2017: After the feud of Durant Westbrook, the fate of Harden is different

NBA 2016-17 season, the ending is well known: the invincible Warriors and Revenge Cavaliers won the championship for the second time in three years.

But the story goes beyond that.

With the success of the Warriors, the NBA's space trend continues to expand, and many future foreshadowings are set here. Coach Stevens led the Celtics to rise, and the three future MVPs of Jokic, Giannis and Embiid made their mark. Leonard experienced his final glory in the Spurs and would end the Spurs' 20-year victory journey; Irving's last partner with LeBron into the finals, which was the dusk when the Cavaliers ruled the East.

And the last bright fireworks began with a parting: In the summer of 2016, Kevin Durant, who had been with the Oxford Thunder for eight years, broke up with Westbrook.

When they met in 2008, they were a teenager and a cold snatcher. From eighth place in the West to the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder were held from the trough; in the 2012 Finals, they were close to the championship for the first time, but lost to the Heat and bid farewell to Harden; four years later, their fate came to an end.

The possibility of the combination of the three of them is not overwhelming, but in the end the romantic world is dispersed and the world is separated.

In this year, they each fulfilled their possibilities.

In this era of running and shooting, Harden found his role, Westbrook released his fire temperament and set a record and won the regular season MVP, and Durant relied on his magical projection to win the coveted championship and won the finals MVP. Looking back at the beginning of 2016, the three geniuses who were separated and each other were destined to fail to achieve a positive result together. The legend of the Warriors' championship continued, but this season, the flowers bloomed: every superstar seems to have found his new destiny. Two weeks after the Cleveland Cavaliers won the 2016 championship, on July 4, 2016, Kevin Durant announced that he was leaving the Thunder and signing with the Golden State Warriors. Three days later, he signed a two-year, $54.3 million contract.

Many media compared this to the 2010 "decision" of LeBron James's travel to Miami. Ben Grieve of Sports Illustrated said Durant:

"He chose an ideal team, the team that played the best offense in the NBA in decades; he chose to partner with Curry and Clay, the best shots in history, and chose to compete against two outstanding defenders, Iguodala and Dream Green in training - rather than facing them in the Western Conference Finals."

Four years ago, in the 2012 Finals, Durant's Thunder lost to LeBron's heat. That fall, LeBron said in an interview with Sports Illustrated at Ridz Carlton, Phoenix:

"I know someone is trying to take my place. He is in Oklahoma. He is trying to go in my direction."

A year later in 2013, Durant himself told Sports Illustrated:

"I am the second in my life. The second best player in high school, the second in the draft, and the MVP votes Three times second, the Finals (referring to 2012). I'm tired of being second... I don't watch other people's video tapes very much, but I look at LeBron's data sheets, I have to see how many scoring, rebounding and assists he got... If he got 30 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, I can tell you how he got it and what kind of basket he shot."

Durant has always regarded LeBron as an imaginary enemy since then, but in 2012-16, he didn't even have the chance to play LeBron again.

Durant won the 2014 regular season MVP and experienced two Western Conference Finals in 2014 and 2016, but he didn't have the chance to go to the Finals. In the year when LeBron won the championship, Durant left the Thunder for the Warriors: he was tired of waiting and tired of being second.

From a technical and tactical perspective, Durant is the only one who has seen this in basketball history. There is no other player with height, shooting and such flexibility. This makes him a historically efficient scorer. This is simply perfect for the Warriors who have a smooth system and just need a one-on-one scorer.

This also means that the three Thunder geniuses who once entered the 2012 Finals - Durant, Westbrook and Harden - parted ways.

73 wins and 9 losses, plus a four-time scoring champion and former MVP Durant? Who can resist? The Warriors of the 2016-17 season embarked on an invincible journey. They failed to inherit the legend of the previous year and broke the record of 73 wins in the regular season, but with Durant, they still got 67 wins in the regular season. They also created other legends midway through the season. For example, on November 7, 2016, Stephen Curry scored 13 three-pointers in a new NBA record in the game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

For example, on December 5, 2016, Clay Thompson scored 60 points in 21 of 33 shots in 29 minutes against the Indiana Pacers - it was Warriors guard Monta Ellis who was playing against him.

