Bishop of the Devil

As for the playoff teams in the Western Conference, they are relatively stable and they are still the same teams.

Trail Blazers, Kings, Spurs, Mavericks, Timberwolves, Lakers, Jazz and Suns.

Among them, two teams in the Western Conference were upset, completely beyond the fans' expectations.

The Lakers only finished sixth in the Western Conference this season. This is simply unimaginable...

You must know that their team has the league's number one center and the league's number one shooting guard, but they only have such a bad record.

A record of only 49 wins is not as good as the Timberwolves' 50-win regular season record.

It can also be seen from this that basketball is by no means a game for one or two people, but a game for a team.

The high-end combat power of the Lakers is definitely super strong, but their team only has these two strengths, which makes their regular season record embarrassing.

As for the Mavericks' record, it was also unexpected. No one expected that the Mavericks would dare to sneak into the top half of the Western Conference playoffs.

This also shows the vicious vision of Old Nelson. Since they acquired Nowitzki from the Trail Blazers, their record has skyrocketed.

This season they actually achieved a record of 57 wins, which is quite an achievement.

…

Starting from this year, the playoff format has begun to be restructured. Originally, the first round of the playoffs only played five games, but now it starts to play seven games like other rounds.

Such a restructuring is naturally a decision made by the alliance after careful consideration.

First of all, it can avoid some strong teams from being eliminated due to poor performance in the first round...

Because if we only play five games, the changes will be too big, and the weak team may be able to defeat the strong one by breaking out.

If there was only one fight, I'm afraid the accident would be even bigger...

The second reason is to generate more ticket revenue. After all, everything depends on money, so how could the league let go of this revenue-generating opportunity.

…

Various media outlets have already made predictions about this year's finals showdown.

Most of the media predicted that the Pistons and Trail Blazers would meet in the finals.

The reason why the Trail Blazers did not advance to the Finals last season was because Ben was injured. If Ben was not injured, it is still a matter of doubt whether the Lakers could win the championship.

And this season, if nothing unexpected happens, the Trail Blazers are expected to make it out of the Western Conference.

As for the east side, there is basically no suspense.

The Nets are not bad, but they are just good. Compared to the powerful Pistons, even if they make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, they will be lucky not to be swept.

…

Not only the media speculated like this, but even the odds offered by major gambling companies were similar to what the media speculated.

The Pistons are guaranteed to be the Eastern Conference champions and will enter the finals...

…

On April 17, the first round of the playoffs begins.

The Magic are naturally very uncomfortable right now. If they only play five games, then with McGrady's super scoring ability, there may be a one percent chance of a comeback...

That's right, even if McGrady breaks out in scoring, according to all parties, the Magic's chance of coming back is only one percent.

But now that there are seven games to play, the chance of a comeback is so low that it can basically be ignored.

…

The Magic flew to Detroit to prepare for the game two days before the game.

McGrady also approached Richard...

"Coach, Clark's contract expires next year." McGrady said something completely unrelated to the upcoming playoffs.

Richard nodded, "Why, are you magicians thinking about Clark?"

"Yes, coach, I know you may go to Charlotte after next season."

"Can Clark join our Magic then..." McGrady looked at Richard expectantly.

For the next first round of the playoffs, McGrady no longer dares to have any extravagant expectations.

There is really a huge gap in strength between the two sides.

If Hill remains at his peak, McGrady will still have the confidence to fight, but now Hill is not even at his peak, let alone his peak. McGrady, no matter how confident he is, cannot be confident enough to kill the Pistons.

After hearing McGrady's words, Richard smiled wryly and waved his hand.

"Young man, I'm afraid you can only think about this matter."

"First of all, you should know very well that I will not interfere with the players' decision to leave or stay. Otherwise, I might not have let you go to the Magic in the first place..." Richard said with a smile.

"Huh? Coach, did you know that the Magic would face such difficulties?" McGrady asked in surprise.

The so-called Magic difficulties are Grant Hill's successive injuries and Duncan's refusal to join.

Richard nodded, of course he knew this.

Seeing Richard nodding, Maddie was so shocked that she jumped up from her seat and looked at Richard in disbelief.

"Coach, I now suspect that you are not human!"

"You may really be God descending to earth!"

…

Richard waved his hand to signal Maddie to calm down, "Don't be so excited and continue talking about Clark."

"I said just now that I will not interfere in the transfer of players. Everything will be based on the players' ideas. It is impossible to persuade players to join a specific team."

"Secondly, even if I interfere, do the Magic have the salary space to acquire Clark? Don't be kidding, do you think Clark would be willing to take a salary cut to join the Magic?"

Having said this, Richard looked at Maddie with a smile.

