On April 22, the first round of the playoffs began, and the 76ers vs. Hornets and Heat vs. Pistons started first.

76ers vs. Hornets, both teams have a 49-33 record in the regular season, it looks like the team is evenly matched, Allen Iverson has attracted much attention, Iverson's individual performance this season has been excellent, but he was dragged down by the team's record and could not compete for the regular season awards, Iverson can only prove himself in the playoffs.

In this big battle, Iverson was full of firepower, scoring 27 points in the half, and in the second half, the 76ers won 92-82 in a wave of decisive waves.

Iverson scored 40 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists to lead the team to a good start to the playoffs.

Heat vs. Pistons, this game is a bit evenly matched on paper, one has Jamal Mashburn and Alonzo Mourning, the other has Jerry Starkerhouse and Grant Hill, but in the regular season rankings, one is second in the East, and the other is seventh in the East, the gap is really a little bigger.

Therefore, the process and result of the competition also reflect the rankings.

The Heat took the lead at the beginning and then pressed the Pistons until the end of the game, with a small margin of 10 points, and the Heat won 95-85.

In the game, Jamal Marshburn scored 29 points, and Alonzo Mourning exploded, cutting a quasi-triple-double of 20 points, 9 rebounds and 9 blocks.

On the other side, Grant Hill had a terrible performance, scoring only 13 points and shooting only 33.3%, while Jerry Starkerhouse scored 23 points, but also shot just over 40%, and it was clear that the victory was lost to the Heat's defense.

Then, the two major battles in the west also began.

One Lakers vs. Suns, one Spurs vs. Jazz.

The Lakers played the Suns, this game was a bit crushing, Shaquille O'Neal cut 37 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks, Kobe Bryant also had 25 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks, the Lakers led by 20 points at halftime, and in the end, they won 105-77 and won the first win of the series.

The Spurs played the Jazz, and this game was a bit tough.

From the beginning, the two teams continued to play iron, and the score of the two teams in the first quarter was 15:14, and the Spurs led by 1 point.

At halftime, the two teams also played an ultra-low score of 37:38, and the lead was replaced by the Jazz.

In the second half, the score was not pulled apart, 1 point and 2 points, and it dragged on until the end, and in the end, Karl Malone scored a mid-range shot against Duncan to kill the game.

The Jazz won 72-71.

In this way, all four games on the first day were played, and only the Jazz completed the following grams.

Popovich felt the bitter fruit of losing the last game of the season, the Jazz really didn't want to mess with, the two teams fought defensively, and finally won by the Jazz, the first-round series was a best-of-five system, and the Spurs who lost one game first were already a little dangerous, for them, the next game was a battle of life and death, and they couldn't lose again.

The next day, the two sets of duels in the east began first.

Pacers vs. Bucks, Raptors vs. Knicks.

The Pacers played the Bucks, this game was also a defensive battle, 2000 was still the era of defense, almost all teams were playing defense, the Pacers and the Bucks were no exception, the score of this game was very low, 88:85, the Pacers won by 3 points, narrowly won.

On the other side, the Raptors beat the Knicks more intensely, and in the last three minutes of the game, the Raptors still led by 3 points.

But then, the Knicks' defensive intensity increased suddenly, the Raptors did not score for five consecutive rounds, and the Knicks instantly overtook the score and won the game 92-88, Vince Carter performed badly, shooting 3 of 20 in the game, only 16 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists.

Several Jordan successors, Vince Carter fell behind first.

The two sets of matchups in the West also began soon, with the Grizzlies about to face the Kings at the General Motors Arena in Vancouver, and the Trail Blazers facing the Timberwolves on their home court.

"Guys, I have to warn you, this is a historic moment!"

In the home team locker room at the General Motors Arena, Qiao Hai held a tactical board and waved it.

Indeed, as he put it, it was a historic moment: "Because this game was the first playoff game in the history of the Vancouver Grizzlies, you will be remembered in the history of the Grizzlies, a historic moment, I think...... You don't want to lose, do you......? ”

Qiao Hai asked, and there was immediately a "no" response in the locker room.

Qiao Hai smiled again: "The history of winning is a beautiful history, so we must win!" ”

Then, he put up the tactical board in his hand and laid out the opening play: "Attack Princeton, Tracy, you have to increase your singles, defensive end, we don't play strong side stacking, we play man-to-man, increase rotation defense, rotation speed should be fast!" ”

There is nothing to say about the offense, Princeton vs. Princeton, Maddie adds singles, which is the advantage of a superstar, and the king has no superstar, only one Webber, in Qiao Hai's opinion, Webber is barely a superstar, not up to the level of a superstar.

Defensively, the strong side stack can't deal with the King's Princeton offense, and will only be completely torn apart by the King's Princeton offense, and then blown up.

So, man-to-man is the best option, and adding some rotation defense will be enough to deal with the Kings' Princeton offense.

After the arrangement, Qiao Hai opened the door of the locker room.

Bang! Bang!

"Come on! Vancouver! Win! Grizzly bear! ”

The heat and noise of the playoffs immediately hit everyone, and everyone was excited.

Playoffs!

I'm coming!

……

The Grizzly Bear's group of recruits are excited and nervous at the same time, after all, it's the first time that the big girl has been in the sedan chair.

Qiao Hai is the person who has the team's last playoff experience, so he behaved very indifferently and was interviewed by the NBC live host on the sidelines.

Craig Sager is the NBA's most well-known sideline reporter, he currently plays for NBC television, and he is best known for wearing different colors of suits every game, so he gets a nickname - the man in the color suit.

Interviewed Qiao Hai before the game, Craig Sager was very proud and asked a few more provocative questions, such as predicting the outcome of the game.

Because of the article in the hoop column, Qiao Hai's prediction was hyped by the media, not only made the headlines of major newspapers and magazines, but also attracted a large group of expert reporters to follow the prediction, and now, every prediction of Qiao Hai will attract a group of expert reporters to refute and criticize.

But this group of reporters always asked Qiao Hai to predict at the press conference before and after the game, which made Qiao Hai a little helpless.

In this pre-game prediction, Qiao Hai naturally had no words, only one answer: "Of course, the Grizzlies won." ”

Craig Saagle continued: "You predicted in the Hoop column that the Grizzlies would beat the Kings 3-1 in the first round to advance to the next round, so which game would you lose? ”

This question is very sharp, but it is difficult for Qiao Hai, Qiao Hai didn't think about it, and replied directly: "In the first away game, we will lose one." ”

"So the Grizzlies will win in the end?"

Qiao Hai nodded: "Of course!" ”

After answering the last question, Qiao Hai turned to his coach's box, and he waved his hand to the sidelines, and the cheers immediately surged.

In the first playoff game in the history of the Grizzlies, the fans were crazy, and the cheers kept ringing before the game even started.

When both sides debuted, the atmosphere reached a climax......