On April 5, 2017, Curry scored 42 points and 11 assists against the Suns, and described his status as follows: from the beginning of the season, he gave up his new record of 74 wins in the regular season.

"It's not worth it, it's really not worth it. You just need to go back to the finals. One day I wake up and think about not having to deal with the jump at 7:30 pm. It's great to have a break. It's really hard to prepare for each game mentally, so it's great to have an extra 24 hours of rest."

Curry is no longer interested in the regular season MVP. He said:

"Everything is related to the plot. Every December, whoever wins and performs better will be the media's MVP hottest; if you are not on the hot list every December, you will have no chance. ”

About Durant and Curry won three regular season MVPs in 2014-16, and they no longer need MVPs: in their hearts, there is only a championship. So Curry watched the two MVP leaders in the 2016-17 season, Durant’s two former teammates: James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Russell Westbrook of the Oxford Thunder. This year, they will compete with each other with historical records. The background wall of tracing. The failure of the 2015-16 season of the Rockets made them decide to reform, send Dwight Howard away, and got the weapon outside the three-point line Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson. The team opened space basketball in full swing. In the summer of 2016, Mike Dantoni came to the Houston Rockets as head coach, and James Harden was responsible for holding the ball - just as he was too old. Yang Couple the shooters and let Nash take the ball to start the offense.

As early as 2004, Dantoni's Suns began a trend of space and speed. Nash won two regular season MVPs in 2004-06. Dantoni still believed that the shooters group opened up space and the ball holders broke through and created.

2016-17 season, the Rockets added the magic ball idea of ​​efficiency first based on their original space play. Previously, the 2015-16 season , 73-win Warriors averaged nearly 32 three-pointers per game; in the previous five years, only nine teams in the NBA averaged 20 three-pointers per game in a single season.

However, in the 2016-17 season, the Rockets averaged a record 40 three-pointers, of which 24 were long-range three-pointers beyond 25 feet away.

As Dantoni himself said:

"The three-point line is there, it doesn't mean you have to stand on the three-point line to shoot! "What he cares about is not three-pointers, but space.

The Rockets have 7,152 shots throughout the year, 46% of the shots are three-pointers, but only 579 are mid-range shots: that is, the Rockets' mid-range shots are not as good as DeRozan, Melon, Westbrook and Wiggins, who shoot more in a single season.

In the Rockets' magic ball formation, Harden is a perfect ball-holder. As we all know, Harden is good at holding the ball, hitting the basket to make free throws or step three-pointers, and has a broad vision, and can find open shooters or cut inside when attacking. In 2016, the P3 laboratory of California pointed out that Harden has the best NBA . He relied on this excellent ability to manipulate all defenders. In the first game of the 2016-17 season, Harden had 34 points and 17 assists; five days later, 41 points and 15 assists. On the last day of 2016, he scored 53 points, 16 rebounds and 17 assists against the New York Knicks. A week later, he was a 40-point triple-double against the Raptors and Hornets respectively. In early 2017, Harden said this:

"Many times I can avoid mistakes, but when I see my teammates actively running out of open positions, if I don't pass, it will hit their enthusiasm, so I risked the mistakes and passed them. Tell your teammates in this way: I saw you. ”

Harden won the assist king in the 2016-17 regular season. This is another time after Nash in 2005. Dantoni's coach's point guard was awarded the assist king. Once again, Dantoni's team extended the possibility of three-pointers and space. At the same time, Harden averaged more than 29 points per game: 22 triple-doubles in the entire regular season.

If in previous years, this is a real record. But in the 2016-17 season, he met an old teammate and a new opponent who was about to make history.

Before Durant was absent due to injury in the spring of 2015, Westbrook supported the Thunder in two months, averaging 31 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists per game.

