The butterfly effect of Wang Feng's crossing has changed a lot of things.

Harden will skip the Nets and join the 76ers early, which is also one of them.

The Nets, who already have the configuration of the Big Three, are also salivating for Harden who wants to leave the team, but the Nets are unwilling to give up any of the Big Three, and they have no other valuable chips to exchange for Harden, so they can only give up the idea of getting Harden.

This also benefited the 76ers and made them one of the strongest contenders in the East.

Most fans generally believe that the most likely teams in the East to enter the Finals are the Nets, Bucks and 76ers, and the rest of the teams such as the Celtics, Heat, Hawks and other teams are much worse in strength and cannot be the opponents of these three teams.

In contrast, the situation in the west is much more confusing.

Although the Jazz won the first place in the West, not many people think that the Jazz have the possibility of breaking through from the West, after all, the core players of the Jazz team are Mitchell and Gobert, neither of whom are the top superstars in the league, although the performance in the regular season is very good, but in the playoffs, which are more high-intensity games that rely on the stars to play, not many people are optimistic about the Jazz.

The Los Angeles duo have their own problems, with the Lakers' Butler needing to return in the Western Conference Finals and the Clippers being a little worse than last season because of Westbrook.

On the contrary, the Golden State Warriors, who once dominated the league, have become the strongest team in the West, and they are more favored by the outside world.

Of course, if the Lakers can survive the first and second rounds under the leadership of Wang Feng and enter the Western Conference finals, and wait until Butler is full of blood, then the Lakers' chances are also not small.

And now, the Lakers will face a serious challenge in the first round.

The New Orleans Pelicans are not an easy team to play against, with the standard configuration of the Big Three, rich experience in the playoffs, and can lead the whole team. Paul, in the year of fighting, the thick eyebrows Anthony with strong combat effectiveness. Davis, as well as Zion, who has played quite well this season, is regarded as the Pelicans' future hope and the league's rising star. Williams.

The two teams have won 2 and drawn 2 of the four games they have met in the regular season, which looks like they are evenly matched, and it is definitely a tough battle.

In the eyes of the outside world, Wang Feng is not alone in this game.

Although Jimmy. Butler was unable to play due to injury, but in the regular season, Ingram played very well, shouldering the second-in-command job that originally belonged to Butler, and did a very good job.

In the 82 games of the regular season, Ingram played in 78 games, playing an average of 35 minutes per game, he could get 24.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists, shooting 47.2% from the field, and at the same time relying on the advantage of height and arm length on the defensive end also made a certain contribution.

You must know that Butler even when he was the first core of the Bulls, the highest scoring season per game was only 23.9 points, although Butler's defense is much better than Ingram, but as the zero-hour top bag to bear the team's second scoring point, Ingram's current performance is enough to satisfy the Lakers management.

Wang Feng's personal data this season has indeed exploded, averaging 40+10+10 per game, and 83 points each way, but without the help of Ingram's stable scoring, it is difficult to achieve fourth place in the highly competitive West.

In addition, Kuzma's performance this season is also remarkable, averaging 16.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, which is the third scoring point in the Lakers, and his luck is quite good, if it is not for Butler's injury, it will be difficult for him to get this opportunity with low ball distribution.

Playing that in a contract year, it sets the stage for him to renew his big contract in the summer offseason.

……

On April 15, 2021, the first round of the playoffs officially began.

The Lakers host their playoff opener at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The Pelicans were menacing, and at the beginning of the game, they habitually attacked the Lakers' weak interior in a row. Williams teamed up to tear the Lakers' interior defense to pieces.

But the Lakers were not to be outdone, and the outside line led by Wang Feng Ingram opened fire, and the offensive firepower was not weaker than that of the Pelicans.

In the first quarter, the two teams were evenly matched, and at 33:32, the Lakers led by one point at home.

Wang Feng scored 16 points in a single quarter, the highest score on the Lakers' side.

On the Pelicans' side, Davis, a bushy brother, scored 14 points, and Zion. Williams scored 10 points.

The game was similar in the first quarter, but in the second quarter, the Lakers made tactical adjustments, and Lopez and Kuzma were replaced by Howard and Bol.

Needless to say, Howard's interior defensive prowess is a good idea. Bol is 2.18 meters tall, and has been trained as a defensive blue-collar player in the Lakers in the past two years.

The purpose of the Lakers' move is to strengthen the defensive ability of the interior.

Howard, Bol, and Wang Feng, the Lakers' defensive intensity under the basket has instantly risen several notches.

