"Rudy, at the end of the season, the team had almost no desire. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Info's only small goal is to overwhelm the Pacers and become the league's No. 1 player. ”

"Judging from our current situation, we can say that we have a chance to win."

"So I have a little suggestion, let's rest the main team against the Kings in the next game."

"What? Why did you deliberately release water in the closing stage? Tang Shuai was a little surprised: "I don't want to be fined by the alliance anymore." ”

"There is a reason for this...... Yuan Fei explained in detail.

***

On April 4, the confident Tang Shuai took turns to rest many of the main forces. The Rockets lost at home to the Kings, who were struggling to compete for a standing. The Kings' number one contributor, Studjakovic, scored 28+11. Fortunately, by the end of the season, the league turned a blind eye and did not impose a fine.

The final game was uneventful for the Rockets, who had a one-man break to score on the road to win over the Warriors. The Warriors, who lost Arenas, have a poor roster this season, with just 33 wins. This era does not yet belong to them.

In back-to-back games the next day, Maddy slashed 42+7+4 to kill the Clippers, and the Rockets won by 23 points. After this battle, Maddie basically locked up the scoring title of the season.

The home game against the Nuggets on the 9th is likely to be a preview of the first round of the playoffs. The Nuggets are eighth in the West at 41-37, slightly ahead of the Jazz at 41-38. The Rockets did their best to deal with this potential opponent seriously, and Billups played a superstar performance of 33+3+11 to help the team win.

Next, the Rockets lost the game against the Jazz, won the SuperSonics and Mavericks, and finally finished the regular season with a 62-20 record, ranking first in the league.

The Pacers also played well in this segment, ending the regular season with a wave of consecutive wins, and the final record was fixed at 61-21, which can be regarded as fighting for the East that has been weak for many years.

The Timberwolves were also competitive enough, and they played a wave of six consecutive wins in April. In the end, Garnett, who ranked third in the West with a 58-24 record and was ridiculed by the media as a "10,000-year first-round tour", is bound to take off this shameful hat this time.

In the crucial battle on April 11, Webb finally played a superstar performance. He scored 25+12+5 to help the Kings beat the Lakers by 17 points at home. In the end, the Kings and Lakers both had a 55-27 record, and the Kings overtook the Lakers with a 3-1 head-to-head record to become the top spot in the Pacific region, and also overtook the Timberwolves and Spurs with better records to become second in the West.

The first round of the Western Conference playoffs in the 2003-2004 season is: Rockets vs. Nuggets, Kings vs. Grizzlies, Timberwolves vs. Mavericks, Spurs vs. Lakers.

This shows the wisdom of the Rockets' previous rotation to lose to the Kings. The Kings narrowly overwhelmed the Lakers, which made the two biggest opponents on the Rockets' way to the championship, the Spurs and the Lakers, meet in the first round. These two strong teams are the favorites among the favorites, and it's always good to be able to eliminate one first.

In the East, it is: Pacers vs. Celtics, Nets vs. Knicks, Pistons vs. Raptors, Heat vs. Hornets. The veteran powerhouse Nets got off to a bad start, but in the second half of the game, they overcame the difficulty of being sidelined by the main player Kidd with a knee injury, and finally squeezed out the top spot of the Atlantic Division with a 47-35 record, thus occupying the second place in the East. And in the West, the Grizzlies are only seventh with 49 wins. But there is no way, this is the era when the gap between the East and the West is the largest, and it is impossible to talk about fairness.

In some awards, Rockets players have also won something. Maddie was named the scoring champion with an average of 29.8 points per game. His main rival, Kobe Bryant, averaged "only" 24.0 points per game due to reduced ball possession; Iverson, on the other hand, missed too many games due to injury and was disqualified. Studjakovic, who finished second in the scoring charts, scored only 24.2 points, which is a rare time in history when there was such a huge gap between the top two.

