On April 21, the league announced the first major award of the 08-09 season, as predicted before, Cavaliers head coach Brown was successfully selected as the coach of the year this season, and another award favorite, Rockets coach Adelman, unfortunately missed the award.

Brown scored a total of 355 points in a poll of 122 sports journalists and commentators, including 55 first-place votes, for a total of 355 points, which is twice as high as Adelman's.

Brown led the Cavaliers to a 66-16 record (80.5 percent win percentage) in the regular season, the 12th team in history to finish 66 wins in a single season. The Cavaliers have been on a winning streak at home this season, starting the season with a 23-game winning streak and finishing with the league's best home record of the season at 39-2.

The Junior Emperor and his Cavaliers became the first team to win 39 at home after the 1996/97 season, the sixth in N**A history, the last being the Bulls, the kings of the Michael Jordan era. Compared to last season's 45-37, the Cavaliers have won 21 more games this year.

Although everyone knows who is the biggest contributor to the Cavaliers' achievement, but Brown's luck is really good, the Cavaliers' record this year is rising like chicken blood, if Brown has not played a role in this, it is obviously unfair, no matter how bad it is, it has maintained order in the Cavaliers. This trophy for the best coach named after "Cardinal" Or** should be used as a consolation for him as a puppet coach for a season.

Although the outside world has shown a lot of attention to this important award announced first, but for Los Angeles, the honor of the nouveau riche Cavaliers is not enough to divert their attention, for Zen master Phil Jackson, who has numerous honors on his shoulders, a best coach is really not a big deal, and the most important thing for the Lakers at the moment is how to ensure that they can beat the Jazz and make it to the second round.

The first game between the two teams took place at the Staples Center, home of the Lakers, and the 20,000-capacity arena was packed today. In view of the regrettable last-minute failure of last season, many fans believe that the Purple and Gold will definitely get off to a good start in this playoff journey.

Bynum, Gasol, Li Chen, Kobe, Fisher, and Zen Master today fielded the Lakers' most frequently used lineup this season. Although it seems better to replace Ariza with Fisher, considering that the opponent is only the Jazz, the old monk feels that there is no need to expose his killer skills prematurely, and he believes that with this regular lineup, the Lakers can still make the Jazz return with an absolute advantage. After all, the game a while ago has given Los Angeles confidence, no Kobe can win, and now that Kobe is back, does the Jazz still have a chance?

As it turned out, the old monk's decision was very wise, and without using all his strength, the Lakers still did not leave the opponent a chance.

103:112 in the first game, 98:116 in the second, the Purple and Gold won two home games without much effort, and the momentum of their own team made the local media in Los Angeles unanimously preach that the situation is good, and now the question is whether the Lakers will win a few games, kick the opponent out of the playoffs in Salt Lake City, or save face to settle the battle at home?

Of course, for the Los Angeles people, they would like to settle the battle early, after all, they can get two more days of rest after finishing early, and in the tight schedule of the playoffs, plenty of rest time is also very important, especially for the Lakers, who have home-court advantage, they can sit in the Staples Center and wait for work!

Compared with the prosperity of its Los Angeles counterparts, Salt Lake City is sad. The team's two-game losing streak has made it difficult for them to qualify, and the aggressiveness of their opponents has left them to be wary of whether they will be swept out of the tournament. For them, who reached the Western Conference semifinals last year, being swept out of the tournament was simply unacceptable.

Although they were defeated by the Lakers in the playoffs last year, and they lost to the Lakers without Kobe Bryant a while ago, in fact, before the first game began, the Jazz were still very confident in themselves. After all, according to common sense, a team with a strong style like theirs is generally very dominant in the highly competitive playoffs.

In the long-term knockout game, the player's mentality is also a key factor affecting the outcome of the game, such as the Rockets, whose strength is not much weaker than the Jazz, but it is because of their poor ability to withstand pressure that they have been repeatedly blocked out of the second round of the playoffs.

The Lakers seem to be slightly deficient compared to the Jazz at this point, although the super rookie is outstanding, but after all, this is still his rookie season, and it is difficult to say whether he can adapt to the high-intensity playoffs. And not only that, but the growing maturity of the Big Apple is also one of the reasons why the Jazz are so optimistic, and they have been speculating whether Kobe Bryant and the Big Apple will have a conflict over the issue of the right to shoot.

However, after two games, the Jazz's pre-game plan failed helplessly, and although the Big Apple seemed to be affected by the change in the intensity of the game, this impact was not enough to prompt the Jazz to counterattack.

14 points, 11 assists and 5 rebounds, 17 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds, shooting 52.6 from two-point range and 55.8 from three-point range. Indeed, it can be seen from the shooting rate that Li Chen's state is not very good, but even so, the double 50 shooting rate is not enough for ordinary people, or the only one in the entire league who can come up with this kind of data is the Big Apple, and the Jazz seem to be a little powerless in his defense.

There was also a Kirilenko who was able to limit Li Chen's play before, but this time the home defense Kobe Bryant went, for the Big Apple, the old Sloan had no other way than to count on AK47 to help defend in a timely manner, after all, CJ Myers doesn't look like a person who can defend small forwards, and his height is not enough in the first place.

Sloan didn't try to let CJ Myers play against Kobe, but the boss's domineering behavior of breaking into the interior twice in a row to make fouls made the old guy have to drop the Russian back, you must know that the two fouls were sent by Boozer, and if Kobe Bryant continues to do this, the Jazz might as well just abandon the weapon and surrender.

