I’m Really Playing Basketball

This season, at the end of the regular season, there were two teams in the Western Conference with more than 70 wins. However, at this time, few people said that the league's pattern had changed from strong in the east and weak in the west to strong in the west and weak in the east.

Because this season, except for the top two teams in the Western Conference, from third to eighth in the Western Conference, the Clippers, Jazz, Lakers, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, and Suns, no team has a record of more than 50 wins, except for the Spurs. With the Warriors, the highest record in the Western Conference is the Clippers' 48 wins and 34 losses.

The Western Conference's record dropped directly from 70 wins to 40 wins.

But if you think about it for a moment, you can understand. This season, in addition to playing 2-2 against each other, the Spurs and Warriors have won 50 games against other teams in the Western Conference.

In other words, most Western Conference teams started this season with eight losses against the Spurs and Warriors.

Including the 30 games against the Eastern Conference, the Clippers, with the best record, only had 12 wins and 18 losses.

There are 82 games in a season, and now 38 games have been played, leaving only 44 games. In these 44 games between Western Conference teams, the Clippers have the best results, with a record of 36 wins and 8 losses. .

Therefore, this season, the Clippers achieved a record of 48 wins.

But most teams in the Western Conference are not as good as the Clippers this season.

Not only are they not as good as the Clippers when playing against Eastern Conference teams, they also cannot achieve the Clippers' 82% winning rate against each other.

In fact, if other teams in the Western Conference, excluding the games against the Eastern Conference, the Warriors and the Spurs, and 13 teams compete against each other, the Clippers' results will definitely be unique.

The 82% winning rate is not unique.

Further down the line, the Jazz, fourth in the Western Conference, actually have a record of only 42 wins and 40 losses this season.

Yes, this season, in the entire Western Conference, only four teams' records exceeded 50%.

After that, the Lakers, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, and Suns all had a record of 39 wins and 43 losses.

This is definitely a wonder.

Compared with the Western Conference, the overall record of the Eastern Conference teams is much better.

The Cavaliers, who are first in the Eastern Conference, have 71 wins and 11 losses, but the Bucks, who are second in the Eastern Conference, still have a record of 64 wins. The Bobcats, who are third in the Eastern Conference, also have a record of 61 wins. After that, the Celtics, who are fourth in the Eastern Conference. It’s 54 wins. The Chicago Bulls, fifth in the Eastern Conference, have 52 wins. The Pacers, sixth in the Eastern Conference, and Raptors, seventh in the Eastern Conference, both have 51 wins. The Wizards, eighth in the Eastern Conference, have 50 wins.

This is very powerful.

All playoff teams have more than 50 wins.

What's even more impressive is that the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference have won at least one game in the four games they faced against the Spurs and Warriors, two 70-win teams in the Western Conference.

Well, this season, the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference will win at least one of the top two teams in the Western Conference this season.

Among the 13 teams in the Western Conference, none of the Spurs and Warriors have won this season.

The top eight teams in the Eastern Conference have all beaten at least one of the Spurs and Warriors this season.

The top eight teams in the Eastern Conference faced the Western Conference teams in 30 games. The Wizards, who had the worst record, had a record of 24 wins and 6 losses.

Yes, 24 of the Wizards' 50 games were obtained from the Western Conference. In the 52 games in the Eastern Conference, the Wizards' record was only 26 wins and 26 losses, barely more than half.

In other words, if the Western Conference teams are eliminated and the Eastern Conference teams are in civil war, if they want to enter the playoffs, they will have exactly 50% victory. This is reasonable.

But obviously, including the Western Conference, the Eastern Conference needs a winning rate of 61% to enter the playoffs.

It can only be said that these rookies in the West have pushed up the Eastern Conference's playoff record.

So, this season is very interesting, even though the Spurs and Warriors are the first and second best teams in the league.

But the record of the two teams against the Eastern Conference teams, the Spurs are 24 wins and 6 losses, and the Warriors are 20 wins and 10 losses. Such records are not considered dominant, because the eighth Wizards in the Eastern Conference have a record of 24 wins and 6 losses against the Western Conference teams. 24 wins and 6 losses.

Of course, no team in this world can dominate the Eastern Conference.

Even for the Cavaliers, their record in the Eastern Conference is only 43 wins and 9 losses.

