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, at a critical moment, Alexander's shooting percentage in both events was 44% + 16.7%, of which 60% of the scores relied on free throws! It can be an important scoring method at home, but what about the away game? Even if the league intends to promote Alexander to the top, it is really not as good as ignoring the home and away game and directly supporting Alexander. This is also the reason why the Thunder repeatedly lost away games + Alexander was unable to stand up. The second leader of the Thunder, Javi, has a shooting percentage of 50% + 57.1% in both events at critical moments, and is very efficient, but it is also limited to singles. He and Alexander have a conflict of ball-holding, and neither can lead his teammates.

Losing the Finals G3, including the problems exposed in the last three games. The Thunder is the first regular season record and the most popular team to win the championship, but since the core MVP Alexander, the team has unsolvable problems! In addition, in the playoffs, there are only three people who averaged double-digit points per game: Alexander + Javier + Homgren, which is easy for the Pacers to target effectively. Alexander can win many games with the preferential treatment of harsh punishment, but if he doesn't improve himself, he will always be exposed. The Thunder do have the qualifications to become the league leader in the future, but not this season! The suspense of the championship is getting smaller and smaller, and I look forward to the Pacers winning the cup to create a miracle!