NBA: Magic Johnson opens the season, crowned MOP

"Asshole!"

In the early morning of April 13, Popovich sat in an empty office and rarely lost control of his emotions!

"This is naked targeting, David, this is unfair!"

No one knows why Sima Laozei ran from his home to the office of the arena in the middle of the night, and then printed out a statistical table that Budenholzer had just faxed to him - the whistles of the Jazz and the Lakers in the last few games of the regular season were too abnormal!

The Lakers averaged 24.7 free throws per game this season, ranking fourth in the league; while the Spurs averaged 24.1 per game, with the two teams almost the same.

But since April 7, when the Lakers played against the Clippers in the same city derby, the Lakers' average free throws per game suddenly increased to 30.1!

Until today when the Lakers played against the Warriors, Kobe averaged 13.3 free throws per game in the three games during the period, almost monopolizing the team's total free throws. Half the number of free throws!

Compared to Kobe's season average of 8.3 free throws per game, the outside media had to speculate that Stern was going to carry the Lakers into the playoffs.

Because the Lakers, currently ranked eighth in the Western Conference, are only half a win away from the ninth-placed Utah Jazz.

Since entering April, the Jazz's schedule has been much tighter than that of the teams in the same division, and even the whistles are pitifully few!

Relying on the family background and team system left by Sloan, they finally made it to the edge of the Western Conference playoffs (43 wins and 39 losses), but this season they have been repeatedly"targeted" by the league. This has allowed Utah players to let out a season of anger, like a ball rubbing against a needle. On

April 2, the entire team made 18 free throws against the Hornets;

On April 3, the entire team made 15 free throws against the Kings; On

April 5, the entire team made 18 free throws against the Cavaliers;

……

In the ten games of the final stage of the regular season in April, the highest number of free throws for the Jazz team was only 21!

Popovich finally understood that Stern had discovered that he was going to"play tricks" and use the league's controllable referees to send the Lakers, who were most likely to"overcome the strong" in the lower half of the Western Conference, to him.

It seems that the Spurs' victory over the Heat yesterday was probably secretly instructed by Stern!

Popovich tightly grasped the statistics of the two teams in his hand, his snow-white brows furrowed, his shrewd and capable brain working rapidly, and he began to think about countermeasures.

Joey, who was recovering in the frozen liquid nitrogen chamber in his apartment, did not know that because of his arrival, some of the original history was quietly changing.……

——————

On the evening of April 13, an astonishing piece of news instantly"detonated" the basketball circle.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant had an accident in the home game against the Golden State Warriors tonight - when he broke through Barnes, he accidentally fell to the ground and was injured.

After the team doctor examined him, it was found that Kobe's left Achilles tendon was ruptured!

After insisting on finishing the free throws, Kobe was carried off the court for treatment.

More than 20,000 purple and gold fans at the Staples Center stood up at the same time as if their hearts were instantly clenched, and prayed for their"King of Los Angeles".

As soon as this news came out, the entire league went crazy - in the Thunder's game against the Trail Blazers on the same day, Coach Brooks, who was originally 15 points behind in the third quarter and was ready to withdraw the two young players in the fourth quarter and strategically give up the game, hurriedly sent out all the main lineups -

Brooks: Damn, there is such a good thing?

As we all know, as long as the Lakers this season lack Kobe, the"stabilizing force", the so-called"Big Four" will inevitably become a disintegrating fish team.

Nash + Gasol, who are in the twilight of their lives, and Howard, who is suffering from back injuries... these three together may not be able to win a single game in the playoffs!

But with Kobe, it's different. It can be seen from the fact that Popovich almost"tried his best" to lose at the end of the regular season to avoid meeting the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs that Kobe's state this season is really"terrible", which can be called a last gasp and a return to the peak!

Averaging 27+6+5, not to mention the highest efficiency in his career, with Nash and his wife's attendance rate of only 50%, he led the team to a record of 18 wins and 6 losses after the All-Star Game!

This shows that!

In addition, Nash and his wife have returned one after another, and Howard has also put aside his personal grudges because the playoffs are approaching, and his cooperation with Kobe has already achieved 30% of the glory of the"OK combination" back then!

Almost no team in the upper half of the Western Conference wants to meet such a giant team with all healthy players in the first round...

Even a Thunder or Spurs that are firmly in the top two!