At that time, the media was curious: If Without Durant, what data can Westbrook play?

The Thunder that fought against the Spurs in the 2014 Western Conference Finals was the only one who started in the summer of 2016. So we saw the full-power Westbrook.

Westbrook was never an efficient smart commander, but with enthusiasm, he could always sprint forward. In the second game of the 2016-17 season, Westbrook made 17 of 44 shots, 20 free throws, 15 of them, and scored 51 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

And the triple-double boom, Westbrook will last for the whole season.

So Harden and Westbrook were in the 2016-17 season, so they would go back and forth, not The data record was cut. As Curry said, they had long monopolized the regular season MVP battle. In mid-March 2017, Harden had 38 points and 10 assists in four of his five games.

But this spring, another person joined the topic of regular season MVP. In the Rockets against the Spurs in March 2017, Harden scored 39 points and 12 assists, Leonard also scored 39 points, and blocked Harden at the last moment to ensure victory.

After Duncan retired in the summer of 2016, the Spurs handed more offensive burden to Kawhi Leonard. On the defensive end, he is a two-time defensive player of the year, and can suppress anyone alone; on the offensive end, many media began to discuss: Leonard's solid pace, back-to-body singles and mid-range skills are very good as Jordan's in his later years Behave? Adding to this victory against Harden in March 2017, the media began to whisper: The Spurs are winning, and Leonard is dominant on both ends of the offense and defense. Should Leonard get a point MVP vote?

But Westbrook relied on his performance and locked in the regular season MVP in April 2017:

16 games from March 9 to April 9, 2017, he scored 13 triple-double.

included 57 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists away in Orlando, and 50 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in Denver - that was his 42nd triple-double season, and the original single-season triple-double record was 41 in a single season for Oscar "Big O" Robertson in 1961-62.

Westbrook averaged 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists throughout the regular season: This is another triple-double per game in the NBA since Oscar Robertson's 1961-62 season. Although the Oxford Thunder only lost 47 wins and 35 losses, this amazing data still makes Westbrook the 2016-17 regular season MVP.

28 years old, his teammate left. He used his infinite enthusiasm and explosive power to support the Thunder through the entire season. He was ordered to be in danger when he was defeated and was ordered to burn himself, run like a flying, a little rough, a little wave, and always move, but only Oscars had completed it before, and averaged triple-double per game in a single season - he also won the scoring champion.

Westbrook's friend Barrs died suddenly when he was in high school. Westbrook inherited his friend's will and has since been determined to live his life creed: "why not" and "why not". He admitted himself, "This is my answer to all doubts."

This season, Westbrook completed an impossible record: probably in his eyes, all records, as long as they are set by people, can be broken. The scoring champion, the average triple-double per game, the most difficult triple-double per game, and the most single season triple-double record are all OK.

There are also some other records this year.

For example, on March 24, 2017, Phoenix Suns' sophomore guard Devin Booker made 21 of 40 shots in a single game, including 4 three-pointers, and scored 70 points in 26 free throws: the sixth player in NBA history to score 70 points in a single game. But such an outstanding performance only allowed Booker to win the eighth place in the fastest-progress player of the year that year.

The third year's Progressive Player of the Year Award, belonging to the Jazz's French giant Rudy Gobert. He has outstanding defense this year, second only to the Warriors' Dream Chasing Green in the defensive player vote. He will win four defense players of the year in the next seven years. The second place in the

Progressive Player of the Year Award is Serbian center Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. The 41st rookie in 2014 averaged 16.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists this season. Many people have noticed that he is already the best center in the NBA passer - perhaps even the top passer in the NBA in all positions.

And the fastest-progressive Player of the Year award this year belongs to Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Jokic, Giannis, and rookie center Joel Embiid, who played 31 games for the Philadelphia 76ers this year, all made their mark in the 2016-17 season. Four years later, their era will come. But at least this season, they are still groping.

