Chapter 537: Entering the Playoffs
The Warriors returned to San Francisco with their heads held high, and what they left the Cavaliers with was a two-game losing streak!
James's bloodiness was never exchanged for victory in the end, although under his inspiration, the rest of the Cavaliers fought hard in the end, but the hole they dug in the first three quarters was too big, and they couldn't make up for it for a while in the fourth quarter, and in the end they could only watch the opponent play a triumphant song on their home court.
The little emperor felt more frustrated than ever, not because he lost the game, but because he had developed a fear for the future of the team.
Before April, or before playing against the Spurs and Warriors, he was full of confidence and ambition, thinking that this season should be a championship, this is his sixth season in the league, Jordan the Great is the first ring in the seventh season, he can be a season ahead of the season, which in some ways, should be much better than the Great, right?
You must know that Jordan had Pippen by his side, and the little emperor looked around, and he had many teammates, and they were all quite capable, but compared with Pippen, this lineup was more shabby, so his championship gold content must be higher than that of Jordan the Great.
The little emperor must have this self-confidence, his team has achieved an unprecedented 65+ wins, which is the record of the Cavaliers, and is also expected to break the league win record in the 21st century.
But the Spurs gave him a slap in the face with a victory, and then the Warriors gave him a fatal blow with a 114-99 victory, and these two results are like someone saying to him, Hey, LeBron, don't dream, even if you can break out of the East, how can you deal with these perverts in the West?! You've lost to third and second in the West in a row, and the West No. 1 team has doubled your team this season, how do you go about beating them in a seven-game series?
At the end of the game, Barkley said a word, he said: "The current Cavaliers, before the 10th, they always thought they could win the championship, but after the 10th, they found that they may not even be able to win the Eastern championship, it's like you went to the Halloween mask party and soaked in the fair and beautiful Snow White, when you finally took her to open the room, she tore off the mask and let you find out, it turned out that she was an old witch, believe me, in terms of fighting men, The two are the same thing. ”
James feels that his current self is worse than the unlucky child who soaked in the old witch, because after these two games, the Cavaliers' fatal injury has been revealed, they are afraid of that kind of team-type opponent, if the opponent does not fight with them for superstars but patiently boils them, then this team will be finished, even if they have a player who can cut 30+7+7 per game.
In this game, the little emperor finally cut down 36 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. In the closing game of 30 teams, there is no one who plays more well-rounded than him, Chamberlain's 35 points, 20 rebounds, and 6 blocks, of course, shocks the past and the present, but he is not as comprehensive as him.
The little emperor keenly felt that the playoff teams in the East were whispering, they all found the weaknesses of the Cavaliers, and they all found ways to deal with them!
It's similar to the Cavaliers, it's the Thunder, and Durant also has the feeling of soaking in an old witch on Halloween, what he feels is not horror, but humiliation!
He always thought that the Warriors were actually like that, although they had Chamberlain on the inside, and Iverson, the former number one killer in the league, on the outside, but Chamberlain suffered a physical crisis, Iverson was old after all, and the others were also crazy (such as West), tender (such as Curry), and disabled (such as Hill), this team is not to be feared.
This is not Du Dashao's own opinion, but the general opinion of experts, because since March, the Warriors' table Xiàn has fallen into a slump, originally before March they were capable of competing for the first place in the West, the best time was the consecutive wins over the Timberwolves and the Trail Blazers, they won 47-13 and were only one win behind the 48-12 Lakers!
The Thunder team has been a surprise this season, and they actually entered the playoffs, and the experts expected them to be bad this season, and the fast-growing Westbrook and Jordan Jr. changed this, of course, their ability is limited, and reaching the playoffs is the limit, it is impossible to enter the top six, they can become seventh or eighth, and choose to play the Lakers or the Warriors.
In the eyes of the layman, there is no option in this question, it must be which opponent has a bad record to play, in fact, it is not the case, basketball pays attention to tactics and lineups, just like the Warriors in 2006, they chose to be the eighth in the West to play the first Mavericks in the West, and the result was a beautiful black eight, after the Thunder research, found that it is more appropriate to play the Warriors.
The Lakers also have a superstar on the outside, that is, Kobe, Durant is very powerful, but he can only die when he meets Kobe, and there is no scum left that has to be exploded by Kobe Bryant regardless of offense or defense. The Warriors are different, they don't have a guy on the perimeter who can guard the tall Durant, Billups, West, Barnes or Jackson? Don't make a fuss, none of them can do it, either they are not tall enough (the first two) or they are not fast enough (the last two).
The Thunder feel that if they play the Warriors, they actually have a half chance of qualifying, because there is also an X-factor that Durant and Jordan Jr. will explode when they meet Chamberlain.
But the last game destroyed their self-confidence, and the unity of the Warriors' table made the young Thunder boys feel intimidated, they had only been working together for one season, and yes, there was a lack of tacit understanding between them!
The Warriors-Cavaliers game is the league-wide finale, with April 15 being the final day of the 2008-09 regular season.
Sitting on the flight back to San Francisco from Cleveland, the Warriors were in anticipation and anticipation, the playoffs, the Western Conference Finals, and then the Finals, many of them had been waiting for this day for a long time!
"I swear, even if I play hard, I will win the championship this year!" Iverson said through gritted teeth.
West's face was full of melancholy, and Jackson asked, "What's wrong with you?" ”
Mad Dog hesitated for a moment and said, "At the end of the game just now, someone ate my tofu and touched my buttocks. ”
"Isn't that normal? You're so attractive, you've gotten the golf diva to bed. Barnes said sourly.
