With an average score of 36.3 points per game, Wang Chao successfully completed the three-star achievement task, and the feeling of 6000 points arriving in the account is quite good.

In contrast, the outside world's praise and praise for his average of 36.3+13.8+11.2+2.6 historical unparalleled super data are not worth mentioning.

Now Wang Chao no longer needs to use pure data to prove his ability, and there are only two awards that can affect his historical status, regular season MVP and finals FMVP.

As for the regular season MVP, considering that although the Rockets have dropped 12 games from last season's record, they are still the first in the league, and Wang Chao's average data per game and terrifying efficiency and victory contribution value and other high-end data performance, it is not impossible to be elected as the regular season MVP for the fifth time in a row.

After all, looking at the league, there are only Wang Chao and Durant who are currently qualified and able to win the regular season MVP, and even James, who has always ranked second in the regular season MVP list in the first two seasons, has no role this season, who makes the Heat's record is too poor, although it ranks second in the East, but only ranks seventh in the league.

And compared with Wang Chao, Durant is just like a firefly competing with the bright moon.

No one still doubts that when the regular season MVP selection results are announced, Wang Chao will definitely crush Durant with an absolute advantage, winning the fifth in his career and the first five-time MVP in history.

However, the selection of the MVP of the regular season will not be announced until after the second round of the playoffs, and the main event before that is the playoffs.

The Rockets' opponent in the first round is the Memphis Grizzlies, who are ranked eighth in the West with a 50-32 record.

One thing to say, in the eyes of the outside world, the Grizzlies can be said to be one of the least good teams for the Rockets to deal with, because they have the league's top interior combination, with the black and white double support of Mark. Gasol and Zach. Randolph.

Both of them are the kind of interior players who are tall and weigh a lot of weight, and the Grizzlies have Mike. Conley, Tony. Aaron and Courtney. Lee is a top three outside defenders.

Mike. Conley was named to the All-Defensive Second Team last season, while Tony Brown. Allen is even more widely known as a defensive expert, having been named to the All-Defensive Team for many years. Although Lee was never named to the All-Defensive Team, he was one of the team's main defensive forces on the perimeter during the Magic's championship period, and he also had a relatively consistent three-point hand.

The Grizzlies have been able to stand out in the competitive West this season, with a 50-win record even in the West in eighth place, thanks to a solid defense of five starters.

During the regular season, the Grizzlies conceded an average of 94.6 points per game, third in the league, behind the Indiana Pacers and the Chicago Bulls, two teams that are also known for their defense.

In terms of comprehensive ability, the Rockets are absolutely complete with the Grizzlies a few streets, but everything is mutually reinforcing, and the Rockets, who currently lack a heavy center in the team, theoretically still have the possibility of being restrained by the Grizzlies' black and white.

It is worth mentioning the injury recovery of the Rockets' original starting center Da Yao.

Although it has not been mentioned before, Da Yao's recovery is not ideal, originally planned to return at the end of March, but after starting training with the team, Da Yao still felt a slight discomfort in his ankle, plus the Rockets' record is not bad, Wang Chao and Leonard Butler and others can fully bear it, so the team postponed Da Yao's comeback time, and planned to let him return in early May.

If you come back in early May, you will naturally not be able to catch up with the first round of the playoffs in mid-to-late April.

Of course, if the Rockets are really suppressed by the Grizzlies' inner twin towers and the battle situation is unfavorable, Da Yao can also come back to save the game quickly, but many media commentators in the outside world think that the Rockets will be restrained in the face of the Grizzlies' black and white double evil, but Wang Chao does not think so.

Black and white are indeed quite strong, but if their dominance in the inside box is really that strong, how can they only be eighth in the West?

Even though the Rockets are at a disadvantage over the Grizzlies on the inside, the advantage is obvious. Gasol and Zach. Randolph is a heavy interior line who doesn't move fast, and as long as the Rockets' run-and-gun tactics can be played, breaking down the opposing defense line is as easy as chopping melons and vegetables.

Most of the commentators who are more optimistic about the Grizzlies gaining the upper hand in the series are just trying to attract attention.

On April 20, the opening game of the first round of the playoffs was played at the Toyota Center in Houston, the home of the Rockets.