Of course, the price to be paid for strengthening the defense is the sacrifice on the offensive end.

Kuzma is currently the team's third-leading scorer, and Lopez, who is good at long-range shooting, is an important role for the Lakers when it comes to pulling space and executing most of their tactics.

The two substitutions made the Lakers a lot less threatening on the offensive end.

Fortunately, there is no need for the team to worry about this, because the lethality of the offensive end has decreased, which can be compensated for by individual ability.

Wang Feng's scoring ability is currently the top in the league, and he can completely penetrate the Pelicans' defense, which is not particularly strong, with his own strength.

After Howard guarded the basket, he managed to give Zion two crisp hot pot hats.

is also the champion, Howard was no worse than Zion's name when he was in the limelight, after all, this is the top center who claimed to be able to replace James alone at his peak, and even if the strength is not what it used to be, but the three-time best defensive player, the two-time block king, he is not a vegetarian on the defensive end, especially when facing a short player like Zion, who likes to rely on brute force, offense straight, and score mainly under the basket, it is a good opportunity for Howard to perform.

One thing to say, let Howard defend the interior line in the league with flexible feet, rich and varied offensive means, and comprehensive skills, and he is still quite difficult, such as Davis, the Pelicans' thick eyebrows, Howard is difficult to defend, he is too old and slow, and it is easy to be passed by the opponent.

But Zion is different.

The biggest difference between Zion and other forward players is that they are severely lacking in outside projection.

This season, Zion is averaging 27 points per game and shooting 61 percent from the field, but 80 percent of those points come from under the basket, about 15 percent from the free throws, and the remaining 5 percent from the outside.

This is a bizarre scoring distribution, Zion has made more than 1,100 shots from the basket in 80 games in the regular season this season, shooting 63% from the field.

The last one to put up this kind of statistic was O'Neal of the Lakers.

Zion may have the power and explosiveness of O'Neal up front, but he doesn't have O'Neal's top-notch height and reach on the inside.

No matter how high the offensive efficiency under the basket is, the fatal flaw of height still exists, which also leads Zion to become the player with the most hats among players who average more than 20 points per game.

Unlike other short players, Zion is severely lacking in outside shooting ability, so as long as the team playing against the Pelicans will not defend Zion on the outside, no matter how you hold the ball on the outside and break through the charge, you will always end up under the basket, so we will fight with you under the basket.

Like Howard right now, I just don't care how Zion is hanging around on the outside, I'm just going to stand motionless under the basket and wait for you to come over.

In this case, Zion has no choice, he only has two choices.

First, rushing to the basket with a basketball and competing with Howard to see who is tougher.

Second, pass the ball to someone else.

Zion is naturally not worried about the old demonic beast that is already old and has little strength left, so he will be sent to two big hot pots.

Zion's offense was blocked, and Davis's side wasn't having a good time.

Bohr. Bol is just a rookie, and his defensive ability is a lot worse than the top opponents he has faced in the past.

But it is precisely because Bol is a rookie that the newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, and the defensive strategy that Lakers head coach Walton arranged for Bol is a kraft candy-style stalker, and the action is as big as possible without fouling, and when he can't be stopped, fouls are okay, anyway, he just rotates role players, even if 6 fouls are missed, it doesn't matter.

Many teams in the league have players who do the dirty work, and that's what keeps them alive in the league.

Bol is a second-round pick, and it is already rare to be able to get a guaranteed contract in the league, so it is natural to give it his all on the court.

Of course, Bol can't guard against Davis, but his kraft candy-style entanglement defense also makes Brother Thick Mei annoying, and his offensive efficiency is also affected.

The Pelicans' offense was affected by the Lakers' lineup change in the second quarter, while the Lakers' offense was as steady as ever.

With the replacement of two main offensive players, why can the Lakers still maintain a stable offensive efficiency? The reason is naturally Wang Feng.

Throughout the second quarter, Wang Feng played the whole quarter of the game, and the offense was mostly based on singles with the ball and the center pulling out to block and cover.

Without Lopez to help pull the space, Wang Feng's shooting rate has not been affected in the slightest, even in the face of top defensive players like Davis, he can still score the ball steadily.

In the entire second quarter of the game, Wang Feng scored 21 points in a single quarter and led the Lakers to score 37 points in a single quarter, while the Pelicans only scored 28 points in a single quarter.

At halftime, Wang Feng scored 37 points to help the Lakers successfully take a double-digit lead at halftime.