If the playoffs in the East, except for the Knicks' crisp loss to the Celtics, is the biggest upset, then in the West, the biggest variable is undoubtedly the first half, the Spurs vs Grizzlies game.

Before the game, most fans thought that the Spurs, who are ranked No. 1 in the West, would defeat the eighth-ranked Grizzlies and advance to the second round of the playoffs, but in the first game, the Grizzlies gave the Spurs a disadvantage.

At 101:98, the Grizzlies took the lead and successfully pulled out the stab on the road.

From the beginning of the game, the Grizzlies showed a strong confrontation on both offensive and defensive ends, and Zach Randolph was even more in the confrontation, completely making Duncan helpless.

Once the black bear is in the groove, it is simply an inexplicable guy on the offensive end, first knocking you to the ground with a fat bang, and then using the soft touch to steadily put the ball into the basket.

This battle alone has to make people re-examine the Zach Randolph player, maybe he is indeed inseparable from drugs, but the strength of this guy is indeed often underestimated.

Mark Gasol G1 also played well on the offensive end, with the black and white bears exploding at the same time, just like the big bears and the two bears ruling the forest.

Tony Parker can't be considered bald, after all, the difference in appearance is too big, but his situation is actually not much worse.

Under the careful care of Tony Allen, the Gallic sports car's offensive efficiency has dropped significantly, shooting 4-of-16, a performance that disappointed Popovich, and if it weren't for the home foul whistle to win more than 10 free throws, Parker would have been the Spurs' biggest undercover agent tonight.

George Hill's performance was just as bad, rookie Gary Neil didn't have the amazing performance he had in the regular season, and Ginobili's injury absence left the Spurs with one less knife to win.

In the final moments, Tony Allen was also impressive on the offensive end, as he used free throws to kill the Spurs.

G2 Spurs pulled one back, but it wasn't entirely because of Ginobili's return to the firing line, the poor performance of both the Black Bears and the White Bears was the biggest reason why the Spurs were able to defend their home court.

The Spurs relied on their tenacious defense to pull back a game, 1:1, and until this game, fans still thought that the Spurs had more hope of advancing to the next round.

G3 returned to Memphis, the black and white bears returned to the forest, and immediately showed terrifying combat power, once again blowing the Spurs' interior line, while Tony Allen continued to put defensive pressure on Ginobili and Tony Parker on the defensive end.

After this series, Tony Allen's individual defensive ability was finally put on the table, and this guy is indeed underrated.

That's right, Tony Allen is indeed an ordinary role player who averages less than 10 points per game on the surface, but the problem is that his 10 points are almost stable, but the players who are opposite him are often superstars guarded by Tony Allen, and their efficiency often declines rapidly.

In the final moments of the scorching game, the Spurs trailed 88-91, and they still had the ball in the final five seconds, only to lose the duel, and finally let the Grizzlies win G3.

With the Grizzlies leading the Spurs at 2-1, fans are beginning to doubt their judgment, and now even a fool can see that the San Antonio people's current situation is worrying.

That's why the Spurs also want to get Ruan Erniu, that's right, their interior intensity is too low, Duncan really lacks a power interior that can help him share the defensive pressure, otherwise, the Spurs wouldn't have been bullied so badly by the Grizzlies in this series.

Naturally, the people of the Celestial Empire will not go, the reason is very simple, the Spurs will definitely not be able to pay his salary, and going to the Spurs means that Ruan Erniu must be subservient to Popovich.

To be honest, players like Ruan Erniu and James, although they compliment the old foxes on the surface, but really let them play system basketball, forced to suppress playing time and data, score 30 points a game, and the next day they will "cramp and diarrhea" for inexplicable reasons, and then "take turns off", no, they retired due to injury, and vowed to ask how many league supergiants are willing to do this.

After that, the game has completely entered the rhythm of the Grizzlies.

The Memphis at home made another win in G4, and after G5 returned to San Antonio, the Spurs pulled one back, but the Grizzlies, who took the lead in getting the match point, did not give the Spurs a second chance.

Returning to the G6 life-and-death battle, Zach Randolph and Mark Gasol once again dominated the interior line, and in the matchup, completely exploded the Spurs' interior line.

