Chapter 214: Playoff Situation
Although Chang Wei does not plan to change jobs in the short term, Maddy's appearance is still beneficial, at least it has helped Chang Wei establish enough authority within the 76ers. As a new generation of idol stars in the league, Maddie has been admired by many players, including some 76ers players. As for a player like Iverson, who is also at the top of the league, he also has a deep fear of Maddy, because he knows that it will be difficult to beat the opponent in a one-on-one situation.
In this way, the 76ers' players have implemented Chang Wei's training plan more thoroughly, and many people believe that Chang Wei used a similar training plan to train Maddie to become a top star. Although they don't expect to be able to reach the sky in one step, it is good to be able to improve their strength, Maddie's performance undoubtedly endorses Chang Wei's ability, he uses his personal experience to tell everyone that Chang Wei is very awesome in player training, as long as you follow him, you will have meat to eat.
It stands to reason that in the second half of every season, there will always be such and such lows among the players, but the 76ers are still soaring, the reason is very simple, everyone is very enthusiastic about Chang Wei's training, which indirectly leads to their morale always maintaining a relatively high level, and it is logical to continue to lead the East.
There are quite a few teams in the NBA that like to make a sudden move after All-Star Weekend, and there are a few teams that have been successful in this way. But this year, such a strategy has basically worked in the East, and the 76ers' lead is too big, and basically as long as they don't suddenly fall out of standard, the Eastern Conference regular season championship is basically a sure thing. At present, they are far ahead by 5 wins, and the media has already given them the title of Eastern Conference champion in advance.
The Pacers, who finished second in the first half of the season, have not regained their ambitions since losing that game against the 76ers. In addition, their lineup structure is not very reasonable, and after several waves of consecutive defeats, they have been surpassed by the junior generation, and they are currently ranked sixth in the East. On the contrary, the three muskets and the Bucks led by Chang Wei's proud disciple Tim Thomas fully demonstrated the strength of the newborn calf who are not afraid of tigers, and have already jumped to second place in the East.
Third and fourth are two teams that played a classic defensive battle in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season – the Heat and the Knicks. Of course, they were also in this position, with the Heat losing their strongest interior barrier, Mourning, and the Knicks sending away Ewing last summer and replacing him with 1996 Pick Camby. But I didn't expect these two teams to play a very bright performance and firmly hold on to the top four in the East.
They are followed by the Raptors, led by cousins Maddy and Carter, who are second only to the 76ers among the 15 teams in the East in terms of spectacle, and their Antonio Davis has just played in the All-Star Game for the East, and the 76ers are not as good as them in this regard. The reason why this team is only ranked fifth is largely because of their unreasonable age structure, except for Carter and Maddy, the starting lineup is all over 30 years old, either the young people are enthusiastic and enthusiastic to take the ball, or the uncles are constantly doing switchback and running on the court and are tired and out of breath, and it is normal for the team's record to go up and down.
The last two teams are the Hornets, with Marshburn, one of the "Dallas 3Js" of the year, as the star of the house, supplemented by the backcourt of David Wesley and Byron Davis, it is not surprising that they can make the playoffs. What really surprised Chang Wei was the Magic, in the previous life, they only walked out of the shadow of O'Neal's departure and Hill's serious injury after taking Maddy, and now Maddie is still in the Raptors, but they forced their way into the playoffs with Darrell Armstrong and Mike Miller, plus some veterans who have been outdated, which can't help but make people admire. Of course, Chang Wei is basically the only one who admires, and others will only think that if the Magic can't make the playoffs, it can only prove that their head coach Doc Rivers is not good.
The Celtics, who are ninth in the East, and the Pistons, who are tenth in the East, are already quite far away from the Magic, and it can be said that if nothing else, the Eastern Conference playoff spots will be divided between these eight teams. Of course, judging from the current situation, there is basically no suspense for the 76ers to win the first place in the East, and the remaining topics that are still worth paying attention to are whether the old powerhouse Pacers can come from behind to make the top four, and who is less lucky with the Hornets and Magic to face the 76ers in the first round.
Compared to the East, the playoff situation in the West is much more complicated. Of course, the Lakers led by the "OK combination" naturally occupy the top spot in the regular season record in the West like the 76ers, but their lead is not as big as that of the 76ers vs. the Bucks. The Spurs and Kings are both chasing after their butts, the Kings are 2.5 wins behind them, and the Spurs are only 1 win away, as long as the Lakers are a little slack, the top spot in the West will be handed over.
Not only that, but the fourth-place Mavericks and the fifth-place Jazz are not much different, and they are only 0.5 wins away from the third-place Kings, so it can be said that if one of these teams suddenly drops, the home-court advantage in the playoffs will be wiped out. In addition to the fierce competition for the top four, there are also multiple teams eyeing the final playoff spot in the West, currently in eighth place in the West is the Rockets led by Francis and Mobley, who have entered a career decline, and Olajuwon is still on the team, but their lead is not enough to guarantee a playoff spot.
The Timberwolves and the SuperSonics have been coveted behind them for a long time, especially the Timberwolves, who have been in excellent form recently under Garnett's lead, and have closed the gap to 1.5 wins after a three-game winning streak. Although the supersonic are still 3 wins away from the Rockets, no one knows if they can catch up in the last dozen or twenty games, 3 wins is not an insurmountable gap, and the Rockets may be pulled down by one of them at any time.
Although the frontrunner will be tired, it is difficult for the 76ers to feel the pressure from the team behind them if they are too far ahead. What the 76ers players have to do every day is to train and play step by step, and try to win every game, and it is completely out of Brown's mind to release water or anything.