West said aggrievedly: "But that one who touched my ass was LeBron's mother, damn it, yes, I can see it clearly, it's LBJ's mother!" ”
Everyone was in an uproar, and West was even more in an uproar, he suddenly reacted and shouted: "Damn, who sued you and me for getting Xiao Wei into bed?" Z, you bastard, you betray me! I'll kill you! ”
Hill stood up to block West, and he said righteously: "I still have to rely on Z to win the championship for me, if you want to kill Z, you have to step over my corpse first!" ”
Looking at the teammates who were fighting and making noise, Chamberlain suddenly had an inexplicable emotion, the current team is so different from when he first came! Where has the time gone? It's been two seasons since you entered the league yourself? And that's been two years? I'm no longer a rookie but an old ball?
Yes, the NBA's long regular season is over again, some people want to stay and continue to fight, some people go home fishing on vacation, the regular season is slowly falling, it is possible that this is the end of an era, and of course the beginning of an era.
Just like in 1999, when the league's first shrinking season was in place, the Pan-84 era (including players who entered the league in '82, '83, '85, and '86) suddenly began to decline, Jordan, Malone, Olajuwon, and Reggie Miller began to cede dominance of the league, and the Pan-96 generation took over the league with Duncan, Iverson, Garnett, and Hillcart.
And this season, the golden superstars of the Pan 96 era began to wither, except for Kobe Bryant and Duncan who were still fighting in the league, many other veterans who were selected to enter the league with them began the career countdown.
Iverson still seems to be violent, but everyone knows that after leaving Philadelphia, the answer is no longer at the peak, his ability may still be strong, his breakthrough may still be very strong, but he is no longer the Philadelphia killer who makes other teams famous, he has changed his identity, such as the Nuggets second leader, such as the Warriors' second leader or even the third leader.
Even more miserable than Iverson is two-time MVP winner Nash and four-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Ben Wallace, this season, Nash, who once became the second consecutive MVP white man, missed the playoffs for the first time, and he led a group of older old bones such as O'Neal, who have done their best in the regular season, and many games can even be described as singing and crying. But in the face of the young and vigorous Wade, James, and Paul Delon, they will eventually have to serve the old, and in the end the Suns became spectators in the Western Conference playoffs, and they were replaced by the young Trail Blazers and the younger Thunder.
In the hearts of Chamberlain's generation, when it comes to the NBA, what comes to mind is the 96 golden generation, and the stars of this generation have suddenly disappeared many iconic figures this season: Camby was injured last summer, and then was trapped in injuries, three days of fishing and two days of drying nets, and similar to Camby is O'Neal Jr., his attempt to transfer to the Raptors was unsuccessful, and Marbury is no longer the wolf who howls alone in the bleak north wind, he was almost kicked out of New York and went to the Green Shirts on a veteran contract, Went with older guys, Garnett Pierce and Ray Allen.
What makes the post-70s and post-80s fans feel even more desperate is that the stars of the Pan 96 golden generation are no longer the protagonists of the battlefield, they are beginning to look for a contract that can support the elderly, and there are very few people who really fight on the front line. Perhaps, Nash will also choose to retire with a certain team this summer and finally fight for a ring; Perhaps, Iverson will also consider whether to stay with the Warriors for retirement after his contract expires this summer; Perhaps, next summer, Ray Allen will make a similar choice; And Garnett Pierce Carter Maddie.
In sharp proportion to the withering of the Pan 96 generation, is the strong rise of the Pan 03 generation: LeBron James led the Cavaliers to the best record in the first league of the 03 generation, and Dwight Howard led the Magic to remain second, dominating the East interior and laughing at the East Coast invincible; Wade staged the return of Superman, who was almost abolished last season, and almost became the scoring champion this season! Paul and Delon took over the leadership of their predecessors and became the league's new generation of outstanding playmakers, and if Chamberlain was included, the era would be even more legendary.
And just like that, the season is almost over, some are ready for a tough playoff battle, and some are ready to leave the game for a vacation.
Of the sixteen teams that have made the playoffs, the West is undoubtedly far stronger than the East:
The Western Conference standings are: first is the Lakers' 64-18, second is the Warriors' 62-20, third is the Spurs' 56-26, fourth is the Mavericks' 54-28, fifth is the Rockets' 53-29, sixth is the Hornets' 51-31, seventh is the Thunder's 50-32, and eighth is the Trail Blazers' 49-33.
The Eastern Conference standings are: No. 65-17 with the Cavaliers, No. 63-19 with the Magic, No. 4 with the Celtics at 49-33, No. 4 with the Hawks at 46-36, No. 5 with the Heat at 43-39, No. 6 with the 76ers at 41-41, No. 7 with the Bulls at 41-41, and No. 8 with the Pistons at 39-43.
That is to say, if the East and West are mixed ranking, the top two Cavaliers and Magic teams in the East can make their moves, and the remaining teams will not be able to enter the playoffs at all in the West.
It's become increasingly clear that the West is strong and the East is weak, so before the playoffs begin, ESPN and TNT are looking at who the Western Conference champion is, because this basically represents the championship standings.
Now the most favored is the Lakers, who have the most reasonable lineup, the most powerful outside stars, and the most championship-capable head coach.
The Celtics' decline was unexpected, but given the rotation of injuries to the Big Three, it's not hard to accept, but happily, the Big Three are back before the playoffs, so even though they're only third in the East, they're seen as the most likely team to win the Eastern Conference.
If the Eastern Conference champion is the Celtics, then the Eastern Conference can still have a bit of a head in the championship race, which is the unanimous opinion of the league.