Jokic's recovery from injury is progressing well, but there is still a long way to go before he returns.

Biyombo and McGee's play during this period of time will become important for the Pelicans.

The month and a half of the season was also pivotal for the Pelicans.

The previous wave of record ups and downs has narrowed the gap between the Spurs and them, and now there is only a three-win gap between them.

In the event of a big upswing, they could well be squeezed from second to third by the Spurs.

Second and third, it may seem like a difference in just a standings, but if both teams make it to the second round of the playoffs, it means home advantage.

If the Pelicans face the Spurs, they certainly won't want to lose that.

So for every next game, they're definitely going to give it their all.

On March 8, Women's Day, the Pelicans and Clippers met for the last time of the season.

According to the results discussed with Tang Tian, Williams gave McGee about 10 minutes of playing time, and he also handed over excellent statistics of 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks.

The Pelicans eventually won the game and extended their winning streak to five.

Two days later, the Pelicans played the Kings again, and they dominated the Kings all over the court and eventually won the game to win six in a row.

Carl and Cousins broke out on the bench during the break.

It can be seen that one of the two will definitely leave next season.

On the second day after the Kings, the Pelicans faced the Jazz back-to-back.

The Jazz played an unusually tenacious game, and Whiteside didn't have much of an advantage over Gobert.

The two teams also stalemate until the last minute, and finally Ingles hit a fairy ball to kill the Pelicans, and also ended the Pelicans' six-game winning streak.

The game also highlighted the disadvantage of Jokic's absence, with their bench score being 20-40.

Three days later, the Pelicans have their final meeting of the season against the Spurs.

In this game, the Pelicans were not only a bench disadvantage, but also a poor outside shooter, and the Spurs' shrinking defense made it extremely difficult for the Pelicans to score.

In the end, the Pelicans suffered a wave of consecutive losses, and the Spurs also turned the regular season record to 1-3 and avoided being swept away.

……

These games have also become a microcosm of the Pelicans' month and a half.

They have won more than they lost, but the impact of Jokic's absence is clear.

Half a month later, the Pelicans' record is 59-22, the same as the Spurs'.

Because of the head-to-head record advantage, they are temporarily ranked second in the West.

That's when the final game becomes crucial.

The Pelicans' final game was against the Thunder.

The Thunder are now eighth in the West, but only half a win ahead of the ninth-place Lakers.

The Lakers' last game was against the Warriors.

This kind of game makes the rankings extremely complex and delicate.

If the Pelicans win against the Thunder and the Lakers win against the Warriors, the Lakers will squeeze out the Thunder in the final minute and become eighth in the West.

Conversely, any result outside of this situation would see the Thunder remain in eighth place.

The Pelicans are going to fight the Spurs for second place and will definitely win the last game, and the Warriors are now locked in the first place in the league, and their main team will most likely not play in the last game.

In this way, the only possibility for the Lakers to advance has become a high probability event.

In the locker room of the Thunder team, after the end of the daily training session, the players went home one after another.

The team's captain and locker room leader, Nick Collison, was studying the fixtures in the locker room at this time.

Durant was recovering from injury, and at this time he returned to the locker room after some training in the strength room.

Seeing that Collison was still there, Durant walked over and chatted with him with a smile.

When Durant entered the Thunder, Collison was on the team, and now so many years have passed, and the team is gone, and only Collison remains.

They also have a very good relationship.

Chatting and chatting, it was natural for the two of them to talk about the playoffs.

Durant looked depressed when he talked about this.

Although he is injured and can't play now, he still cares about the team, and now the team's hit is in the hands of the Pelicans and Tang Tian.

It was a really hard feeling.

"Kevin, you seem to have a good relationship with Stephen, you ask if the Warriors are likely to win against the Lakers in the end?"

Collison said suddenly.

Thinking about it from another angle, as long as the Warriors can win the Lakers, whether the Pelicans can win or not against the Thunder is secondary.

"I'll ask."

Duran nodded.

In fact, the Warriors also have a reason to win against the Lakers.

The Warriors' record this season is 67 wins, which is the best in the team's regular season history.

The higher the record is definitely better, and 68 wins is better than 67 wins.

After separating from Collisson, he made a phone call to Curry.

The two already had contact information for each other during last year's All-Star Game.

"No, Kevin, I'm not going to play in the last game."

However, Curry's answer directly poured cold water on him.

"Why? Don't you want to push for a higher regular-season record? ”

Durant is a little reluctant.

"It doesn't matter, I'm going to prepare for the playoffs right away."

Curry's answer was crisp, 67 wins is already a record, so winning one more game is not that important.

They don't mean they have a chance to challenge the Bulls' 72-win regular-season record.

Durant was helpless when he heard this.

Curry listened to it, and then remembered the current situation of the Thunder.

"Actually, Kevin, if you're interested, you can consider coming to Golden State to play with me after the end of your contract, I think we'll be a good match."

Curry said on the other end of the phone.

Now everyone knows that the salary cap will go up in the summer of 2016, when the Warriors have plenty of salary space to sign a max contract.

Durant's contract also expires just in time by then, and that's an absolute opportunity.

Two people who admire each other play together.

Three top scorers, they will make a dynasty.

Durant was stunned for a moment when he heard this, but immediately rejected Curry.

There's no way he's going to leave Oklahoma, he's a principled man, and he's not going to run back and forth like James.

Winning their championship with Westbrook in Oklahoma was what he wanted.

After hanging up the phone, he was still in a trance, his heart was very firm, but he didn't know why when Curry recruited him, he had a momentary heartbeat.

He immediately shook his head.

Curry won't play in the last game, unless the Lakers pit themselves, otherwise the Lakers will win over there.

In this case, whether the Thunder can advance to the playoffs really depends on the Pelicans' face.

This damn league schedule.