McGrady sighed. He had not thought about the salary space. After telling Richard this, he immediately knew that it was completely impossible to get Clark.

The main reason is that the Magic already have two top-paid players, one is Tracy McGrady, and the other is Grant Hill...

If Hill's contract can be disposed of, Clark can be given a maximum salary.

But Hill's contract is not that easy to solve. I'm afraid no stupid team in the league is willing to swallow Hill's seven-year, $93 million contract.

In the end, this contract can only rot in the hands of the Magic...

After leaving Richard's office in despair, Maddie sighed heavily.

He felt that the future was all foggy, with no light at all.

As a professional player and one of the top players in the league, whether he can lead his team to win the championship is completely a matter of two concepts.

…

The Palace of Auburn Hills, the first round of the 2002-2003 Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Pistons sit at home and accept the challenge from their opponent Orlando Magic.

McGrady felt very hot from the beginning, hitting consecutive hits and scoring 7 points in just a few minutes.

But what gives McGrady a splitting headache is that his super offensive performance did not lead the team to any advantage.

There is no other reason. The Pistons' inside line is too strong...

Yao Ming and Clark made waves in the paint, directly destroying the Magic's penalty area.

After McGrady's touch cooled down, the gap between the two sides suddenly widened.

Judging from the current situation, unless McGrady can maintain the hot touch at the beginning, it will be difficult to catch up with the Pistons' scoring.

At the end of the half, the Magic were already 16 points behind. Richard did not rush to kill them all and replaced both Yao Ming and Clark.

Boozer was replaced at center, and Gerald Wallace moved to the fourth position.

Singles Joe comes on to play the third position.

This lineup is almost a small lineup, and the defensive intensity inside is definitely not as good as Yao and Ke.

However, the mobility is quite outstanding, and magic is still impossible to parry...

By the time the third quarter ended, the game had basically entered garbage time.

Richard replaced a few cannon fodder players and let them play for a while, because even if Richard replaced the second lineup, the Magic couldn't resist.

This is the first game of the playoffs, so we have to save some face for the Magic...

McGrady's performance tonight was quite amazing, scoring a near-triple-double of 32 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists.

But there is no other way. Relying solely on his outburst, there is no chance of leading the Magic to victory.

After the team's Grant Hill was retired, Mike Miller was almost the second in command of the team, but tonight he only scored a measly 12 points under Clark's defense...

Considering that the team's second-leading player only scored 12 points, it would be difficult to win the ball no matter what.

…

In the first game of the playoffs, the Pistons easily defeated their opponent Magic, which did not meet the expectations of the outside world at all.

Immediately afterwards, the second game between the two sides began again.

This time the Pistons put in a lot of effort, and it wasn't until halfway through the fourth quarter that the game entered garbage time.

McGrady's performance in this game was also quite amazing, with 37 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, fully worthy of his status as a starter in the Eastern Conference All-Stars.

But Mike Miller was completely restricted by Clark again. In this game, he was not even as good as he played in the game, only scoring 7 points!

After McGrady finished the game, his face was blue, probably because he was angry with his teammates.

No one would be so angry if this happened to anyone. If the Magic bench didn't perform well tonight, I'm afraid it would have been the same result as in the last game, being defeated by the opponent in less than three quarters.

…

The Pistons have won two games in a row, and will then move to Orlando to face off in the next G3 and G4.

No one cares about the Magic's home court anymore, because judging from the current situation, the Magic are definitely doomed, and being swept by the Pistons is their only possible ending.

But this G3 gave Magic fans a big surprise.

McGrady broke out for the third consecutive game, and even Richard was dumbfounded by tonight's explosion.

There were only six minutes left before the end of the game, and the Magic were trailing by 18 points. Richard saw that the situation was almost over and put on a bunch of substitutes.

After all, the score difference was close to 20 points, and the Pistons' substitute lineup was not weak, so Richard didn't think too much and let the players on the field play with confidence.

As a result, a big problem immediately occurred after such a fight.

With one minute left in the game, the Pistons still led by 11 points.

But it was at this last minute that McGrady performed a miracle.

First, he quickly controlled the ball to the frontcourt and made a three-pointer...

Then he stole Hu Weidong again, and came back with another chasing three-pointer.

Immediately afterwards, the Magic fouled the ball holder and sent him to the free throw line...

The person who was sent to the free throw line was a cannon fodder player that Richard acquired through a trade. I had never seen this kind of formation before, but he missed both free throws.

When it was the Magic player's turn, McGrady hit another pull-up three-pointer.

Richard was dumbfounded on the sidelines. Was he witnessing McGrady's moment with his own eyes? !