By Jeje Gomez, Marilyn Dubinski, Mark Barrington, Bill Huan, Devon Birdsong | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-04-08 07:26:49
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
马刺队的这个赛季不算顺利，但NBA经历了一个充满乐趣和惊喜的赛季，可能会迎来一个有趣的季后赛。
赛季即将结束。纵观各队战绩，哪个球队的战绩最令人惊讶？
玛丽莲·杜宾斯基(Marilyn Dubinski): 在经历了上赛季毫无希望的迷失后，我很惊讶活塞队不仅摆脱了垫底的位置，而且一路攀升，最终锁定了季后赛席位——不是附加赛，而是季后赛。这正是我们希望马刺队通过类似的休赛期操作，增加老将所能取得的进步，但伤病阻碍了这一切。向J.B. 比克斯塔夫所做的工作致敬。我最令人失望的球队是太阳队。一支拥有如此天赋的球队，没有理由错过附加赛，尤其是考虑到排名第9-13位的球队的挣扎。
马克·巴林顿(Mark Barrington): 我并不惊讶雷霆队是西部冠军，但有点惊讶的是，他们以如此巨大的优势遥遥领先。我原以为太阳队会更好，但他们缺乏深度，并且杜兰特缺席了很多比赛，这让他们很脆弱。我原本以为会发生在快船队身上的事情，实际上发生在了太阳队身上，因为快船队在赛季的大部分时间里都出人意料地保持了健康，并且诺曼·鲍威尔迎来了爆发赛季。西部最不可思议的发展一定是湖人队，他们以微不足道的代价获得了一位巅峰时期的超级巨星，并且应该在季后赛中掀起一些波澜。我不会因为没有预测到这一点而自责，因为这确实是一个疯狂的发展。
东部不像混乱的西部那样令人惊讶，尽管骑士队位居凯尔特人队之上有点令人意外。凯尔特人队在赛季末表现得更好，并且一定是东部进入总决赛的热门球队。活塞队值得特别表扬，因为他们本赛季取得了惊人的进步，他们应该与尼克斯队或步行者队进行一场精彩的系列赛。
黄比尔(Bill Huan): 在我看来，快船队和活塞队是显而易见的选择。我真的认为洛杉矶今年可能会参加乐透抽签，因为失去了PG（或者说得到了PG，也许吧）以及卡哇伊挥之不去的健康问题。相反，他们有机会直接进入季后赛，并且可以击败西部除雷霆队之外的任何球队。
与此同时，底特律不知何故将他们的胜场总数比去年翻了三倍，而且赛季甚至还没有结束！他们以西部前六的身份结束本赛季，是NBA历史上年度进步最大的球队之一，这证明了凯德的飞跃、JB出色的执教以及上个休赛期的引援。
耶稣·戈麦斯(Jesus Gomez): 当76人队增加保罗·乔治时，我并不认为他们是真正的竞争者，但我认为他们会争夺东部前四的席位。当然，乔尔·恩比德总是受伤，乔治也不是最耐用的球员，但他们有相当的深度，并且有泰瑞斯·马克西在常规赛中承担一些进攻重担。相反，费城队在较弱的分区垫底，并且可能在几个月前全力以赴后考虑解体。
德文·伯德桑(Devon Birdsong): 我的第一反应是选择活塞队，但他们多年来一直在默默建设，只是需要一位合适的教练。此外，我不相信如果他们在西部打球，他们会成为一支季后赛球队。相反，我认为火箭队几乎锁定了西部第二的种子席位，这才是本赛季真正的令人震惊的事情。我想如果你们问大多数人，他们会在赛季前将休斯顿队视为一支季后赛球队，甚至可能高达4-5号种子。但第二号种子？即使他们取得了进步，这也会让人觉得是在与雷霆队、森林狼队、掘金队和灰熊队（以及其他任何突然崛起的球队）作对。他们的种子席位是否更多地是其他球队下滑的结果，而不是火箭队表现出色的结果，这确实是一个问题（52场胜利对于西部第二的种子席位来说是一个较低的总数），但这仍然令人难以置信地惊讶。
除了马刺队之外，你最喜欢看哪支球队的比赛？
杜宾斯基: 我不认为我这个赛季看过一场不包括马刺队的比赛，所以如果我必须选择一支我从远处欣赏他们的风格的球队，同时看着他们击败马刺队，我会选择凯尔特人队。他们转移球、投三分球、突破……所有这些都源于马刺队的“美丽比赛”。哦，而且他们有德里克·怀特。我有没有提到我有多喜欢他，以及我有多希望他仍然在这里？
巴林顿: 掘金队很棒，这主要是因为一个人，我想你们知道是谁。赛季末的引援使得一些球队更具观赏性。拥有吉米·巴特勒的勇士队非常有趣，*而且你们中的一些人可能不想读下一部分：*湖人队令人难以置信，卢卡和勒布朗都打出了出色的篮球，并且拥有出色的补充天赋。我很抱歉我不得不在一群马刺队球迷面前说出最后一部分。