——

"Hello audience friends, long time no see, here is the first round of the NBA2013-14 playoffs brought to you by CCTV Sports Channel, the Houston Rockets vs Memphis Grizzlies game, I am the commentator of this game, and I am commenting on this game with our old friend Coach Zhang, Coach Zhang, what do you think of this game, and which side is more optimistic about winning the game?"

In the CCTV sports studio, Yu Gui talked eloquently.

"Rockets, of course." Director Zhang said immediately without thinking. "The Rockets are the first in the West, don't listen to those who say on the Internet that the Grizzlies lineup restrains the Rockets, how many times has there been a black eight in NBA history? The probability of the Rockets losing is too low, and once the team has a crisis, Da Yao can also play in the firing line. ”

"Those who say that Team Rocket may be blackened by the Grizzly Bear still underestimate Team Rocket and Wang Chao's strength too much!"

"It seems that Director Zhang is full of confidence in Team Rocket and Wang Chao." Director Yu said with a smile: "The game is ready to start, and the starting lineup of the Grizzlies today is the same as in the regular season, and the starting five Tigers are point guard Mike. Conley, quarterback Tony. Allen, small forward Courtney. Lee, power forward Zach. Randolph, center Mark. Gasol, this is a lineup with extreme defensive intensity, three outside players are the league's top outside defense experts, and there is also a Mark on the inside. Gasol guards the basket and defends a bit like the Rockets last season, but the offensive ability is slightly worse. ”

The Rockets' starting five Tigers are point guard Wang Chao and scoring guard Jimmy. Butler, small forward Kawai. Leonard, power forward Chandler. Parsons, center Hassan. Whiteside. ”

"Since All-Star Weekend, Wang Chao has appeared more in the point guard position, and because of this, we have witnessed the best individual performance in the history of the NBA and even in the history of world basketball."

"Under this lineup, although the Rockets' interior defense is slightly worse, the overall strength is still quite strong, especially the offensive firepower, which can be called one of the strongest in the league, and it is difficult to say whether the Grizzlies can withstand the Rockets' indiscriminate bombardment in this game."

"Both starters are on the pitch and the game is about to begin!"

Whiteside and Gasol Jr. jumped the ball, and the result was naturally not suspenseful.

With a close height, Whiteside's bounce and explosiveness are far superior to Gasol Jr.'s, and he easily moves the basketball to his side.

After Wang Chao got the basketball, he slowly dribbled across the half court.

In front of him is Tony, the Grizzlies' strongest single defense. Alan.

As a player known in the league for his defense, Tony Allen's defense is really good, and as a role player, being named to the All-Defensive Team six times throughout his career is the greatest recognition of his defensive ability, and of course, three of those six All-Defensive Team will happen in the future.

Just whatever Tony. No matter how outstanding Allen's defense is, he can't defend against Wang Chao, not because of Wang Chao's scoring ability, but because the height gap between the two is too big.

Tony. Aaron is 1.93 meters tall and Wang Chao is 2.06 meters tall. Aaron is more than half a head taller, and if you count the reach, the gap is even bigger.

So when seen is Tony. When Allen was defending himself, Wang Chao didn't even think about it, and directly stood at a distance of more than 1 meter from the three-point line.

Tony. Aaron was already very close to Wang Chao, and when he saw Wang Chao's hand, he immediately stepped forward and raised his hand to interfere, but the height limit made him unable to form an effective defense against Wang Chao at all.

"Brush ——!"

A three-point shot from a long distance made Wang Chao the top spot for the Rockets.

3:0。

Tony Allen's defensive skills and awareness are excellent, and he even has a glorious record of defending Durant in the future, successfully limiting the opponent's offensive efficiency, and it seems that he can defend a big man like Wang Chao.

But Wang Chao and Durant are completely different, Wang Chao's dribbling, physical confrontation ability and accuracy outside the three-point line are not comparable to Durant. The things that Aaron is best at have no effect in front of Wang Chao.

The Grizzlies actually understand this truth, but they understand it, except for making Tony . Aaron went to defend Wang Chaowai, what could they do?

The Grizzlies don't have the kind of players who are agile and defensively good at the forward position.