The Milwaukee Bucks, who owns Giannis, faced the Toronto Raptors in the playoffs and once took the lead with Coach Kidd's pincer tactics. But the Raptors' coach Casey started with Norman Powell, replacing center Valancius, and putting out a small ball team to break Kidd's attack. This is also Coach Kidd's last time with the Bucks.

Back to Westbrook and Harden. Their MVP battle lasted throughout the season and continued to the first round of the playoffs, with Harden's Rockets facing Westbrook's Thunder.

Before April 2017, only Oscar, West, Barkley and LeBron had scored 40-point triple-double in NBA playoff history. Then in the second game against the Rockets in the first round of the 2017 playoffs, Russell Westbrook made 17 of 43 shots and scored 51 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, but the Thunder still lost to the Rockets.

After the game, Eric Gordon, the Rockets' shooter and sixth man of the year, believes that this is all Harden's credit: "Harden attracted the Thunder's defensive attention, I just need to be ready to shoot."

The Rockets eliminated the Thunder 4-1: Westbrook averaged 37 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and 2 steals in 39 minutes: of course, there were 6 turnovers and a shooting percentage of 39%. Opposite him, Harden averaged 33 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 turnovers in the entire series. Harden scored 166 points with 107 shots in five games, and Westbrook scored 187 points with 152 shots in five games. Westbrook won the regular season and Harden won back in the playoffs.

Just the day after Westbrook scored a triple-double of 51+10+13, in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, LeBron led the Cavaliers to the Pacers, scoring 41 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, allowing the Cavaliers, who were once behind 26 points, to complete the reversal. That night, Paul George, who returned from injury, scored 36 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists. But LeBron patiently planned the team's offense and made a breakthrough in the last moment. The Knights then successfully eliminated the Pacers.

This is also the last series Paul George played for the Pacers.

On the other side of the Western Conference playoffs, the Spurs defeated the Grizzlies 4-2 in the first round. In the last 8 minutes of the sixth game, Leonard scored 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and 29 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists in the game.

Throughout the series, Leonard averaged 31 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2.3 turnovers per game. The shooting percentage is 55%, the three-point rate is 48%, and the free throw rate is 97%.

At that time, Kobe commented, "Leonard's moves are the same as Jordan, and that pace. It's really cool."

In the second round, the Spurs encountered the Rockets.

The Spurs lost 27 points in the first game, but Popovich knew how to deal with his old enemy Dantoni: he used the center to sit at the basket, led the defender to squeeze through the screen, locked Harden's three-pointer and breakthrough, and let Harden's mid-range defense lock the Rockets. The Spurs chased the score to 2-2. In the fifth game of the Battle of Tianwang Mountain, Harden scored 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the whole game, and Leonard was injured in the ankle. Both sides tied with a draw of 101. But at this time, the Spurs veteran Ginobili, 39 years old and 286 days, achieved his last brilliant performance in his career. He first broke through the right wing, went to the left of the basket, took off, turned around and shot in the air, scored his 12th point, dragging the game into overtime. Ginobili assisted Danny Green with a three-pointer in overtime, giving the Spurs a 106-104 lead. Afterwards, Ginobili held the ball and patiently waited for Aldridge to cover the cut; when Green moved on the weak side, Ginobili made a cross-block, assisting Green to break through and make a three-pointer. In the last moment, the Spurs led 110 to 107: When Harden was about to take action from the three-point line, Ginobili was again, using his cunning and keen consciousness to fly out of the sky and cover the ball off. This deadly cover allowed the Spurs to thrill the fifth game and lead 3-2.

Harden, perhaps because of a physical problem, was in a sluggish game in the sixth game of life and death. He made 2 of 11 shots in the game and scored only 10 points. The Rockets lost to the Spurs 75-114 at home in Houston, and were eliminated by the Spurs 2-4.