In fact, Sloan also knows that it is not a wise choice to let CJ Myers defend Li Chen, as long as the big apple feels it, he can completely ignore the existence of the defender and pull out the jump shot, the gap of 5 centimeters is not small, and by that time, the meaning of CJ Myers's current close to the opponent's defense is just to send a foul.

In this tangled situation, the Jazz, who was still full of confidence before the game, lost two games in a row, and the momentum of clamoring for the Black Eight suddenly turned into a desire not to be swept away, but even with this desire, the Lakers do not seem to have the desire to fulfill their opponents, play one less game and rest more, and they have to be ruthless if they want to survive in the playoffs.

105:99, which was the smallest point difference in three games, but it didn't mean much to the Jazz, they still lost, even though they played what they thought was their best, but the Los Angeles aircraft carrier still ran over the opponent mercilessly, and if it was done again, the best pair of bald boys and chubby dun would have to go home fishing.

Of course, the premise is that there must be fish in the Great Salt Lake, and as an inland lake with the second highest salinity in the world after the Dead Sea, it seems that the only organisms in it are small and microorganisms that can tolerate salt.

It seems that there is only a 6-point difference, but in fact, the Jazz have never taken the lead again except for one or two points at the beginning, and the sudden cold arrow on the outside of the Big Apple made the Lakers quickly overtake, and then, the Purple and Gold Army began to play, if you want to be fast, I will be fast, if you want to grind, I will grind, and the Purple and Gold Army, which can be full quickly, is not afraid to compete with opponents for offensive means.

Even if the Jazz sometimes seem to be about to take off, the Lakers have forcefully suppressed the opponent's arrogance through 2+1 or slam dunk in the blink of an eye. For this situation, Sloan can only sigh in vain, the Lakers in front of him are indeed more powerful than he imagined.

"We want to be swept" and "Please don't be swept", the very different attitudes of the two media show the situation of the two teams, but Los Angeles, as the most developed city in the United States, is obviously invincible in the world in terms of shouting, and people all over the world know that the Lakers seem to be going to be swept, and the resistance of the Jazz can only be a useless struggle.

The final game began in the euphoria of the Lakers fans and the pessimism and loneliness of the Jazz fans, and as expected, the Jazz exploded with unprecedented power on their home court under the intense pressure of being swept away. At 49:56 of the first half, they entered the halftime break as the leader in a rare way.

"Oh, how pathetic they are, and now they find out they're going to be swept away? Why did you go before? In the visiting locker room at the Energy Solutions Center, the Grand Lama unbridled at the Jazz's performance, and although they were seven points behind, it didn't seem to them that it was a big deal, and the Lakers could come back in a few rounds.

Taking a step back, even if the Lakers lose, it's not a big deal for the Lakers, and the best-of-seven format gives the Lakers an early lead. Some people even think that playing more games is better for shoes, after all, playing more games can sell more tickets.

Los Angeles tickets are notoriously high, especially after multiplying 20,000, plus some peripheral income, all of them add up to a number that cannot be underestimated, at least n**a players will never earn money by working hard for a year, even if it is the boss, of course, this is only talking about the annual salary, advertising expenses are not counted.

"Lamar, are you sympathetic to them? I guess Sloane won't be moved, and neither will the one named Millsap, you just slashed one on top of his head! Li Chen said with Odom. Making fun of the opponent is the most effective means of boosting morale, and Grandpa Mao also said that it is necessary to strategically despise the enemy.

"Don't blame me!" Speaking of the dunk just now, Odomton felt very happy, "If you hadn't sent the ball to that place just right, I wouldn't have dunked, I was just thinking about how to hit the ball, and the dunk was just a helpless solution, they should hate you if they want to hate you!" ”

Bynum was very tired of the shameless behavior of the Grand Lama, and he immediately said, "Cruze, ignore this guy, I'll pass me a few beautiful balls later, and as for this guy, let him sympathize with the opponent on the bench!" Saying that, An Zhu turned his head to the Zen master, "Really?" Instructor! ”

The old monk nodded noncommittally, and the big lama couldn't pretend to be able to do it for a moment, "Don't, Cruze, leave me alone, let them hate me if they hate me, just give me the ball, let the hatred come more violently!" ”

"Get out!" Kobe couldn't stand it, he kicked Odom away, and then, the boss looked at the little brother coolly, "Cruze, as the team's main scorer, I think it is necessary for me to share their hatred, so, you know, give me a few more good balls in the second half, like Lamar's, that split dunk should obviously be my ......"

Although the team fell behind for a while, there was harmony in the dressing room, and the six-point gap seemed like nothing to this group of arrogant guys, and they quickly proved it through their performances.

With a score of 33:24 in the single quarter, the Lakers launched a wave of 15:5 attack within 4 minutes, instantly overtaking the score. Even if Sloan Sr. quickly called a timeout in the hope of curbing the Lakers' momentum, it is clear that this momentum is not something that the current Jazz can suppress.

Li Chen did not disappoint, he played the role of a passer perfectly, 6 assists in a single quarter, and he became the core of the Lakers for a while, including the boss, everyone's shots seemed to start with him.

At 109:106, the Jazz finally couldn't escape the fate of being swept and worked hard for a season, which ended with these four losses. As for the Lakers, they still have a long way to go, and stepping on the Jazz's bones, they are once again heading for the target. (To be continued.) )