黄: 看着俄克拉荷马雷霆队派出一群看起来应该出现在“他是为谁打球？”节目中的球员，同时仍然赢得比赛，这很有趣，并且证明了他们多年来的球探和执教能力。这让我想起了过去的马刺队，他们过去常常在第二轮选秀中选中一些从未听说过的球员，然后将他们变成轮换球员。我的意思是，阿隆·威金斯真的有机会进入俄克拉荷马雷霆队在季后赛中的最后阵容，而他只是众多在联盟最深厚的球队中开辟角色的球员之一。谁会想到呢？
戈麦斯: 我通常会观看很多东部球队早于马刺队的比赛，以及西部球队较晚的比赛。东部球队大多是一场灾难，但我非常喜欢开拓者队，尤其是在1月下旬和2月初的11场比赛中取得10场胜利期间。对于一支重建球队来说，努力赢得比赛绝对没有意义，但作为一名外部观察员，观看像斯库特·亨德森、谢登·夏普和图马尼·卡马拉这样的球员茁壮成长，以及在安芬尼·西蒙斯和杰拉米·格兰特等老将的监督下，德尼·阿夫迪亚取得飞跃，是非常有趣的。
伯德桑: 我之前关于活塞队季后赛席位的评论暂且不提，他们绝对是一支令人愉悦的球队。感觉他们在任何一个领域都不擅长，但他们确实为每一个最后一分和每一次控球权而奋斗。他们投篮不多，但他们打出顽强的防守，凶猛地抢篮板，精明地传球，而且身体对抗非常激烈。简而言之，他们成功地坚持了基本功，并打出了有凝聚力的团队篮球。如果你还没有看过他们本赛季的比赛，我强烈建议你看一看。
你对季后赛感到兴奋，还是已经期待休赛期和明年了？
杜宾斯基: 我的赛季通常在马刺队结束时结束，所以我期待下个赛季，并准备在本赛季因文班亚马的血栓而脱轨后重回正轨。我们只看到了他和德阿隆·福克斯的五场比赛，这是一些宝贵的损失的比赛时间，所以他们越早一起上场，无论在什么球场上，就越好。此外，几名球员在上个月向我展示了一些有趣的东西，所以我很想看看他们是否能在球队阵容完整的情况下，以更小的角色保持下去。我预计马刺队会像活塞队本赛季那样取得飞跃，而重新开始的六个月等待将会比过去任何时候都更漫长。
巴林顿: NBA季后赛总是充满趣味和神秘。我将观看很多季后赛篮球比赛，主要是西部球队的比赛，主要是我上面提到的球队。我认为东部冠军的归属已成定局，所以我可能只会观看第一轮的一些活塞队比赛。我想我可能会参与附加赛，因为单淘汰赛制为比赛增添了兴奋感。
黄: 哦，我绝对对季后赛的开始感到兴奋。虽然俄克拉荷马雷霆队似乎肯定能进入西部决赛，但他们缺乏季后赛经验仍然留下了一些悬念。更不用说他们身后的那些绝对的集群球队，他们都有能力进入西部决赛，而且会有很多拥有历史级球员的球队，在比预期更早被淘汰后，今年夏天将经历一场存在危机。
东部没有那么深，但它可能会有骑士队和凯尔特人队之间今年最好的系列赛。看到扬尼斯上演一场独角戏，而充满活力的步行者队和活塞队试图爆冷，也将很有趣，而且没有哪支球队会像去年波士顿那样横扫整个分区。
戈麦斯: 我会观看季后赛并享受它们，就像我一直做的那样，但我真的很期待休赛期和明年。选秀大会应该令人兴奋，自由球员市场应该允许马刺队完善他们的阵容，我们甚至可能会看到一两笔交易。但最重要的是，我只是想再次看到维克托·文班亚马打球。
伯德桑: 我认为对大多数人来说，赛季会随着他们支持的球队的赛季而结束，但我希望提交的是，观看人们喜欢反对的球队的进步，会带来很多乐趣。只有一支球队可以赢得一切，这意味着当那些赢得我厌恶的球队的命运时，会有很多痛苦可以从中获得乐趣。仅西部赛区就提供了湖人队、火箭队和快船队潜在的覆灭。当然，观看每年尼克斯队推特崩溃的淘汰赛总是很有趣。没有什么比一点季后赛幸灾乐祸更能净化失败赛季的味道了，而且我个人打算好好享受一番。
点击查看原文：The most surprising, disappointing and fun teams of the 2024/25 NBA season
The most surprising, disappointing and fun teams of the 2024/25 NBA season
The Spurs’ season wasn’t the luckiest, but the NBA had a fun, surprise-filled year that could lead to an intriguing playoffs.