The rebounding champion was taken away by Garnett with an astonishing average of 13.9 boards per game. Garnett has had a great season in terms of stats and records, and is almost the only one who can challenge Maddy's MVP trophy.

In addition to the purple and red McGrady, Yao Ming and Billups also attracted the attention of experts with their excellent performances. Despite the lack of MVP, they still have a good chance of making it to the All-Star selection.

As for the discussion of the championship, there are various divergent opinions in the media. Some veteran sports reporters insist that the F4 Lakers are the best team in the playoffs, after all, the Lakers have a precedent in recent years for the regular season to play dead and break out in the playoffs. There are also some media people who are optimistic that the new Rockets will maintain their form until the playoffs after dominating the regular season until they win the championship. The Spurs are also highly anticipated by fans under the growth of Ginobili and Arenas, and the Pacers, who are in the weak East End, are also favored by some pundits due to their weaker opponents. Other Kings and Timberwolves supporters also have their own opinions, and these teams are considered favorites to win the championship. Compared with the previous years when the Lakers and Spurs were evenly divided, the current league is more like a group of divided players.

***

The playoffs kicked off on April 17. The first day was a little uneventful, with the top-ranked teams at home (the Pacers, Kings, Nets, and Timberwolves) all winning.

The next day, the Toyota Center finally had its first playoff tournament. Before the game, almost no one was optimistic about the Denver people who came from the expedition, and there was still a relatively obvious gap in strength between them and the Rockets.

Of course, the Denver people themselves don't see it that way. Main control Andrew. Miller is 27 years old, and the core of the defense is Marcus. Camby is 29 years old, and with the addition of young future star Carmelo Brown. Anthony and Nene. Hilario, the Nuggets lineup is not weak. The last time they made the playoffs was in 1995, and the rise of a team that had been slumped for years sparked blind optimism. Some Nuggets fans believe that the team has a game against the Rockets, and that the Nuggets will dominate the league when Anthony grows into a superstar in the future.

As a result, the hospitable Houstonians immediately taught them a lesson. When it comes to the desire for the playoffs, the Rockets players are the ones who have really been waiting for a long time. The regret of losing to the Spurs last year due to Maddy's injury is still imprinted in my heart, and the players are gearing up to win the championship.

The most energetic is undoubtedly Maddy, who usually looks lazy and lazy, and he was particularly excited to return to the playoffs after leaving the game last season, with extra concentration and a strong desire to attack, attacking the basket and hitting the basket one after another. And Yao Ming has always had a good way to play Camby, and he used his solid basic skills and height advantage to repeatedly cut points on Camby's head. The Nuggets are a team with a mediocre defense, and they seem to be helpless against the outburst of the Yao Mai combination. At the end of the game, Maddie scored 40+5+4, Yao Ming scored 30+15 big double-doubles, and the Rockets beat their opponents by 14 points.

Towards the end of the game, Maddie, who was substituted for the break, and his teammates high-fived and celebrated. As soon as Maddie sat down, he turned his head and asked Yuanfei: "How was the game between the Lakers and the Spurs?" ”

Maddy's question represents the point of view of many Rockets players, and the Nuggets are just a small stumbling block, not an enemy in the eyes of the Rockets at all. The opponent in the next round, whether the Spurs or the Lakers, is the biggest enemy on the road to the championship. And the Spurs and Lakers really deserve that respect. In the five years since the retirement of Jordan, the god of basketball, the two teams have won all five championships. Duncan and O'Neal have won all five Finals MVPs, and the duo has also won three regular-season MVPs. If 5 years is an era, then the first era after Jordan undoubtedly belongs to the Shark Buddha. In the eyes of many people, defeating the Spurs and Lakers can win the championship.

The match that was played at the same time as the Battle of Fire and Gold also had a result, with the Spurs playing epic defense, and only Kobe Bryant played well in F4, and he did his best to cut down 31+10+4. And the Spurs' Duncan cut 30+11, Arenas 20+4+9. The Lakers lost 78-88.