Chapter Ninety-Two: The Regular Season Ends

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Quick Loan Center Arena.

83：60

With the home team behind, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Detroit Pistons, who had come all the way from Motor City. This game doesn't say anything about it, though. In the arena of the home fast loan center, the cheers of the Cavaliers fans continued from the beginning, even after the game ended.

The Cavaliers, who entered the league in 1970, are one of the most unlucky teams in the NBA. Although he has been in the NBA for more than 40 years and has had stars in the team, he only reached the Finals in the 2006-2007 season under the leadership of star LeBron James.

The Cavaliers haven't made the playoffs in years. The 66-16 record broke the historical record and engraved such a Cavaliers team in the team's honor record book.

Prior to this, the Cavaliers had locked up the top spot in the East with a record of 66-15, and the second-place Celtics were three wins behind the Cavaliers, ranking second in the East with a 63-19 record, losing the possibility of a comeback.

The last game is no longer relevant.

In this case, head coach Mike Brown opted to rest the team's main players. The five main players all went off the court after only three minutes of play in the first quarter, and did not play again until the beginning of the third quarter, running on the court for five minutes to warm up before being substituted again.

Seeing the Cavaliers' performance, Pistons head coach Sanders naturally understands what the Cavaliers have in mind. The playoffs are on the horizon, and if an injury to a key player occurs at this critical juncture, it will have a fatal impact on the playoff format. So seeing the Cavaliers make such a decision, Pistons head coach Sanders also replaced all the main players, leaving a group of bench players to compete on the court.

In the end, the Pistons' bench defeated the Cavaliers' bench to win the away game, but it didn't have much impact on the rankings.

The day after the game, the 2007-2008 regular season ended with the Grizzlies vs. Trail Blazers game ending at the referee's whistle. On this day, the freshest and hottest NBA playoff game table was officially released.

In the West, the Hornets were unable to sit still after staying at the top of the Western Conference for more than half a year, and the Los Angeles Lakers, who were formed into a new triangle lineup of 'Kobe Bryant-Gasol-Artest', surpassed the success in the final moments, while the Los Angeles Lakers successfully surpassed the Hornets with a 65-17 record and a 7-3 record in the final stage and sat on the top spot in the West.

The Los Angeles Lakers' opponent is the Denver Nuggets, who caught the last train of the playoffs at the last minute. The Denver Nuggets, led by Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, have the ultimate laugh in the final playoff race in the West.

At the same time, the Golden State Warriors, who had been in the playoffs, were eliminated at the most critical moment, which was not unrelated to the fact that Baron Davis, the leader of the Golden State Warriors, was neatly abandoned by Nelson Sr. in the final stage. It was because of the lack of Baron Davis' impact that the Warriors fell short at the last minute.

The Golden State Warriors, who achieved the 'Black Eight Miracle' last season, can only look at the Denver Nuggets who snatched their playoff spot in the ninth place this season.

And because of the final overtaking of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Hornets, who are ranked second in the West, will face the Dallas Mavericks in the West in the first round. Although the Mavericks have a poor record this season, they were even worse by the Warriors in the playoffs last season, so that Nowitzki, who won the MVP of the regular season, became a laughing stock.

But everyone knows that the Mavericks are a tough nut to crack. The Hornets faced such an opponent in the first round, which made many predict that their playoff form would be worrying. Whether Queen Bee Paul can maintain his performance in front of the Mavericks has left countless people in doubt.

The third-place San Antonio Spurs faced the Phoenix Suns, with the strongest shield hitting the sharpest spear. In the playoffs, will the Phoenix Suns be able to carry out their small-ball tactics to the end, and whether the Spurs will be able to withstand the impact of the run-and-gun tactics and O'Neal's strong play in the low post.

This round is also full of highlights.

The Rockets' old problem of lack of stamina reappeared, and the Rockets, who were once in the top four this season, slipped to fifth place in the final moments, just in time to hit their old enemies Utah Jazz. This is destined to be a defensive battle, and it is certainly one of the series that Chinese fans care about the most.

