It wasn't until February 1 that the Lakers welcomed a new opponent - the Nuggets. Ever since closing a trade with the Rockets last summer to send away star Ty Lawson, the Nuggets' theme for the 2015-16 season has been written: to develop and develop rookie point guard Emmanuel Moodier and other young players led by him. In the end, Moodier got the necessary growth, and scoring guard Gary Harris continued to improve to stay in the main position, and Nikola Jokic became a surprise. So, in terms of strategic significance, they have successfully achieved their goal.

Moodier, who is considered to be the core of the team's future development, did not seem very comfortable when he first entered the league, especially with poor shooting percentages and high turnovers. But as the season progressed, he gradually got better, averaging 14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game after the All-Star, and although the shooting percentage was only 39.7%, it has improved a lot from 34% in the first half of the season, and the number of turnovers has dropped from 3.5 to 2.7 per game.

And Jokic, who was not expected too much, has sprung up. The Serbian center, who runs like a big stupid goose, unexpectedly overfulfilled every task assigned to him by his coach, squeezing out Nukic who returned midway through injury, and became the team's core on the inside. The data shows that this 95-year-old young player was the center with the highest true plus/minus in the league last season!

Because of the rebuilding and frequent injuries, the Nuggets played 33-49 in the regular season last season, which is considered decent, and various sub-statistics are basically in line with their record rankings: 101.9 points per game to rank 20th in the league, 105.6 points per 100 rounds to rank 17th, 105 points per game to rank 22nd in the league, and 108.9 points per 100 rounds to rank 24th. In addition, in addition to offensive rebounds (11.5 per game ranked sixth) and total rebounds (44.6 per game ranked eighth), the Nuggets also ranked between 10 and 20 in most other statistics, and the most sluggish is outside firepower - 33.8% three-point shooting percentage ranks 26th in the league.

If you want to talk about highlights, it's not completely absent. The Nuggets ranked second in the league in offensive efficiency and eighth in defensive efficiency on the bench last season, thanks to the depth of the team's rotation. If the veterans are fitter and the rookies adapt quickly, there is still room for them to grow in this area.

In the NBA, stability is very important. Although it cost $80 million to re-sign Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler a year ago, it is not expensive according to the current market conditions, and since then, the management has focused on stability and determined to see what level of the roster can play at the moment. As for the rumored inquiry Blake Griffin, as well as the two-year 52 million reported to Dwayne Wade this offseason, it is basically in the nature of "whether there is a date to play a shot".

This summer, the Nuggets lost backup point guard DJ Augustin in the free agency market and sent French center Louvingi to Russia City in exchange for two future second-round picks.

In terms of roster addition, the Nuggets have not made any substantive moves except for the selection of three first-round rookies (please ignore several training camp contracts), but this shows that the team has a clear idea. With Moodier and Jokic already in possession of the two major axes of the interior and outside, the three first-round picks serve as auxiliary puzzle pieces, giving the team more room to imagine the future. For this season, the team doesn't need them to contribute immediately, and if they do, it's a bonus.

Murray is more likely to get consistent playing time as a substitute in the No. 1 position than on the flanks, after all, his direct rival is the 34-year-old veteran Jamil Nelson. In addition, the attributes of the two-way guard also allow him to partner with Moodier and steal some playing time in the second position. In terms of Summer League performances, he is one of the most capable of making an immediate impact of all the rookies this year if given the opportunity.

With the failure to chase Griffin and the failure to hire Wade, the Nuggets can settle down and continue to slowly rebuild. While they have a deep roster that can take a 10-man rotation, the Nuggets' goal has been completely clear from the day Wade selected the Bulls - continue to leave opportunities and time to this group of young people, patiently waiting for them to grow, and savoring the bitterness in the process.

Faried, Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, who missed a game last season due to injury, don't have the qualities to be true leaders even if they can stay healthy, while the rest of the youngsters, while the prospects are attractive but far from harvest season. Moodier has improved from himself, but is still a long way from a qualified field commander; Jokic did well in front of the Americans at the Olympics, but with his talent, he can't make people as excited about his future as they are about Towns and Porzingis. As for the rest, Harris is just a qualified 3-and-D player, and there are huge doubts about whether the more star-studded Murray will be able to steal enough playing time from Harris.

Therefore, the Nuggets, who have missed the playoffs for three consecutive years since being eliminated in the first round of the 2012-13 season, still have to continue to work hard to accumulate talent and experience, and grope their way forward with hope for the future. Compared with last season's 33 wins, the Nuggets have hope to improve their record in the new season, but if they can't make the playoffs, they may still be embarrassed in the end.

And this season's Nuggets are exactly like this, although because of the team's excellent defense, they have achieved good results in the face of the Spurs and the Rockets, and have also defeated the Pelicans and Cavaliers, and are veritable giant killers this season, but their instability and some lack of offensive ability still make them lack the ability to make a final decision in the face of those more mature teams, and now they have a total of 23 wins, ranking tenth in the West, this ranking is very embarrassing.

In the face of the Lakers' pizza, they were not able to continue to play the role of giant killers, but became a soft-footed snake, following the loss to the Lakers by 41 points in the last game, they still did not score more than 70 points in this game, only 68 points, but the only improvement was that they successfully limited the Lakers' scoring to 100 points, so they 'only' lost 32 points in this game.

February is off to a good start, and the Lakers are also very relaxed and happy, and then they have to face a more powerful opponent, the Wizards, their record this season is very good, in fact, the Wizards were blocked from the playoffs last season, and injuries became an obstacle. According to the American media, "In fact, after Bradley Beal missed 16 consecutive games from December to January, the Wizards have slipped out of the playoffs." At the moment of the sprint, the Wizards suffered another 10 consecutive losses of seven games, and a wave of five straight losses in March.