There is no reason why Brooks can't think of what Popovich thought of. They were paying attention to the Lakers' ranking at the end of the regular season. No one wanted to play seven games before the Western Conference Finals.

Therefore, in the next few games, both teams tried their best to compete for the first place in the Western Conference.

Everyone knows that the Lakers without Kobe are like a tiger with its teeth and claws pulled out, or a tiger that can't chew meat in its old age... On

April 14, the Spurs played against the Los Angeles Lakers at home.

Popovich was"full fire" in this game. Except for the Argentine demon sword who was still recovering from injury, all the Spurs players played.

Duncan scored 23+10, and single-handedly blew up the Lakers' inside line led by the wife of the family and the Beast; the wife of the family scored 9+8, and the Beast scored 13+14.

The former had just returned from a concussion and was in poor condition, which was understandable, but the"Happy Beast" was not suppressed by Kobe.

He made 25 crazy shots in the whole game, but only hit 5 of them.

The key was that he made 3 of 13 free throws, which made D'Antoni on the sidelines so angry that he almost smashed the Spurs' away water dispenser...

Parker scored 21 points in the Lakers' inside line without Kobe's pressure on the opponent's outside players on both offense and defense. The Lakers' outside line in this game was directly riddled with holes by Joey and Parker of the Spurs!

Joey and Leonard teamed up to lock down the Lakers' outside players such as Antawn Jamison and Chris Duhon, and jointly contributed 38 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists. The

Spurs' front line twin stars shone in the ATT Arena. Amid the excited cheers of the San Antonio fans, D'Antoni enviously and unwillingly replaced the main players.

The Lakers eventually lost to the Spurs with a score of 89:107.

Nash's absence was actually the biggest factor in the Lakers' nearly 20-point loss today, because everyone knows that D'Antoni's"three-pronged attack" can hardly play any role without an excellent point guard as the starting point of tactics and the engine of the court.

Popovich is well aware of this. The interior defense depends entirely on Joey and Leonard's league-leading"death front lock line" to help and make up for the defense, which made the Magic Beast miss 20 goals in this game.

At the same time, the Lakers' outside line, which is almost not threatening, only needs to divide a little energy from Joey and Leonard to make them suffer...

After this game, the difference between the Spurs and the second-ranked Thunder in the West has reached two and a half games, which means that even if Durant and the sewer turtle lead the team to win the remaining two regular season games, they will not surpass the Spurs and get the first place in the West.

Coach Brooks quietly locked himself in the office for five hours after watching the full game between the Spurs and the Lakers.

When the team management and Durant and Westbrook rushed over after receiving the news, Scott Brooks finally walked out of the office.

He looked at the crowd of people outside the office, and the head coach who had coached the Thunder for all the games since the name change sighed:

(Note: The SuperSonics were coached by P.J. Carlesimo for most of the season when they changed their name and moved in 2008)

"After all, man proposes, God disposes……"

"Greg and I had been thinking about how to avoid the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs for a whole season, but because of an accident, he got a little luckier in the end and got a big bargain for nothing!"

Most of the team management and players present did not understand what he meant. Only Brooks, who had been managing the team for a whole season and had studied the playoff matchups by heart, knew that this year's San Antonio Spurs would probably meet an unbeatable opponent before the Western Conference Finals...

Needless to say, in the first round, the Lakers without Kobe would probably be swept by the Spurs, and at most they would be given one game to the Los Angeles players to sell more tickets.

In the second round, whether they met the Warriors or the Nuggets, the Spurs had almost no pressure.

The Warriors' young players were best at three-pointers and quick rotations, and they faced the"Death Front Lock Line" with the highest defensive efficiency and full pressure in the league.

It was a duel between the strongest spear and the strongest shield in the new era.

The Spurs With Duncan and Parker, two playoff"big names", it's only a matter of time before they can defeat the Warriors; as for the Nuggets...

please, the Denver Nuggets, who have been carefully selected by Mark Jackson and the LOGO man for a whole season, can find a player who can average 18 points per game in the playoffs.

I guess the Warriors can't use the"point-to-point blasting" trick.

Brooks smiled bitterly and shook his head, then looked at his own team - the Rockets in the first round, the Grizzlies in the second round...

After finally crossing the"black and white bears", there is a high probability that they will meet the famous old coin Spurs in the West who have made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals.

Brooks sighed in his heart, and could only take one step at a time...

What if the Spurs were eliminated by the Lakers in the 2011 playoffs?