Perhaps because of the butterfly effect, the original championship merit of the Pistons, small forward Ty Sean. Prince didn't join the Grizzlies this season, and even if Prince was there, he couldn't help Wang Chao.

During the period of the Eastern Magic, Wang Chao fought against Prince many times, and Prince at that time was completely unable to prevent Wang Chao, and was beaten by Wang Chao many times in the matchup, and he had no power to fight back.

After Wang Chao ate a few consecutive balls at the beginning of the first quarter, the Grizzlies had no choice but to use a double bag on Wang Chao and arranged for Tony. Aaron and Courtney. Li and Wang Chao were pinched to reduce their offensive efficiency.

Wang Chao stopped attacking under the bag, but he was still assisting his teammates to score by passing.

The Grizzlies have no way at all, to let Wang Chao score and let his teammates score, they must only choose one, they chose the former, who made Wang Chao's score so scary in the second half of the regular season? With a score of 50+ and 40+ in a row, that is a terrifying performance that can really defeat an entire team by itself!

Wang Chao also said that he was not in a hurry about the Grizzlies' defensive strategy.

This is not the regular season when the system issued him a mission, forcing him to score high to complete the task to earn points, as long as he can win the game in the playoffs, it doesn't matter if his score is lower.

Wang Chao's current passing assist is also a master, with God's perspective talent, he can easily find teammates in an empty state, and then use the fancy pass of the magic passer talent to pass the ball to the vacant teammates to score beautifully.

The result of the Grizzlies wrapping Wang Chao is that before the end of the half, Wang Chao's assists have reached 9.

14 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists in the half!

Under the leadership of Wang Chao, the Rockets led by 12 points at 56:44, leading the Grizzlies.

In the second half of the game, the situation did not improve in the slightest, and the Grizzlies played almost the entire game under the pressure of the Rockets.

"Congratulations to the Rockets for successfully defending their home court and winning the first game of the series with a 107-89 18-point victory over the Grizzlies!"

With the end of the game, Director Yu said in a brisk tone: "I believe that this game can quiet down many pre-game doubts, the Rockets' record as the first in the West is a real game by game, how can they lose to a weaker team than them for some reason because of the restraint of the lineup?" ”

"And those who think that the Rockets' interior strength is not strong enough, looking at the Grizzlies' interior twin towers in this game, the play of black and white should be able to understand that this kind of thinking itself is wrong."

"Mark. Gasol shot 7-of-21 from the field and shot just 33.3 percent from the field to finish with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Randolph shot 7-of-19, shooting 36.8% from the field, scoring 17 points and 6 rebounds, but the efficiency of the two men's large number of shots was far lower than expected, whether it was against Whiteside or Gobert who came off the bench, the offensive scoring was not as easy as imagined. ”

"The inside line is not effective, the outside offensive ability is not strong, and the Rockets' offense has no way to pass the defensive limit, and I don't see the Grizzlies have any chance of winning this series."

Director Zhang's evaluation is very pertinent, because immediately afterward, the Rockets won two games in a row at their home court and the Grizzlies' away team, and the score came to 3:0 in the blink of an eye.

In the second game, Randolph shot 10-of-20 and 5-of-6 free throws, and efficiently cut down 25 points and 8 rebounds, but Gasol Jr.'s performance of 16 points and 7 rebounds on 6-of-15 shooting can only be described as mediocre.

In the third game of the series, Randolph scored 16 points and Gasol Jr. scored 14 points, and the two of them scored together just to be equal to Wang Chao.

By the end of those three games, no one in the league thought that the Grizzlies' roster had a restraining effect on the Rockets.

It's all 3:0, and you still have a hammer to restrain you?

In the fourth game of the series, the Grizzlies finally took a lead, Gasol Jr. had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, Randolph had 21 points and 9 rebounds, and Mike Jr. had 14 points and 11 assists. Conley, the Grizzlies finally won a game at home and avoided being swept out of the game 4-0.

Of course, this is just a reprieve.

Two days later, at the Toyota Center in Houston, the home of the Rockets, the Rockets won 120-98, a 22-point victory, and completely sent the Grizzlies back home.

With a total score of 4:1, the Rockets eliminated the Grizzlies and successfully advanced to the division semifinals in the second round of the Western Conference.

(End of chapter)