Of course, the winning rate is higher than that of the Spurs and Warriors, which is why many people say that the Cavaliers' record this season is more convincing.

In the past, the most dominant team was in the Eastern Conference and could achieve the league's first record.

This season, the Cavaliers are third in the league. Without the Bobcats in the past, the Heat are dominant, but they are slightly better than the opposite Spurs and Warriors.

If there is no Cavaliers, a 71-win team in the East, this season, of course the two top teams in the West will be more promising.

Just like last season, there is only one team in the league with more than 70 wins, the Spurs. Even if the environment in the Eastern Conference is worse, everyone assumes that the Spurs are number one.

But this season, it's obviously different.

This is why at the end of the regular season, in the last official NBA MVP rankings, the Cavaliers' head player LeBron James ranked first, and Chen Xiao and Ron Howard ranked second and third.

Closer to home, there are also great highlights in the players' performance in the regular season this season. The biggest highlight is undoubtedly the battle between Kobe and Wade for the scoring title.

In the end, Kobe won the scoring title with an average of 33 points per game, beating Wade's 31.8 points per game.

This is also the first time that Kobe has won the scoring title after ten years in his career.

In fact, Brother Ke doesn't care that much about being the scoring champion in a single season. What he cares more about is that this season, he scored a total of 2,640 points, and his career total has reached 36,659 points.

There is only less than 300 points behind Malone's second place in history.

Next season, Kobe will surely surpass Malone and become the second-leading scorer in NBA history.

At the same time, Kobe is now less than 1,700 points away from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's historical number one. In other words, next season, Kobe can surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as long as he averages 22 points per game and plays 80 games.

This also becomes extremely easy.

Therefore, at the end of this season, when a reporter asked Kobe at the post-game press conference if he was interested in 40,000 points, Kobe's answer was quite straightforward.

"Of course, I will become the first man to score 40,000 points in NBA history. I will be in this position, waiting for Chen's arrival."

This is the new goal that Mr. Ke has found for his career.

If he can really achieve this goal, the first Mr. 40,000 points, then no matter how the NBA changes in the future, he will be one of the greatest stars in NBA history.

100 years from now, perhaps few of the current top ten in history will still be in the top ten, and probably not many will be mentioned all the time, but the name of Mr. Ke will still be enduring by then. decline.

As an NBA player, you can never get around the first 40,000-point player in history.

This achievement is not MVP or championship, but it is enough to make an NBA player famous and immortal.

This is why Project 411 is so depressing.

In addition, the league's rebounding and shot-blocking titles this year were taken away by Oden of the Cavaliers. Oden averaged 14.5 rebounds and 3 blocks per game this season. His performance on the defensive end was very good, and he was the best player this season. Top contender for best defensive player.

At the same time, he is likely to be the first-team center this season. Although Milicic is the number one center, the Raptors' record this season is not that good.

Therefore, many people say that after Yao Ming, in the post-Yao Ming era, the first center to win the first team was Oden.

This season's assist leader is Rajon Rondo of the Timberwolves, averaging 12.5 assists per game. To be able to get so many assists in a team with offensive flaws like the Timberwolves, I have to say that Rondo still has a few tricks up his sleeve. of.

This season's steal leader is still Luo Ge. This season, Luo Ge averaged 2.6 steals per game, ranking first in the league.

Since the Warriors have many capable players in the regular season this season, Chen Xiao's statistics this season are not that outstanding, averaging only 26.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.

But this season Chen Xiao's shooting percentage is very scary, with a field goal percentage of 58.5%, a three-point shooting percentage of 44.5%, and a free throw percentage of 91.5%. Chen Xiao once again hit the 180 club in his career.

This is already Chen Xiao’s fifth 180-club career, the most in NBA history.

By the way, this season, Westbrook of the New York Knicks once again averaged a triple-double of 30+ per game, becoming the second person in history after Chen Xiao to average a triple-double for two consecutive seasons. , a player with 30+ triple-doubles for two consecutive seasons.

However, their record can only rank tenth in the Eastern Conference.

Well, with two teammates like Anthony and Howard, the Knicks still failed to make the playoffs.

At this point, all the first-round matchups between the East and West playoffs this season have come out.

In the East, the Cavaliers, who are first in the East, will face the Wizards, who are eighth in the East, the Bucks, who are second, will face the Raptors, who are seventh in the East, the Bobcats, who are third, will face the Pacers, who are sixth, and the Celtics, who are fourth, will face the Pacers, who are fifth. bull.