Statistically, the Wizards hover in the lower middle of the league (19th and 14th, respectively) in points scored (102.9) and conceded (103.6) per 100 possessions. With the 5th fastest pace, the Wizards averaged 85.8 per game, the 10th highest shot in the league, and guaranteed a 46% (9th) shooting percentage; He averaged 24.2 shots from three-point range (14th) and shot 35.8% (11th) from the field. Slowing down the Wizards was the free throw shooting (20th on 22.5 shots per game), which pushed them to 14th in true shooting percentage (54.4%).

The tactical choice also led to a huge contrast in rebounding for the Wizards, who were able to convert 77.7 percent of the balls they threw into rebounds (tied for seventh), but the team missed only 1/5 of the bullets that could be reloaded, tied for 25th. With two offsets, the Wizards' overall rebounding percentage (48.6%) ranks only 6th from the bottom. The Wizards' offseason pursuit of Kevin Durant, Al Horford and Ryan Anderson has been frustrated one after another, but a series of Plan B plans have been the right solution.

Beal's contract extension was confirmed long before the Durant battle began, but it was delayed. Offering a 100 million yuan contract to Bill, who does not have an All-Star bonus but has his own glass attributes, is naturally controversial, but the Wizards have no choice; Mashinmi fills the void on Nenne's interior and keeps the "Polish Hammers" from being empty behind them, and the duo can defend the Wizards' interior defense. In addition, the presence of these two also makes Nicholson considered the most cost-effective signing for the Wizards this summer. The latter could also be used as a replacement for Markieff Morris, who is also a space four.

In addition, the second-round pick in exchange for Burke, who was unpopular in Salt Lake City for his defensive and shooting options, also announced the end of Sessions' years in Washington. Burke and Satoranski will be substitutes for the Wizards' backcourt duo. In short, the Wizards have strengthened all five positions, and although there are bright spots, it is difficult to say that there is any substantial improvement.

As the core of the Wizards, John Wall has been mentioned in two ways this offseason, one is that he can make his teammates better, and the other is that Wall's teammates from beyond the three-point line had a total of 276 assists last season, ranking first in the league, including 57 for Otto Porter alone. And he has 89 assists for his teammates in the bottom corner, which is the third highest in the league, behind James Harden and LeBron James. This gives you some hope of what it will be like when Morris and Nicholson appear in the bottom corner of the new season.

However, reminiscent of the league's No. 1 backcourt combination battle a few years ago, Beal and Wall are comparable to the Splash Brothers, and it depends on whether Beal can come up with a performance worthy of a contract of 100 million yuan. Shooting is its guarantee, but if the Wizards still need to carefully control his playing time, not only will the power of this combination not be fully realized, but it will also be more likely to cause rifts between them. Recently, there have been rumors that Wall suffers from "pink eye", from Harden's sneaker contract to Beal's fat contract. And this is the most worrying thing for the Wizards, except for relative health.

With Brooks taking office, the new coach will inevitably bring a new atmosphere, and returning to the playoffs is the goal. However, in the eyes of the industry, the Wizards have succeeded by operating this summer and maintaining their strength, and the improvement in their performance may not be as big as it seems on paper. And the most worrying thing is that the ceiling of this Wizards may be like this. Looking around the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers, Raptors, Celtics and Hawks are always strong, and it is difficult for the Wizards to pull down the three top 8 teams of the Hornets, Pacers, and Pistons, not to mention the Bulls, Knicks, and the Magic who are expected to improve more this summer. The playoffs may still be a flash in the pan for Washington.

However, the Wizards have easily overcome these problems this season, of course, the Hornets' self-imposed fall and the sudden fall of the Hawks have also created some opportunities for their successful breakthrough, but their own performance in the game can also be said to be very good, although they are not ranked in the top four in the East, but they are also far away from the fiercely contested eighth position in the East, and now they are ranked sixth in the East, and this position does not look like there will be much fluctuation, Because he is 3 wins behind the Raptors in front of him, but 2 wins ahead of the Bulls behind him, the position is relatively solid.

In fact, the duel between Ye Xuan and Wall is still very good-looking, because when facing Ye Xuan, Wall can always burst out with amazing combat effectiveness, and I don't know if it is because of these abilities shown by Ye Xuan that he feels pressure or why, in short, he can be extremely aggressive when facing Ye Xuan's team.

However, the protagonist of this game is not the top point guards in the league, but an unexpected person - Clarkson, this game Solomon Hill missed the game due to back discomfort, and Clarkson naturally appeared in the starting lineup, and everyone did not expect that this game also made Clarkson's evaluation suddenly go up a notch.

At the beginning of the game, the Lakers were still dominated by Ye Xuan, but the Wizards obviously also arranged tactics specifically for Ye Xuan, so Ye Xuan gradually began to hand over the ball to Wade and let Wade attack, but Wade's offense today was a little insufficient, and after attacking a few times, he began to pass the ball, at this time Clarkson suddenly showed amazing combat effectiveness, first hitting three-point shots in two consecutive rounds, and then grabbing the rebound in the front court after the second offense, In an instant, the tight score was pulled away.

And this is only the stage when Clarkson's performance has just begun, and then he got some shooting opportunities in the run, he feels surprisingly good today, he didn't lose a single ball, all of them were stuffed into the opponent's basket, Ye Xuan also found that Clarkson's hand was really good today, so he also began to deliberately feed him the ball. As a result, Clarkson scored 31 points on 12-of-14 shooting before the end of the first half.