The season is coming to an end. Looking at the standings, what’s the most surprising record?
Marilyn Dubinski: After looking so hopelessly lost last season, I’m surprised the Pistons not only leapt out of the cellar, but all the way up to securing a playoff spot— not play-in, PLAYOFF. It’s the leap we hoped the Spurs could make with similar off-season moves to add veterans, but injuries got in the way. Kudos to the job J.B. Bickerstaff has done. My surprise bad team would be the Suns. There is no reason a team with their talent level should more than likely miss the play-in, especially with the struggles of the teams in the 9-13 range.
Mark Barrington: I’m not surprised that the Thunder are the winner of the West, but it’s a little surprising that they smoked the field and won by such a huge margin. I thought the Suns would be better, but they lack depth and have missed many games from Durant, making them vulnerable. What I thought was going to happen to the Clippers is what actually happened to the Suns, because the Clippers have been improbably healthy for most of the season, and have had a breakout season from Norman Powell. The most improbable development in the West has to be the Lakers, who were gifted a superstar at the peak of his powers for peanuts, and should make some noise in the playoffs. I’m not beating myself up for not predicting that, because it was kind of a crazy development.
The East isn’t nearly as surprising as the chaotic West, although it’s a minor surprise that the Cavaliers are atop the Celtics. The Celtics are playing better towards the end of the season, and have got to be the favorite to go to the finals from the East. The Pistons deserve honorable mention for their incredible improvement this season, and they should have an entertaining series with the Knicks or Pacers.
Bill Huan: The Clippers and Pistons are the obvious picks here for me. I genuinely thought that LA might be in the lottery this year given the loss of PG (or addition, perhaps) and Kawhi’s lingering health concerns. Instead, they have a chance of outright making the playoffs and could beat anyone in the West outside of OKC.
Meanwhile, Detroit has somehow tripled their win total from last year, and the season isn’t even over yet! Them finishing the season as a top-six seed is one of the biggest year-over-year improvements in NBA history, and it’s a testament to Cade’s leap, JB’s superb coaching, and the additions that were made last offseason.
Jesus Gomez: I didn’t consider the 76ers real contenders when they added Paul George, but I thought they would fight for a top-4 seed in the East. Sure, Joel Embiid is always hurt and George has not been the most durable guy, but they had some decent depth and Tyrese Maxey to carry some of the offensive load in the regular season. Instead, Philadelphia is near the bottom of the weaker conference and likely considering a teardown after going all in just a few months ago.
Devon Birdsong: My first instinct is to go with the Pistons, but they’ve been quietly building over the years and just needed the right coach. Also, I’m not convinced that they’d be a playoff team if they played in the West. Instead, I think the Rockets all but clinching the 2nd seed is the real shocker of the season. I think if you asked most, they’d have pegged Houston as a playoff team prior to the season, perhaps even as high as a 4-5 seed. But the number two seed? Even with the improvements they’d made, that would have felt like a real stretch up against the likes of the Thunder, Timberwolves, Nuggets, and Grizzlies (and whoever else randomly surged). There’s a real question as to whether their seeding is more the result of other teams slumping rather than the Rockets excelling (52 wins is a low total for a Western Conference 2 seed), but it’s incredibly surprising nonetheless.
Which team have you enjoyed watching the most, aside from the Spurs, if any?
Dubinski: I don’t think I’ve watched a single game that did not include the Spurs this season, so if I had to pick a team whose style I admired from afar while watching them beat on the Spurs, I’d pick the Celtics. They move the ball, shoot threes, drive… all the things that originated from the Beautiful Game Spurs. Oh, and they have Derrick White. Have I ever mentioned how much I like him and how badly I wish he were still here?