In the West, the No. 1 Spurs face the No. 8 Suns, the No. 2 Warriors face the No. 7 Trail Blazers, the No. 3 Clippers face the No. 6 Timberwolves, and the No. 4 Jazz face the No. 5 Lakers.

The first-round matchups between the East and West are very interesting.

For example, in the Eastern Conference, the Bucks and Raptors faced each other in the first round for the first time. As a super team, the Raptors have been among the top four in the Eastern Conference for a long time. This time is the most recent. For the first time in ten seasons, it lost its top four spot.

Moreover, the head coaches of the Bucks and Raptors, Ray Allen and Nash, are both rookie coaches who are legends of the team. Both of them are coaching a playoff team for the first time in their careers.

In the Western Conference, the most watched first round is of course the third-placed Clippers facing off against the sixth-placed Timberwolves. Cannon and Rondo had a fistfight in the playoffs last season. Such a big grudge, this In the regular season of this season, Rondo won the assists title by suppressing small guns. It can be said that there are old and new grudges.

Moreover, whether it is Rondo or Xiaopao, they are both very vindictive people.

There is also this matchup between the Lakers and the Jazz. In the playoffs showdown between Jordan's son DeAndre Jordan and Jordan II's Kobe, which one is Jordan's true successor?

These three matchups in the first round are the three matchups that fans are most looking forward to. As for the matchup between the Warriors and the Trail Blazers, it’s not that Chen Xiao is not a big name or popular enough. In fact, the strength gap between the Warriors and the Trail Blazers is too big. The disparity is huge.

In this round of showdown, apart from the rivalry between former teammates Chen Xiao and Darius Myers, I am afraid that Lillard only has a little grudge against young Warriors players such as Beal, Clay, and Big Eyebrow.

Lillard has said more than once on his social media that if he were by Chen Xiao's side, he could be selected as an All-Star in his rookie season. He does not think he is worse than any young player on the Warriors.

In fact, this idea is not only shared by Lillard, but also by most young players in the NBA.

With Chen Xiao's blessing, it is not difficult to become an All-Star. It's just that Lillard said what everyone said.

And Lillard does have such qualifications. This season he can average 21 points and 6 assists per game in the regular season. In the playoffs of his career, he also averaged 22 points per game. This is an outstanding regular season and season. A real star who can also perform in the post-game.

It would not be offensive for such a star to say such envious and jealous words to young players like Clay.

Therefore, Clay and the others actually have no grudges against Lillard.

In this case, the reporters and media couldn't even find any reason to hype this matchup between the Warriors and Trail Blazers.

On April 18, 2015, the Warriors faced the Trail Blazers at home. Just as most experts predicted before the game, the Warriors defeated the Trail Blazers at home 118-89 without a fight and won this year's playoffs. First win.

In this game, Lillard, who had promised to win a game in this training game, faced Beal and Clay, the two famous catchers of the Warriors, and scored 14 points on 5 of 21 shots.

In this game, the Trail Blazers' team's shooting percentage was only 30%. Facing the starting lineup of Jokic, Big Eyebrow, Chen Xiao, Clay and Beal, the Trail Blazers had no power to fight back.

On the 21st, the Warriors and Trail Blazers continued to play G2 at Oracle Arena, 119 to 82, another victory of more than 30 points. Lillard's performance in this game was still poor, 5 of 16, and only scored 18 point.

Just when the Warriors won two games in a row and looked like they were going to sweep the Trail Blazers and advance, in the next G3 and G4, the Warriors lost 115-119 and 102-109.

It's not that Lillard performed well in these two games, but that the Warriors obviously changed their style of play. The team's tactical requirements changed from defensive pressure to drill offense.

Yes, Popovich clearly saw that in G3 and G4, Cole was practicing the offensive tactics of the team with Jokic as the core.

The Trail Blazers are a very passionate team. Lillard, Darius Miles, Batum, Afflalo, and C.J. McCollum. These players have very good individual abilities and are very suitable for training players. and tactics.

"Warriors, this is intentional to give Jokic more experience in the playoffs!"

This method was used by Jordan's Bulls before, and his Spurs also used it.

And now the Warriors are playing too!

Whether it's the Bulls or the Spurs, every team that uses this method has big goals this season!