Especially the Black Bear Randolph, in this battle for promotion with no way out, he shot 12 of 22 in a single game, 0 of 2 three-pointers, and 7 of 8 free throws, scoring 31 points and 11 boards in a double-double.

On the other side of him, Duncan only scored 12 points and 10 rebounds in the game, and shot a measly 38.5% from the field on 5-of-13 shooting and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.

Stone Buddha was completely blown out tonight, or rather, he didn't take advantage of Zach Randolph in the slightest for the entire series.

The famous GIF of smashing the hoop with a basketball is also from this series, and even Duncan, a man who is engaged in psychology, is emotionally out of control by Randolph, which shows the terrifying power of the grizzly bear.

In fact, every time Erniu and Randolph are opposed, the data is often basically in a state of mutual explosion with the black bears, perhaps it should be said that the moisture between strength and fame can only be really dried by relying on a battle like the playoffs.

At 4:2, the Grizzlies completed the Black Eight and became the biggest upset in the first-round series.

The other three matchups in the first round of the West do not seem to be too suspenseful.

4:1, the young Thunder took out the Nuggets without Anthony and Billups, and it has to be said that Oklahoma has risen too quickly, and this youth army has shown a stronger competitiveness than the Trail Blazers, and they have no painful injuries and desperate curses.

4:2, the Lakers defeated the Hornets, Chris Paul finally stopped playing dead in the playoffs, his average of 15.9+9.8 per game this season can only prove that he did not take the regular season seriously, and on the playoff stage, CP3, who averaged 22+11 per game, still proved the value of his current No. 1 point guard.

Without running into Deron Williams, Paul is the best one.

It's just that the Lakers have to be the stronger team overall.

Still 4:2, the Mavericks got the Trail Blazers, Nowitzki, the veteran driver taught Aldridge how to drive, in a series of rounds, also averaging about 19 shots per game, and the Silver Horn King made 7 more free throws than Ade.

The two bulls made up their minds not to go to the Knicks, but Clippers owner Donald Sterling did not dare to take it lightly.

So, Clippers general manager Nell O'Hill called Erniu again and agreed that the three of them would have dinner together at a newly opened Hong Kong-style tea restaurant in Los Angeles.

As soon as they met, Ruan Erniu opened the door and said: "Mr. Sterling, since I decided to come to the Clippers, I will definitely complete the contract renewal here, and I can't guarantee further things, but as we talked that night, I will not leave the Clippers in the next four years." ”

Donald Sterling laughed: "Kraft, I've always had faith in you!"

Erniu nodded and smiled, and took a heavy sip of tea, this time Sterling should have got his meaning, what Ruan Erniu was most afraid of was that the Clippers owner would suddenly think of a play.

In a way, Sterling is more difficult to deal with than Tony Ressler, after all, the latter can still impress with interests, but the former is also concerned about interests, but often does not like to play according to routines.

O'Hill broke the brief silence and asked warmly how Erniu's life is after returning to Los Angeles and if he has any good advice for the team.

After Ruan Erniu thought about it, he said directly to Sterling: "You once told me that you hope to make the Clippers a great NBA team, but with all due respect, according to my observations these days, the current Los Angeles Clippers do not have the temperament to win at all. ”

Sterling nodded: "That's why I don't hesitate to trade Blake Griffin for you, to be honest, more than one team wants to get Griffin, but in my opinion, none of the chips they give can compare to you." ”

Ruan Erniu said secretly: "If there is no Celestial Empire Market behind me, you will not use Griffin to bet on my future." ”

However, Ruan Erniu did not show any flaws on his face, and he continued: "Thank you very much for your kindness, but I still have to say that we must make radical changes. ”

Sterling is just a gambler, not a fool, otherwise he would not be able to earn this family business, he instantly understood what Erniu meant, the people of the Celestial Empire are asking for power.

Will Donald Sterling give?

Of course, because this itself was one of the reasons to persuade Erniu to come to the Clippers in the first place, and now the Clippers hope to reach a contract extension with Ruan Erniu, so Sterling will definitely coax Ruan Erniu.

