The Knicks' late-season spree, coupled with the playoff Black Eight, drew everyone's attention to them. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Coupled with the fact that they were originally second in the East last season, everyone thinks that they have finally regained their form from last season, and no one dares to underestimate them anymore.

For a while, the odds of the Knicks winning the championship skyrocketed!

The Knicks were originally a team with a tradition of counterattacking, and in the 1998-1999 season, the Knicks completed the black eight as the eighth in the East, and the team was black until the finals before meeting the invincible Duncan.

Now the aura of the dark horse is once again shrouded in the head of the Knicks, especially the Zen master's genius change in the last game, showing the coaching ability not to lose to Popovich, and the Knicks have once again become the favorite team.

At this moment, the Zen master's face couldn't stop smiling, and even put aside the resentment of not getting Cole, and happily accepted the interview, saying that his team still has a long way to go, and a black eight is nothing.

Pacers fans hate Zen and Knicks even more because this is the second time Zen has led a team to beat them when their team was at their "peak", and the last time they won the regular season division was in 2000, when they lost to the Zen Lakers in the Finals.

As for hating the Knicks is the regular hatred in Indiana, Indianans just hate New Yorkers.

They were followed by the Trail Blazers and Wizards, who advanced 3-1.

The Trail Blazers and Wizards are much stronger than their opponents, and they are basically pressed and played, and everyone knows that there is not much suspense in the series after the first game.

Putting aside the Lakers and Heat, who swept their opponents, the series of other Trail Blazers and Rockets, Wizards and Bulls, who were originally regarded as equal in strength and thought they would play very anxiously, ended early, and the series between the Knicks and the Pacers also ended early because of the tight schedule.

And those teams that were considered to have a significant difference in strength instead played the seventh game!

The Spurs were dragged to Game 7 by the Grizzlies, the angry Raptors dragged the Nets to Game 7, and the three-point battle between the Thunder and Warriors, the two outside scorers, was also dragged to Game 7.

Finally came the glorious May Day, the first round of the playoffs that had been going on to the thirteenth day was finally over, after seven big games, the Spurs defeated the Grizzlies and the Trail Blazers met in the second round, and the Nets were still experienced, easily beating the Raptors in the seventh game to advance to the second round and the Heat.

At nine o'clock in the evening on May 1st, the last game of the first round finally ended, and the Thunder defeated Curry who was almost invincible in the seven-tie-break battle at home.

Liu Ren let out a long roar: "The opponent is finally here, it's Durant's team, it's been too long!" ”

"Hey, it would be nice if the opponent was a Warrior, and if we beat a Warrior, we would have a better chance of winning." Nash said regretfully.

"Why Steve?" Liu Ren asked curiously, "Isn't it true that the more powerful the opponent, the more challenging?" ”

Nash glanced at Liu Ren and said, "It's good to be young!" My old bones can't stand the toss. ”

Such? Liu Ren clearly didn't believe Nash's words.

Liu Ren didn't believe that Nash was a guy who wanted to play against weak opponents, and he decided that the older Nash got, the more he wanted to play against the strongest opponents, because the opportunities were getting fewer and fewer.

It was Kobe Bryant who solved his doubts: "If it is the Finals or the Western Conference Finals and encounters a stronger opponent, it is different, but before the Western Conference Finals, even if you win an opponent like the Thunder and Spurs, it is not beneficial, but it is a waste of physical energy and energy, but it may allow the final opponent to take advantage, if it is the last opponent, of course you want to meet the strongest, but now it is only the second round." And even if we are not afraid of the Thunder, we will probably not have much problem playing them with all our might, but beating them will also attract the attention of other teams and analyze us thoroughly! ”

"That's right, that's the way the playoffs are, don't you see that the old guys of the Spurs are deliberately losing a few games to keep people from noticing them?" Nash has a posture that I'm very experienced.

Liu Ren's brain circuit is always so strange, and he immediately made up for it: "How do I remember Steve, you don't seem to have won the championship?" I don't seem to have played in the finals......"

"......" Nash suddenly felt angina, he found that talking to Liu Ren was too much of a test of the heart, and he retreated decisively.

Liu Ren didn't hit the veteran's self-knowledge at all, he packed his things and went home, and the second round of the game was the next day, and he had to take a good look at the Thunder team's game video to prepare.

There are advantages and disadvantages to the team that enters the next round first, and it is naturally good for a team like the Lakers with a core lineup of veterans to rest more, like Kobe, Nash, and Gasol, the three veterans have rested for so many days and are in sufficient physical condition, and they have been playing in the league for more than ten years, and they who know how to maintain their condition like this long rest time the most.

But there are also disadvantages, if the opponent in the next round is too late, like the Thunder and the Warriors to play a tie-break to determine the winner, the Lakers will not know which opponent to prepare for, and D'Antoni will not be able to arrange tactical training these days, because the Warriors and Thunder are two completely different teams.

The next morning, Liu Ren arrived at the Toyota Center early as D'Antoni had instructed, and the others also arrived.

D'Antoni called everyone to the conference room for a meeting.

"Our opponents for the second round are out, and of course I believe that we can win no matter who the opponent is, because we are the best team!" D'Antoni first said an official opening sentence emphasizing the strength of his own team, giving everyone a sense of self-confidence, seeing that everyone has no opinion, continued: "But the Thunder are an opponent that cannot be ignored, we can't be a little careless, for us the real playoffs are only starting now!" ”

Everyone in the Lakers nodded, this is very right, the Clippers did not play their strength at all in the series, and the first round of the game did not feel like a playoff game at all, but it made them a little lax, but fortunately, there was Kobe Bryant, a paranoid, who organized everyone to train every day and put pressure on everyone, so they didn't get out of it.

Seeing that everyone was concentrating, D'Antoni was very satisfied, it was good to have a veteran like Kobe Bryant in the team, but the Suns were not good at that time, they were always arrogant.

D'Antoni began to analyze the Thunder: "Our biggest opponent in this series is Durant! He's undoubtedly one of the best players in the league......"