legendary point guard

In the latest regular season MVP rankings in early April, rookie Lin Sen was still at the top.

Behind the league's leader Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

fifth.

As a rookie, Lin Sen has been in the top ten in mvp almost the entire season, and has been in the top five for a long time. This is almost unbelievable for a rookie.

Although Lin Sen is one of the popular candidates for the regular season MVP in the eyes of the media, and is a well-deserved MVP in the eyes of the Orlando media, most media still view it rationally.

After all, Dirk Nowitzki and two-time regular season MVP Steve Nash are in equally hot form. Linson has no advantage in comparing records, let alone Tim Duncan, who has been consistent for ten years.

Guy.

Compared with the regular season mvp, Lin Sen has not fallen off the list of best rookies since he took the first place, and the one behind him has always been Brandon Roy of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Although the season is not over yet, everyone knows that there is no suspense for Lin Sen to win the Rookie of the Year Award. The only suspense is how many votes Lin Sen can win. Some media even joked that Lin Sen will once again become the unanimous best player.

Rookie players.

The media in Orlando have been busy for a long time, building momentum for Lin Sen in the award selection. Otis Smith even burned Lin Sen's season highlights into a CD and sent it to those media who were eligible to vote.

The playoffs are getting closer and closer, and the competition for playoff seats is becoming more and more fierce.

On April 5, after a day off, the Orlando Magic flew away to face the last back-to-back of the 2006-2007 season, and this time they will challenge the Los Angeles duo, who are working hard for a playoff spot.

The Magic will first challenge the Los Angeles Clippers and then the Los Angeles Lakers on April 6. Currently, the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers are only half a game apart.

The Los Angeles Lakers ranked seventh, the Golden State Warriors ranked eighth, and the Los Angeles Clippers ranked ninth.

[I made a mistake in the previous chapter, the Nuggets and Lakers should be ranked seventh and eighth, sorry!] There is only half a win between the three teams. The Denver Nuggets, ranked sixth, relied on April

Three consecutive victories slightly widened the gap.

The Hornets and Timberwolves, ranked 10th and 11th, were temporarily separated by one win and one-and-a-half games due to losses.

For the Los Angeles duo, they naturally hope to win to consolidate their record and at the same time become a playoff team as much as possible.

"The Biggest Spoiler Is Coming" - "Los Angeles Times": "At a suffocating moment, the Orlando Magic came. For Los Angeles, no one wants the Orlando Magic to take away the victory. Although the Orlando Magic has an excellent record, it is good.

The news is that the Orlando Magic are making a roster rotation. It's a great opportunity for us in Los Angeles."

As the "Los Angeles Times" said, the Magic, who are taking a rest to try to give the team a better rest, is an excellent opportunity for the Los Angeles duo.

However, some people don't want the Magic to take a rest, such as the 10th-ranked Hornets and the 11th-ranked Timberwolves.

Hornets coach Byron Scott publicly stated: "Stan is a coach with professional ethics. They have a chance to become second in the Eastern Conference. I believe he will not give up the game. This is the professionalism that the NBA should have. I am very disappointed with Orlando.

I am very optimistic that they will make great achievements in the playoffs."

As a good friend of Lin Sen, Chris Paul said bluntly to reporters before the game against the Utah Jazz, who were ranked fifth in the Western Conference: "I have told Wood that I hope he will try his best to lead the team."

To win, for us, we must work hard to win every game and at the same time hope that the opponent does not win, so I called him."

"What's Wood's response? Will Orlando continue to rest?"

"I can't interfere in this, and Wood can't interfere either. This is Stan Van Gundy's arrangement. But Wood told me that he will try his best to play. I think his words are enough. I believe he will not let me down.

"Chris Paul replied with a smile.

In the game against the Jazz, Chris Paul scored 33 points and 13 assists to lead the team to defeat the fifth-ranked Jazz and continue to put pressure on the teams in front.