Sterling immediately gave O'Hill beside him a look, and O'Hill instantly understood what the boss meant, and the general manager of the Clippers said to Ruan Erniu almost in a humble tone: "Kraft, how do you need to change, I will definitely obey unconditionally." ”

Ruan Erniu waved his hand and said, "No, no, I'm just making a suggestion, whether to implement it or not, or you have to come up with ideas." Honestly, do you think Vinnie De Nagro is a good manager?"

Raheem Sterling still didn't speak, but O'Hill couldn't help but say it, because deciding whether a manager should stay or not is first and foremost something that he, the general manager of the team, needs to consider.

'He has two years left on his contract, but we do have the right to terminate it early. Kraft, are you really so dismissive of him?" O'Hill asked.

Ruan Erniu didn't give any explanation or answer, but fell silent again.

The first to open the conversation this time was Donald Sterling, who said in a very affirmative tone: "O'Hill, end his contract with De Nagro tomorrow." ”

Then, Sterling said to Ruan Erniu: "So, who is your candidate?"

Ruan Erniu nodded, this is the reason why he chose to come to the Clippers, Sterling is crazy, but his actions are indeed decisive enough, and he can achieve great things, and sometimes he really can't be emotional.

Ruan Erniu said in an almost joking tone: "Otherwise, how about choosing me?"

Sterling laughed and said, "Agreed, I don't have any opinions!"

Oshier was a little confused, he didn't know if this was a joke or the boss's established plan, he wanted to keep silent, but Ruan Erniu was not ready to let him go.

"In addition, I also hope that Neal will be able to involve the entire coaching staff in the discussion and advice before the trade and draft in the future. ”

As soon as these words came out, O'Hilton understood that he was going to be hollowed out, what kind of discussion and suggestion, even if Hongguoguo seized power, once the people of the Celestial Empire had these rights, what was the value of his existence as the general manager?

Is it like a low-level HR to negotiate with the player's agent about the player's salary?

But O'Hill didn't dare to refute in the end, because he knew very well that in the current situation, his puppet was decided, and Sterling would definitely agree to the Celestial Empire's proposal, and the truth was indeed as he thought.

"And what about the rest of the coaching staff?" O'Hill didn't want to be a puppet who couldn't speak, he was testing Erniu to see how ambitious the Celestial Empire was as a power-grabber.

"If I could, I'd like to rebuild the Clippers' assistant coaching team, and to be honest, if I do get the team's head coach, I'm going to need pretty reliable guys on the assistant coach side to help me. Ruan Erniu's words seemed to be still joking, but things had developed to this point, and Oshier would not think that Erniu was joking.

Ruan Erniu added: "I haven't finalized the specific candidate yet, but except for Natalie Nakase, there is no one in the current coaching staff that I need. ”

When it comes to this, it really can't be clearer, Ruan Erniu not only wants to become the player leader of the Clippers, but he also has to control the entire coaching staff and even the general manager of the Clippers.

That is, the league does not allow players to directly serve as the general manager of the team, otherwise O'Hill feels that he is a puppet without the slightest value of existence.

Sterling finally agreed to Erniu's suggestion in its entirety, as long as Ruan Erniu could bring him huge commercial benefits, even if the Clippers were tossed and bad, he had no opinion.

What's more, with an ambitious guy like Ruan Erniu in charge of the team, will the value of the Clippers really decline?

No, there is a great chance that the team will get better and the value of the team will continue to increase.

The meal, both guests and hosts, both sides achieved their set goals, judging from the results, it should be a win-win choice, but Neil O'Hill is definitely the one who is sacrificed.

Nguyen Erniu took his leave first, while O'Hill was in charge of sending Sterling home.

In Sterling's luxury car, Sterling said to O'Hill beside him: "Do you feel like you have become a sculpture without any rights?"

O'Hill said: "Boss, I just think that the Celestial Empire has too much power, and the Clippers are your team after all. ”

Donald Sterling nodded: "Did I give Ruan Erniu too much rights? It seems like that, but I can tell you for sure that the turnaround you want will definitely appear." ”

O'Hill was puzzled: "You mean, properly create obstacles for Kraft Nguyen?"

"Fool, do your best to satisfy the Celestials, that's the only thing you can do now, remember, until the 'turnaround' comes, Kraft Nguyen will do whatever you want!" Sterling yelled directly at O'Hill.

……

The internal changes of the Clippers have not moved much across the league 2210