Barrington: The Nuggets are amazing, and that’s mostly because of one guy, and I think you know who. Late-season additions have made a few teams much more watchable. The Warriors with Jimmy Butler are pretty entertaining, and some of you may not want to read the next part: the Lakers are incredible with Luka and LeBron both playing great basketball with good complementary talent. I’m sorry I had to say that last part in front of a bunch of Spurs fans.
Huan: Watching OKC play guys who seem like they should be featured on who he play for? while still winning has been entertaining, and it’s a testament to their scouting and coaching over the years. It reminds me of the Spurs of old when they used to draft random guys in the second round whom no one had ever heard of before turning them into rotation players. I mean, Aaron Wiggins has a legit chance of being in some of OKC’s closing lineups in the playoffs, and he’s just one of many players who have carved out roles on the league’s deepest team. Who woulda thunk?
Gomez: I normally watch a lot of games from Eastern teams that play earlier than the Spurs and Western teams that play late. The Eastern teams were mostly a disaster, but I enjoyed the Trail Blazers a ton, especially during their 10 wins in 11 games in late January and early February. It made absolutely no sense for a rebuilding team to try so hard to win, but as an outside observer, watching guys like Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Toumani Camara blossom and Deni Avdija make a leap under the supervision of veterans like Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant was extremely fun to watch.
Birdsong: My earlier note about the Pistons’ playoff seeding notwithstanding, they are an absolute delight to watch. It doesn’t feel like they excel in any one area, but man, do they scrap for every last point and possession. They don’t shoot a lot of threes, but they play tenacious defense, rebound ferociously, pass shrewdly, and are physical as hell. In short, they succeed in adhering to the fundamentals and playing cohesive team basketball. If you haven’t seen them play this season, I highly recommend taking a look.
Are you excited about the playoffs or already looking forward to the offseason and next year?
Dubinski: My season usually ends when the Spurs’ does, so I’m looking forward to next season and ready to get back on track after this one was derailed by Wemby’s blood clot. We only got five games of him and De’Aaron Fox, which was some valuable lost playing time together, so the sooner they can get on any kind of court together, the better. Also, several players have shown me some intriguing things during the last month, so I’m intrigued to see if they can keep it up in a smaller role with the team at full strength. I’m expecting the Spurs to make the jump the Pistons did this season, and the six-month wait to start over again is going to feel longer than it has in quite a while.
Barrington: The NBA playoffs are always interesting and mysterious. I’m going to watch a lot of playoff basketball, mostly of the Western Conference teams, primarily the teams I mentioned above. I think the winner of the East is a foregone conclusion, so I probably will only watch a few Pistons games in the first round. I think I’ll probably be onboard for the play-in tournament, because the single elimination format lends excitement to the games.
Huan: Oh, I am absolutely STOKED for the playoffs to begin. While OKC seems like a slam dunk to make the finals in the West, them not having much playoff experience still leaves some intrigue. Not to mention the absolute cluster of teams behind them who are all capable of making it to the West Finals, and there will be a number of teams with all-time players who will go through an existential crisis this summer after getting bounced earlier than expected.
The East isn’t as deep, but it could feature the best series this entire year between the Cavs and Celtics. It’ll also be fun to see Giannis put on a one-man show while the frisky Pacers and Pistons try and score an upset, and no team will rampage through the conference like what Boston did last year.
Gomez: I’ll watch the playoffs and enjoy them, as I always do, but I’m really looking forward to the offseason and next year. The draft should be exciting, free agency should allow the Spurs to round out their roster, and we might even see a trade or two. More than anything, though, I just want to see Victor Wembanyama play again.
Birdsong: I think for most people the season ends with that of the team they’re rooting for, but I’d like to submit that there’s plenty of joy to be had in watching the progress of the teams one enjoys rooting against. Only one team can win it all, which means there’s plenty of misery to delight in when it comes to the fates of squads that have earned my distaste. The Western Conference alone offers the potential demise of the Lakers, Rockets, and Clippers. And, of course, it’s always amusing watching the annual Knicks Twitter elimination meltdown. There’s nothing like a little postseason schadenfreude to cleanse the palate of a losing season, and I, for one, intend to feast.
By Jeje Gomez, Marilyn Dubinski, Mark Barrington, Bill Huan, Devon Birdsong, via Pounding The Rock