And in the east,

The top-ranked Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Atlanta Hawks, who won back-to-back games at the last minute to retain their playoff spot, and the 'White Devil' Mike Bibby did bring something different to the Atlanta Hawks, and the White Devils contributed to keeping the playoff spot at the last minute.

The second-ranked Celtics will face the Philadelphia 76ers, which is also recognized as the least suspenseful matchup, and the Philadelphia 76ers are at an all-round disadvantage no matter which position they are analyzed. Media pundits generally agree that the Celtics can easily tackle the Philadelphia 76ers in four or five games.

In third place is the Orlando Magic, who will face the Toronto Raptors. 'Super Blue-Collar' Warcraft Howard vs. 'Dragon King' Bosh, the matchup between the two inside lines makes this round of the series full of highlights.

In fourth place is the Detroit Pistons, and they will face the Washington Wizards, led by General Arenas.

In this way, the matchups of the sixteen teams in the playoffs are all out.

The Cavaliers also immediately began to study their first-round opponents.

The Atlanta Eagles are definitely not an easy team to deal with. Looking at their starting lineup, the starting center is this year's star show Horford, the power forward is dunk king Josh Smith, and the small forward is 2005 star Marvin Williams. The shooting guard is their leader, five-time All-Star Joe Johnson, an all-around warrior who can defend from the No. 1 to the No. 4 position and has no dead spots on offense.

Not to mention their point guard, the 'White Devil' Mike Bibby, who is still strong in '98.

Before Bibby's arrival, the Eagles team was a bit chaotic because they had too many swingmen on the court.

Just looking at their starting lineup, although Al Horford was pushed to the center position, he can play center, power forward, small forward three positions, the best position in college is actually a small forward, and he is also a swingman who can play multiple positions, only because the Hawks have too many swingmen at the center position, and he is also doing well.

Josh Smith can play both power forward and small forward, Marvin Williams can play both shooting guard and small forward, and Joe Johnson is also a well-known all-around fighter.

The starting line-up consisted of five players, all but one of whom had a transfer, Mike Bibby, who was a swingman.

This is a lineup with great talent, but it can't be played because of the overlapping positions and characteristics, which leads to chaos. But when Mike Bibby arrived, the point guard, nicknamed 'The Saints,' used his talent and experience to successfully connect the four players.

In the original history, the Celtics went through seven big battles to win the Atlanta Hawks, in which Mike Bibby's threading played an extremely important role. Although the core of the Hawks is Joe Johnson, the key point is Mike Bibby.

If you want to hinder the Eagles' performance, the most important thing is to cut off the connection between Mike Bibby and the others, so that the Eagles are trapped in a cycle of fighting alone, unable to play their true strength.

But who will defend Bibby?

James and Stephen Jackson? They're Mike Brown's go-to defenders, but both of them are too tall and the diminutive Bibby isn't that effective. Sometimes height is not only an advantage, but also a disadvantage.

Damon Jones. He's been so slow that he's actually getting very few minutes to play right now.

Gibson, no, he is a bit offensive and weak, and he will not suffer if he is on the court, but it is impossible to prevent Bibby.

Shannon Brown?

Mike Brown was a little impressed, but quickly shook his head and vetoed it. Shannon Brown has the capital to become one of the league's top defensive handlers, with exceptional arms and explosive physicality that allows him to withstand anyone's onslaught at the No. 1 position. But his ball quotient is really unreassuring, he can play a beautiful performance with his physical fitness in the fast attack, but once he falls into the positional defense, he feels a little unsure of what to do.

Such a guy is really not reassuring.

While Mike Brown pondered defensive tactics.

Hawks head coach Mike Woodson also has a headache over how to play this first playoff game. First in the East and eighth in the East. The difference in quality between the two teams is very obvious. If not, why has the NBA only had five Black Eight Miracles in the past few decades?

Mike Brown thinks the Hawks' Mike Bibby is a headache, while Mike Woodson feels that the Cavaliers are every underdog up and down.

Especially on the inside, the Cavaliers' inside line is just too high. The average height of the Hawks is almost the lowest in the league, and the big center Al Horford is only 208 cm, which is too much for some teams to play as a power forward. In the inside position, the Eagles are unavailable.

Source: Forrest Gump