As for the Timberwolves, who are ranked 11th, head coach Devin Casey took the initiative to talk about the Orlando Magic for the first time after Lin Sen left the team: "Orlando is a young team with vitality and strength. They have the ability to defeat

Any team in this league, and Wood will be one of the best players on the planet in the future. I am very fortunate that I have coached him. I believe he will play every game seriously. We have had Wood’s outstanding performance.

He defeated the Los Angeles Clippers with his performance. I think he has the ability to lead the Magic to defeat the Clippers."

Lin Sen's former boss Kevin Garnett also said that Lin Sen is a talented player and that the Timberwolves are currently in a bad situation and need the Clippers to lose.

"I don't know what he said, but for us we have only one belief, and that is to defend our home court!" Captain Elton Brand, who returned from injury, said with confidence.

As the team's main point guard, Sam Cassel, an alien who caused trouble to Lin Sen in his first match, also said: "The Clippers are ready to win."

Everyone in the Los Angeles Magic really wants to win this victory. After all, only victory can keep the pressure on the Warriors and Magic ahead, and create greater hope for the team to enter the playoffs. Once they lose, the Magic will be passive at the most critical moment.

, especially the Hornets behind them also defeated the Utah Jazz, who were ranked fifth.

This focus battle also attracted a national live broadcast on ESPN.

The Los Angeles Clippers, who were one game away from reaching the Western Conference Finals last season, have been working hard to go further in the new season. The Los Angeles Clippers, which are regarded by media experts as having a lineup strong enough to rank fourth in the Western Conference, performed quite well at the beginning of the new season.

However, after adjusting for most of the season, the Clippers are still tepid and have continued to rank ninth in the Western Conference. However, Elton Brand, who has been absent for two weeks, is undoubtedly their biggest support.

"Although Orlando is now only one win away from Cleveland. In addition to putting Dwight back into the starting lineup, Stan still insisted on the approach of the first two games. Obviously he does not care whether the team can finish second.

There is no doubt that what he did made Minnesota and New Orleans sad." Hoffman said as he looked at the starting lineup printed on the big screen.

"But what's better than the first two games is that Stan put them on the team's roster, but God knows if he will let Chris Webber and the others sit on the bench for the entire game." Bill Walton said with a smile.

Devin Casey and Byron Scott, who were watching the game in front of the TV, showed helpless expressions. They hoped that the Orlando Magic would go all out, but the fact still disappointed them.

The progress of the game made the Timberwolves and Hornets almost desperate. Chris Paul looked at Lin Sen on the TV screen and cursed because Lin Sen's performance tonight was really bad.

The Los Angeles Clippers, striving for a win, started Corey Maggette, and asked Maggette, who was good at scoring, to give up scoring and focus on Lin Sen. In addition, Livingston kept confronting him from the sidelines.

Lin Sen double-teamed in defense.

The Los Angeles Clippers' heavily deployed lineup restricted Lin Sen's performance. The other players' desire to win was much worse than the Clippers'.

The Orlando Magic was unable to open up the situation for a long time, and Stan Van Gundy could only hand the ball to the hands of inside man Dwight Howard.

Dwight Howard's personal data has improved significantly after Lin Sen joined him this season, and his scoring average reached 20 points for the first time in his career.

Dwight Howard was protecting the ball with his back. Due to the tactical arrangement, he decided to play in singles. As one of the representative players of the 2003 generation, Chris Kaman was behind Howard.

Compared with Howard, Chris Kaman is more like a traditional center. Howard's strong play did not defeat Kaman. Howard, who could not resist Kaman, just forced a step forward and then took off the hook.

However, it is a pity that he forgot that there was captain Elton Brand beside him. Although Brand is only 2.03 in height, Brand is indeed a hotpot expert, especially his ability in assisting defense is unparalleled.

Leaving Howard's hand, Brand, who was assisting on defense, jumped up and slapped the ball away.

Alien Sam Cassell grabbed the basketball and immediately dropped it quickly, while Livingston on the other side also quickly dropped it.

Lin Sen, who was defending one against two, was finally succeeded in a layup by Livingston.

