"I don't want to admit it, but he's so strong! I can't even find a player in NBA history who is similar in quality and style of play. Michael Jordan? Forget it! That's outdated. What's more, even Jordan himself admits that Lamar has surpassed him in terms of strength. ”

"But this is the NBA, and there's no fun without competition. I wouldn't want to be teammates with Lamar because I'd be going to have a lot of fun in that case. I'm going to keep challenging him, maybe one day I'll really beat him by accident!"

This is what Queen Bee Baron Davis said in an interview with media reporters after the Hornets lost to the Knicks away. His words may represent the voices of many people, and of course some people will feel unconvinced, but those who are not convinced have all fallen on the way to the Knicks to win the championship.

"If someone were to ask me who the championship would be this season, I would vote for the Knicks. They're fantastic! New York has a lot of great players right now, and most importantly they have Lamar. If Lamar had been with the Bobcats, we would have won the championship by now."

In fact, not only Baron Davis, but many stars in the league also regard the Knicks as the championship favorite this season after their teams missed the playoffs.

Compared with the Knicks, although the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers are not bad, people are still more optimistic about the Knicks. It's just because the Knicks have the best basketball player in basketball today, Lamar Odom.

The 2003-2004 NBA regular season is coming to an end, and the list of participants for the Eastern and Western playoffs has been decided.

On the eastern side are the Boston Celtics, New Jersey Blues, Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons.

The roster on the Western side is the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramonto Kings, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets and defending champion San Antonio Spurs.

Now the only suspense is the ownership of the league's regular season champions.

In the final round, the Knicks will sit at home to face the Sacramonto Kings, who suddenly ran wild in the second half of the game and finally rushed to the fifth place in the West.

The Los Angeles Lakers will travel to challenge the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are currently third in the league in the regular season.

Both the Knicks and the Timberwolves are now one win behind the Los Angeles Lakers, with the Knicks only having a slight advantage in the head-to-head to sit ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

If the Los Angeles Lakers lose to the Minnesota Timberwolves in their final game and the Knicks win against the Kings, all three teams have exactly the same record. At that time, the specific ranking will depend on each other's records, although the Knicks may still not be able to ascend to the throne of the king at that time, but at least the morale will not lag behind the opponent.

But if the Los Angeles Lakers win, they will have a one-game lead over the New York Knicks and sit on the top spot in the league, so it doesn't matter if the Knicks win or lose.

It is precisely because these two games are related to honor that the three teams dare not slack off, and the poor king still can't escape the fate of the supporting role at this time.

"I don't like to put my fate in the hands of others, and it makes me feel like I'm being strangled around my neck. But I still hope the Lakers can beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, and while that won't give us a chance to win the regular season this year, it's a lot better than putting a crown on the Huskies' head. ”

April 20, 2004, the last game day of the NBA regular season of the season.

Tonight, the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden will take on the Sacramonto Kings and the Minnesota Timberwolves take on the Los Angeles Lakers at the Target Center.

The Sacramonto Kings are also old rivals for the Knicks. In the last meeting this season, the Knicks were unexpectedly overturned by the Kings on the road, which directly caused a crisis of confidence in the Knicks at the time.

This meeting, especially related to the Knicks' final ranking this season, is especially related to the Knicks' final ranking this season, so the Knicks are paying special attention to this game.

Maybe Lamar doesn't care which opponent he faces in the first round of the playoffs, but he is always pressed by another person. Especially the Los Angeles Lakers, an old enemy, is not a pleasant thing after all.

And the performance of the Sacramonto Kings this season can only be described as ups and downs.

Before the start of the season, the Ma'a'louf brothers and Adelman's lineup, based on Princeton's tactics, vowed to repeat the glory and even win the championship. But in the first two months of the season, their results were unbearably bad.

