Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 243 14-15 Season Records
Relying on the record-breaking best record, Durant won the MVP of the season again, and at the same time won the fifth career scoring champion with 30.1 points.

Westbrook also got a burst of recognition with the data of 24.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists. Ibaka took the first defense again, and Robertson entered the second defense.

Robertson's data is not obvious, but this season the Thunder can play back the defensive line formed by him and Ibaka.

After two seasons of tempering and running-in, the Thunder now have Robertson outside, Ibaka inside, Gobert in the penalty area, plus Durant, Antetokounmpo and others on the flanks. The sweeping defense makes opponents feel extreme pressure on the offensive end.

In the end, it is difficult for role players to get good shots and have to enter the star singles stage, but the efficiency of singles will not be too high.

The Thunder often clock in three quarters this season, leading by [-] points at every turn because one defends well and the other shoots three-pointers accurately.

The three-point card of Ibaka and Antetokounmpo has taken effect, and Robertson has gradually acquired the characteristics of Ray Allen's template. At least the three-pointer has become more and more stable. Compared with the Robertson in parallel time and space, it can only be said that the gap is obvious.

And Li Sheng also used the three-point card for Westbrook this season, so he also shot a personal best three-point efficiency of 38.7% this season.

For a player whose career three-point shooting percentage is only 38%, it is not easy to stabilize above [-]% in a season. This is somewhat due to Westbrook changing his shooting style, which greatly shortens the time for him to make progress.

In fact, the defense of Antetokounmpo and Gobert has also been seen, but the two have no obvious advantage over their teammates in the offensive and defensive ends, so naturally there is no way to be selected.

But Antetokounmpo's progress this season has made his calls for entering the best team next season more and more loud.

Li Sheng also won the best coach again this season, and completed the reelection just like Durant. After all, his record is simply incomparable to him.

In the position of coach, Li Sheng has become a well-deserved star now, and will soon become a "superstar", it depends on this championship journey.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Pelicans, who had the same record as the Thunder in their previous life and relied on the advantage of the game to squeeze the Thunder out, are now squeezed to No.

The Thunder's opponent in the first round was the Mavericks again. The competition in the Western Conference this season is very fierce. The top eight teams are all teams with 50+ wins.

Due to injuries and the age of Duncan and others, the Spurs' record has declined significantly this season, and they have also fallen directly into the echelon of the championship. It is estimated that they will not meet the Thunder in the playoffs.

In the end, the Thunder swept the Mavericks 4:0 in the first round and sent them to the first round again.

After this game, Cuban's desire for Li Sheng became stronger, because he knew that Li Sheng only signed a two-year contract with the Thunder, and there was no news of a renewal.

However, Li Shengben, who knew that Craig Bennett was recently attracting a consortium to join the team, decided to stay. He just wanted to wait and see the situation for a while, and it was best to make sure that there would be no changes in the management.

After all, with his arrival, the two seasons of the Thunder have changed a lot, and they have attracted the attention of the consortium in advance, and Li Sheng can't guarantee other butterfly effects.

Therefore, Li Sheng will make the final decision only after confirming the changes in the top management of the team. Anyway, with his current worth, money and status are indispensable wherever he goes, and he can completely let himself choose.

But even if he leaves the Thunder, it is impossible for him to consider the Mavericks. After all, Cuban...

On the other side, the Clippers and the Trail Blazers won the Clippers, and then they will meet the Thunder in the second round.

This made Paul fans lament again. It seems that the "West Finals Floor" stalk can still be played. No one would think that the Clippers can survive the Thunder, just a matter of winning a few games.

In the end, I didn’t expect the Thunder to complete the sweep again. Judging from the regular season record, the gap between the two teams seems to be so big. In the first round against the Blazers, Paul’s three-pointer against Aldridge in the sixth game to send the Blazers home seems to have exhausted their luck and strength.

After that, the Thunder waited for work, waiting for the winner of the Warriors and Houston.

The Warriors met the Spurs in the first round, and the two teams also played to the sixth game. With Curry's 27 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists quasi-triple-double data, and Thompson's 7 three-pointers, they completed the revenge against the Spurs in the playoffs.

For Texas Xiaoqiang, they fought against the Grizzlies until the tiebreaker. In the sixth game, Harden sat on the sidelines because of physical discomfort and watched his teammates overtake the score to tie the big score. Many people talked about it.

Fortunately, he completed the redemption in the seventh game, and Howard's 23 points and 20 rebounds directly dreamed back to the time of Warcraft.

However, when they met the Warriors with 60+ wins, the gap between the two sides was revealed. Texas Xiaoqiang's outside line could not prevent the Splash Brothers at all.

In the end, the Warriors swept Texas Xiaoqiang 4:1 and successfully advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

The Western Conference Finals between the Thunder and the Warriors was staged earlier than in the previous life, and the personnel of the two teams were not bad, but this time Li Sheng naturally would not give the Warriors a chance.

The wins of the two teams seem to be similar, and the regular season also reached a 2:2 tie, but one loss was due to the rotation of Durant.

And this time in the Western Conference finals, Li Sheng is still the same as last year, with Westbrook as the main player. This is the stage that suits him, and the Warriors really have no way to prevent him from such a strong offensive.

Durant acts as a bait most of the time, using scoring champions and MVPs to attract most defensive attention and create opportunities for his teammates.

结果这让杜兰特打出了接近三双的系列赛，六场场均24分10.5篮板9、5助攻，威少则拿到了场均31分，和场均31.5分的库里形成了互爆。

The problem for the Warriors is that Thompson failed to stand up. Although Tang appeared in G6, his teammates were out of shape in that game, especially Curry hit his elbow in the fifth game, which led to a miss in the sixth game. He only scored 23 points and shot 39.8%.

On the Thunder side, 7 players scored in double figures, and Reggie and Alphabet led the team to blow up the Warriors' bench, and finally succeeded in advancing.

The process of the Western Conference Finals this time is actually very interesting. Both teams won the first two home games, and then the Thunder chased two games in a row. The Warriors could only watch their opponents win the Western Conference Finals trophy at home.

Oklahoma City fans are getting used to it now. Since last year's Western Conference Finals, the Thunder have always won the trophy on the road, so they really don't know what to say.

But for them, of course, the victory itself is more important than witnessing such icing on the cake at home.

And this time in the finals, the Thunder will meet their old friend again, but this time his uniform has changed.

During the offseason last year, James announced "Decision [-]: Hometown Basketball" and returned to the Cavaliers who selected him.

As a result, as soon as James came, the Cavaliers directly traded with the Timberwolves, using Wiggins and Bennett in exchange for the powerful star power forward Kevin Love.

And in this way, following the Heat, James once again formed a "Big Three" model team assembled by the bosses of the three teams, and "doves occupy the magpie's nest", directly replacing Irving as the Cavaliers boss.

It's a pity that after the start of the season, the performance of the Cavaliers fluctuated. Because of various reasons, the regular season was stumbling, and they only got 52 wins. This record can only be ranked No. 8 in the West. They have to meet the Thunder in the first round, and then they probably have to be...

But in the East, this record was able to get No.2, and after the start of the playoffs, he passed all the way and reached the finals. This is also the fifth consecutive year that James has stood on the stage of the finals.

For individuals, this achievement is of course not easy, but if we go deeper, it will inevitably involve the issue of "Eastern Hongli".

(End of this chapter)