"Dwight's back-up offensive ability is really bad. He must work hard on his offensive ability. Just because he averages more than 20 points per game does not mean he has excellent offensive ability. Since Wood joined Orlando, his scoring

It has become a lot simpler, Dwight must realize how dependent he is on the help of his teammates, and he must work harder to become a good center."

As one of the legendary centers, Bill Walton looked at Howard who clapped his hands in annoyance and said.

Dwight Howard, who averaged 20.4 points and 12.4 rebounds per game this season, is very eye-catching. Fagan, a famous agent off the court, even contacted Howard. He told Howard that he could help Howard go further. Of course, this is a story later.

Let’s not mention it for now.

Lin Sen couldn't help but complain that Maggette and Livingston really made him irritated tonight. Although the team didn't care about winning the game, Lin Sen still wanted to win.

He doesn't care about the life or death of the Clippers. What he cares about is his good buddy Paul. He still hopes that he can help Paul's Hornets.

Maggette's height advantage made him irritable and uneasy, and coupled with his hidden tricks, Lin Sen was very depressed.

Linsen handed the ball to Turkoglu and made a gesture to start running. However, Maggette and Livingston once again crossed paths and Livingston got in front of Linsen who had received the pass again.

Lin Sen had no choice but to pass the ball out, but Azubuike, who had performed well in the previous game, made a glorious shot, and Staples immediately burst into cheers.

During the transition between offense and defense, Sam Cassell handed the ball to Maggette. Maggette chose a post-up shot against Lin Sen.

Although Lin Sen's strength has improved significantly, Lin Sen still doesn't have much confidence in facing Maggette's singles.

Maggette looked at him with a hidden elbow, and Lin Sen had to take a step back in pain.

With this step, Maggette turned around and jumped up to throw the ball.

Lin Sen's hurried defense had no impact on Maggette. The ball jumped over Lin Sen's fingers and went into the basket amidst the cheers of the audience.

It was only 8 minutes before the game started, but the Orlando Magic were already 14 points behind the Los Angeles Clippers, who were playing at home.

"Stan has to take other approaches, of course, if he needs this victory, and if he doesn't care, it doesn't matter." Hoffman said.

"Yes, but judging from Stan's expression, he still hopes to win this game. After all, except for the state of this game, the Clippers' defense has caused a lot of trouble for the Magic. This may be a reminder to other teams what should be done.

Deal with them, so he should adjust.

Otherwise, there is no way to score. What the Magic need now is to score. I personally feel that Stan will still let Lin get back to his form. In fact, it is a good way to provide more screens for Wood. Maybe that can allow Wood to play." Bill Waugh

He said suddenly.

As Bill Walton said, although Stan Van Gundy doesn't care about winning the game, he does care about the state of the team, especially in the face of the Clippers' high-intensity defense. He doesn't want the team to be in the playoffs.

The game is also in this state, and this state is not what he wants when adjusting the team's lineup.

With the chance of a dead ball, Stan Van Gundy moved Lin Sen off the court and pulled him to explain. Stan Van Gundy didn't care about the first quarter. He hoped that his arrangement would bring a different effect in the second quarter.

"No problem!" Lin Sen nodded. He was 90% sure that Van Gundy's arrangement could lead the team to success.

"Stan is explaining something. Maybe he has found a way. If this is true, it will not be good news for the Los Angeles Clippers, who are playing at home, even though they are currently leading by 14 points." Hoffman said with a smile.

When the first quarter ended, the Orlando Magic trailed the Clippers at home by 16 points, 15:31. This lead gave Clippers fans full of confidence.

"We need to score. What I want is not necessarily victory, but what I want is your state. I need you to adjust your state to the best before the playoffs come, not a state that is so bad that I can't look straight at it.

At the beginning of the second quarter..." Stan Van Gundy kept drawing.

"When Wood comes on the court, I need you to change your style of play and implement the 'Wood' tactics." Stan Van Gundy said as he glanced at the players.

Everyone looked at Lin Sen. The "Wood" tactic was named by Stan Van Gundy, a tactic with Lin Sen as the absolute protagonist.

"Coach, please rest assured, I will not let you down." Lin Sen said slowly and confidently. (To be continued.)