But the Spurs didn't go further. In the 2017 Western Conference Finals, the Spurs met the Golden State Warriors who passed 4-0 without any surprises in the previous two rounds of the playoffs. In the first half of the first game, the Spurs once led the Warriors by as much as 20 points. Less than 3 minutes after the second half began, the accident happened: Leonard, who was making the Warriors anxious at the time, made a shot from the left corner and landed on the feet of Warriors Georgian center Zaza Pachuria. Leonard sprained his ankle and made the season ended. The Warriors launched a big counterattack on the spot, successfully reversed, and won the first game, and then swept three games in a row, eliminating the Spurs 4-0: with an unprecedented record of 12 wins and 0 losses in the NBA, reaching the 2017 Finals.

And this is also Leonard's last time playing for the Spurs.

East, LeBron's Cleveland Cavaliers scored 12 wins and 1 loss all the way to the Eastern Conference championship, and came to the finals for the third consecutive year - this is also LeBron himself. It reached the finals for the seventh consecutive year. In the Eastern Conference semifinals before

, another record appeared: On May 3, 2017, the Boston Celtics played against the Washington Wizards. With 4 minutes left in the third quarter, Wizards ace Wall had scored 35 points, but in the fourth quarter, Celtics' 175-centimeter defender Thomas scored 29 points, 53 points in the game, overwhelming Wall's 40 points and 13 assists.

Celtics' big axle Al Horford sighed: "I don't know how many points he scored, but he was playing. When he looked up, he had already passed 50 points. I thought: Wow!" After the game, Thomas himself said: Because this day was the birthday of his deceased sister, so, "I think my sister is watching me."

With this power, the Celtics fought hard seven games, crossed the Wizards, and went straight to the Eastern Conference Finals - however, they were still not LeBron's opponents: 1-4, the Celtics lost without any suspense.

The young coach Stevens led the Celtics East in the regular season, but it was obviously not enough to rely on Thomas Jr. and Jaylen Brown, the 2016 Tetrass. At that time, few people expected that the young Jaylen Brown would become the MVP of the Finals after the New Year.

So in 2017, the third consecutive year of finals: Warriors vs. Cavaliers, Curry meets LeBron.

This is also another time since the 2012 Finals, Kevin Durant encountered LeBron James in the Finals.

This year, LeBron's rule in the East became more and more at will. He no longer broke through his opponent with low center of gravity and large stride speed when he was young, and began to use his pace to keep his body position, and his center of gravity changed rapidly, and he used his turn, steps, visibility, and position to play. His shots also reduced the jump height and leaning range, trying to pursue briskness and rhythm. This is the best year for his organization to combine with breakthroughs, leaving the Toronto Raptors and the Boston Celtics helpless.

This is probably the most casual year for LeBron's offensive end in his career. He was literally playing with the Toronto guys against the Raptors series.

However, the scene presented in the 2017 finals was just as expected by the whole world when Durant joined the Warriors: the Warriors are invincible.

The Cavaliers still attacked Curry, limiting his long shots and curbing the Warriors' pass-cut attack, but Durant's strong single-handed challenge left the Cavaliers helpless.

The Warriors took the first game 113-91: LeBron himself scored 28 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists, Irving scored 24 points, and the whole team defended Curry only scored 28 points, but Curry gave 10 assists and Durant scored 38 points.

The Warriors beat the Cavaliers 132 to 113 again: LeBron scored 29 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists, but Durant scored 33 points and 13 rebounds, and Curry scored 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.

The Cavaliers did everything right in the third game: LeBron made 15 of 27 shots, 39 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists, Irving made 16 of 29 shots, and Love made 13 rebounds and 6 steals. JR Smith made 5 of 10 three-pointers and scored 16 points. With 50 seconds left in the game, the Warriors were 2 points behind 111-113. Durant took the ball in the backcourt and pushed forward, opposite LeBron. Curry had arrived from the weak side at this time, wanting to provide cover for Durant.

But Durant took a step from outside the three-point line, got up and shot: a three-pointer.

