The Heat without Wade didn't hold up the closing game, and of course it was largely because of their schedule. They have six away games in their last 10 games, and half of them have been against teams in the top eight of the East and West, especially the crucial defeat to Celtic, which sent them directly into the abyss.

Of course, the Celtics did not become a first-round opponent for the Pistons, as they finished 7-3 in their final 10 games, surpassing the Knicks in seventh place in the East, and they will face the Raptors, the champion of the same division, in the first round of the playoffs. Neither Chang Wei nor Brown took the Knicks seriously, and now their star is Marbury, who was traded from the Suns in the middle of the season, and Houston, the second-in-command shooting king, has entered the end of his career and should be able to settle easily.

The 2003-04 regular season was soon over, but the order of the top eight in the East and West was not fully determined until the final day, so you can imagine how fierce the competition between the teams was. The top eight in the East are the Pistons, Raptors, Pacers, Hornets, 76ers, Nets, Celtics and Knicks, in fact, the 76ers have a better record than the Hornets, but they are not the champions of the Atlantic Division, and they are not as good as the Pacers in the second place in the three divisions, and can only be aggrieved to rank fifth.

This is also the current rule of the NBA playoff rankings, with three divisions top-notch and one best-ranked division-runner in the top four, while the other teams are ranked fifth through eighth. This rule was not changed until 2015, and since then the team standings have been based on results, and the division winner may even miss the playoffs, but it is still the same old rule.

The Western Conference is ranked by the Lakers, Timberwolves, Spurs, Kings, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Nuggets and Rockets, which also means that Yao Ming will face two strong opponents in the first playoff game of his career, O'Neal and Malone. After the playoff matchup chart was released, the domestic media were not only excited about Yao Ming's first playoff appearance, but also pity for his upcoming match against the two major interior lines.

However, Chang Wei has confidence in Yao Ming, although the overall strength of the Rockets is not as good as the Lakers, and the possibility of being eliminated is almost 100%, but this does not mean that Yao Ming has no power to fight back in the face of O'Neal and Ma Long. It can be seen from last year's Asian Championships that Yao Ming's mid- and long-distance shooting has a certain accuracy, and O'Neal and Malone are players who are difficult to defend.

Of course, how well the Rockets play has little to do with Chang Wei, anyway, they will be eliminated by the Lakers after all, and the Black Eight is not without it in the history of the NBA, but this Rocket doesn't look like a dark horse that can overturn the Lakers. In contrast, Chang Wei is more concerned about the team's game against the Knicks in the first round, and he doesn't care about it, but he still has to pay attention to the opponent tactically.

The result of the Pistons' emphasis was that the Knicks didn't have any chances in the game. Originally, Brown also wanted Prince to defend Marbury, but Billups alone had already blinded the "lone wolf" on the defensive end, so Brown simply reduced Prince's playing time and reused Wade more, who also directly broke the Knicks' defense into a sieve.

The Pistons have won four consecutive games by a large score, averaging 15.5 points per game, which is already a huge advantage in the playoffs. However, the Pistons players are not complacent because of this, it is normal for them to do this, and if they don't do it, they need to review, which is the strength and momentum that a regular season champion should have.

The local media in New York are also helpless about this result, which is obviously the Knicks' inferior skills. And their new number one star, Marbury, has been average in four games, still averaging 23.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, but shooting just 41.2 percent from the field and averaging 3.9 turnovers per game.

However, the Knicks' management still has full confidence in Marbury, and they believe that this "lone wolf" can become the banner of the Knicks in the post-Ewing era. Of course, Chang Wei knows very well that this is impossible, if according to the development process of the previous life, the Knicks will not improve slightly until they take Anthony, but when it comes to reproducing the glory of the Ewing period, I don't know when it will be.

In addition to the Pistons, the Raptors and Pacers also passed easily, with a big score of 4-1, which slightly saved a little face for the Nets and Celtics. Of course, the only one in the top four who missed was the Southeast Division champion Hornets, this team did not reach the level of the top four in the East, but took advantage of the division championship, and it was normal to be eliminated by the 76ers. But the 76ers didn't have an easy win, as they had six games to knock out the Hornets, two of which went to overtime.

Such a result is embarrassing for the local media in Philadelphia, and it is clear that the 76ers have lost their dominance in the East over the past few seasons. It can be said that the regular season record is only fifth in the East, but facing an opponent like the Hornets to play Game 6 has to make people doubt their strength. What's more, they will face the Pistons led by former head coach Brown in the second round of the playoffs, and few are optimistic about their prospects.

In fact, Brown and the 76ers have no grudges, and the conflict between him and Iverson largely stems from the difference in philosophy, but there has never been any major conflict. But these two teams met in the second round of the playoffs by accident, which has to make people think about it, even if it doesn't mean anything else, it will be hyped up with some meanings that don't exist.

When Brown learned that the 76ers had beaten the Hornets to advance to the second round, he didn't have any expression on his face, just sighed slightly. For him, this round of the series is equivalent to his complete farewell to the past, and judging from Reed's contract extension, this is the last time he will face the complete team he formed at the beginning, and after Reed leaves, the 76ers will not be the 76ers of the past.

While the media was all focused on this matchup, the teams that advanced to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs were also announced, and the Lakers, Timberwolves and Spurs also easily defeated their opponents to advance, and the Kings struggled to beat the Mavericks in a seven-tie tie. As Chang Wei expected, the Rockets played very tenaciously against the Lakers, and although they were eliminated 1-4 in the end, Yao Ming performed well in five games, averaging 19.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game, and was praised by the Zen master, which is the result of Chang Wei's special training last summer.