The core battle between Chris Webber and Pejastojakovic, coupled with the fact that White Wizard Mike Bibby was never integrated into the Kings' tactical system, caused the Kings to experience a long losing streak.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Adelman established a dual-core strategy against public opinion, so that the king who was stuck in the quagmire was reborn. A near-frantic eighteen-game winning streak in the final stages saw the Kings finally reach the final eight in the West, sitting in fifth place.

However, although the Kings are in the limelight during this time, they still have little chance of winning against the Knicks, who are in desperate need of a win and are playing at home. Even the team's head coach, Adelman, who has always been known for his strong personality, believes that the Kings can only rely on hard work to deal with their opponents in this game.

After the game started, the Kings' tactics were indeed as Adelman said, putting on a menacing posture at the beginning, speeding up the pace of the game and attacking the Knicks as much as possible. Adelman wants to use this to wear down the energy and patience of the Knicks players and make the opponent impatient first.

The King's tactics did have some effect in the initial stage, and in the face of the Kings team who stalked and ran like a perpetual motion machine at all costs, the Knicks were indeed a little confused and at a loss.

At the critical moment, Van Gundy changed his tactics, replacing Battier with Arenas, a master of chaos, and forming a combined assault fireteam with Lamar on the inside and outside.

Although the Kings have a defense team built with defensive expert Christie at the core, Christie is obviously a little overwhelmed by the Knicks' three breakthrough players (Lamar, Arenas, and Wade).

After back-to-back three-pointers from Lamar and Billups pierced through the heart, the Kings players were also a little impatient. Although his mad dog strategy has had a certain effect, the decision of the game is not about who works harder, but the final decision of the outcome is the team's scoring efficiency, and who gets more points.

The Kings attacked, the pace of the game began to pick up, and the Knicks played more handily, instantly grasping the initiative of the game.

Although no one on the Knicks' side could defend against Peja's magical three-pointers (mainly because Peja was too tall and defensive specialist Battier was replaced), Chris Webber on the inside was still easy to deal with. Dampote can't do it alone, but with Lamar's help from time to time, the situation is completely different.

If the Kings had had an athletic center at this time, Lamar's defensive tactics would not have worked. But unfortunately, it was either Brad Miller or the aging Divac who stood by Weber's side.

Needless to say, old Divac is not outstanding except for a good high-level strategy ability.

Brad Miller is an excellent center, both offensive and defensive, and even has a good high post strategy, but unfortunately he is too young and has too little experience. Often Lamar's hand is covered, and Miller's originally good mid-range shot becomes a rebound that drags down the whole team.

Chris Webber, an important interior attack point for the Kings, was blocked, and Peja alone naturally couldn't make much of a climate, and so far the game has been firmly in the hands of the Knicks.

107：98。

With a 9-point gap, the Knicks successfully got their revenge at home.

Immediately after the game, the Kings disappeared, and the Knicks didn't even have anyone moving. Everyone was looking at the big screen at the scene, waiting for the results of the game in the target center arena.

At this time, the strong conversation between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves also came to an end. The score between the two sides was still not stretched, the Lakers led by 2 points, and with only 21 seconds left in the game, the Timberwolves took a timeout, and they still had one chance to attack.

If the game ends like this, the Knicks will be firmly in second place in the league with the win-loss relationship between the two, but if 。。。。。。

"Wow!"

There was a wail at the Madison Square Garden Arena.

Alien Cassel hit a lethal three-pointer at a crucial moment. The alien, who had only scored 11 points in the previous game, finally showed his true colors as a killer in the final moments. It's just that no one expected that just one ball would make such a big change in the final ranking of the NBA regular season this season.

Lamar shook his head and walked to the players' tunnel with some regret, and a reporter ran over with courage: "Lamar, are you disappointed with this result?"

Lamar glanced up at the reporter: "Disappointed? No! It's just a little regret." There is nothing to be disappointed about, after all, fate is not in our own hands, everything we can have already been done. There's no control over there!"

The 2003-2004 NBA regular season has come to an end, and the teams that have earned playoff spots are all gearing up. While most teams are subtle and aim to break through the first round, what team hasn't dreamed of the crowning glory?