That was his signature skill for winning the four-time scoring champion: with his 2.8-meter standing height, 89 cm bounce, and forced a jump shot, no one could cover his long shot. Durant's shot passed LeBron's fingertips and hit the basket, and the Warriors took the lead. Durant killed LeBron and Irving's efforts in the game with this blow. The Warriors won 118-113 and led the Cavaliers 3-0. When asked about the three-pointer after the game, Durant said angrily:

"...I went to the three-point line, and I have been practicing such shooting all my life..."

It is worth mentioning that at the end of the third game, Paul Pierce said: "Durant is the new world's best player."

Previous in the 2008 playoffs, Pierce and the Celtics defeated the Lakers led by regular season MVP Kobe, won the Finals MVP, and then claimed to be the first in the world. According to his logic: the one who defeats his opponent on the highest stage is the number one in the world.

Of course, who is superior and who is inferior, but this year, Durant did provide the strong offensive firepower that the Warriors urgently needed the previous year.

Cavaliers won 137-116: that was also the only game the Warriors lost in the 2017 playoffs. But in five games in 2017, the Warriors did not give LeBron another chance. In the third quarter, the Cavaliers chased to a 4-point difference, and Durant made a strong three-pointer, 93-86, and the Cavaliers were suspended. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, LeBron beat Durant to make a layup with one-on-one match, but Durant immediately made a mid-range shot. When the Cavaliers thought they had trapped the Warriors' pass, Durant used a strong shot to solve the problem.

Full game, LeBron shot 41 points with 30 shots and Durant shot 39 points with 20 shots. Curry scored 34 points and 10 assists, the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 129-120, and won the 2017 championship 4-1.

Durant won the MVP of the finals.

This year, the young Celtics became the first in the Eastern Conference in the regular season, and John Wall led the Washington Wizards to the Eastern Conference semi-finals, but for the seventh consecutive year, LeBron was still the king of the Eastern Conference.

Giannis became the fastest-progressive player of the year and started his superstar journey with Jokic. They and rookie giant Embiid will be famous in four years. Clay Thompson scored 60 points in three quarters, while Devin Booker scored 70 points in a single game.

No record can not be broken. No miracles cannot be created. Last year, the Warriors' 73 wins and 9 losses and two mythical reversals in the Western Conference Finals and Finals. This year is these magnificent new history. At the end of countless trendy stories, there is the scene of the old enemy: the Warriors and the Cavaliers, and Curry and LeBron's peak showdown.

But the most interesting thing is probably the difference in the fate of the three young masters of Thunder.

In 2010, Durant was second in the regular season MVP, losing to LeBron; in 2012, Durant, Harden and Westbrook joined forces to enter the finals in the Thunder, losing to LeBron's Miami Heat. It allowed Durant to experience the first real huge setback in his career.

After being taken away by LeBron, Durant began to experience various unpleasant feelings: Harden left, Westbrook was injured, and he was injured himself, and finally forced him to leave the Thunder and join the Warriors: just to win one of his own championships. After winning the 2017 championship, Durant finally completed a revenge - using his horror score from the entire series and using his three-pointer in the third game.

This year, the three young masters of the Thunder each had their own losses and gains:

Westbrook made him passionately and won the regular season MVP, scoring king and triple-double king, but he has never been close to the championship since then.

Harden won the assist king and put the Rockets on the road to rise, but he encountered his fate for the first time in the series against the Spurs: after that, he will repeatedly hit walls at critical moments in the playoffs.

Durant, carrying huge controversy, defeated LeBron, who had taken the championship from his hands five years ago, and won the championship ring he had always dreamed of.

In 2012, LeBron defeated the Thunder Third Young Master and Harden left Ox City. By 2017, Westbrook created history and Durant finally won the championship. The fate of the third Young Master in Ox City finally completed a round.

Just like Curry gave up the regular season MVP early this season and just returned to the finals to win the championship: everyone has to pay for their dreams.

The last little story:

Golden State Warriors player development consultant, and the real pioneer of this Warriors, Steve Nash, who once played for the Suns with Steve Cole, finally got a championship ring that he never got in the Golden State Warriors in his brilliant player career.