From today on is the king

Chapter 1520 1519. Lianmei is about to win the championship (ask for a monthly ticket)
On the night when the Eagles arrived in Los Angeles on the 23rd, the Lakers defeated the visiting Golden State Warriors 119-115 at home, improving their record to 19 wins and 10 losses, temporarily returning to the third place in the Western Conference, but they were still overwhelmed by the 20 wins and 10 losses of the Nuggets.

The top spot in the Western Conference is still the Spurs. The Spurs have only lost 4 games so far, and their record of 26 wins and 4 losses is the best in the league.

In the physical therapy center of the Staples Center Arena, Kobe, Yao Ming, Gasol, Trevor Ariza, Wang Zhizhi, Odom, etc. put their legs into the ice bucket. When they put their legs in the ice bucket, there were shouts in the physical therapy center one after another.

Playing against the Warriors today, the Lakers were exhausted. Although they didn't play overtime, the opponent was too good at running and scoring.

In addition to the top nine in the West, the only team with a winning percentage of just [-]% is the Warriors. It is already very good to be able to maintain a [-]% winning percentage in such a dangerous environment in the West.

It's just that the top nine in the Western Conference this season is too fierce, and it is basically impossible for the Warriors to have the opportunity to persist until the last game like last season and get the chance for the Mavericks to let them enter the playoffs.

"Um...Kobe, Ace texted me this afternoon, saying he's already in Los Angeles...Wow...uh..." While Yao Ming was talking, the physical therapist put an ice pack on his knee again, making him want to do something.

"That guy is lucky!" Kobe said angrily, "Our Western Conference championship team needs to fight for the playoffs, and he will be No. [-] in the Eastern Conference if he plays casually."

"That guy said that your life is good..." Yao Ming didn't say this, afraid of hitting the young heart of the No. 24 player.

Although Kobe said that, he attached great importance to the game the day after tomorrow.

He has been paying attention to the Eagles. The Eagles played in the top nine in the Western Conference this season...undefeated!Although there are relatively few games played, the four strong teams of the Spurs, Suns, Jazz, and Mavericks have all been killed against the Eagles.

However, Kobe paid attention to it, but the coaching staff did not pay attention to the Eagles.

Now the Lakers coaching staff doesn't have the energy to manage the Eagles who only play against each other twice in the regular season.

Even if you add up the top five teams in the Eastern Conference, there are only 10 matches in the regular season. The focus is on the top ten opponents in the Western Conference. The Lakers will play 33 times against the other nine teams in the Western Conference this season.

The main reason is that even the Warriors are so difficult to deal with!If the top nine record in the Western Conference is not too wild, the Warriors will become a thorn in the heart of the playoff team. Their black eight last season is really amazing.

For the Lakers, this season's Christmas game is completely different from the situation at the same time last season.

The only similarity for the Lakers is that the No. [-] in the Western Conference is unshakable. Last season was the Mavericks, and this season is the Spurs.

The Lakers ranked second in the Western Conference last season. The Nuggets, Suns and other teams have just formed. The Jazz's Deron has not yet entered his peak period and has not yet obtained Ray Allen. The Rockets are still young and have not obtained Artest...

Now the second to ninth in the Western Conference is a complete melee. The Mavericks suffered a wave of four-game losing streak at the end of last month, and fell to the ninth in the Western Conference.

If the teams from No. [-] to No. [-] in the Western Conference accidentally encounter a long losing streak and then fail to win a winning streak, they are likely to be devastated.

Even their Lakers!
The Lakers coaching staff now has to consider the regular season rankings.

If it is the playoffs, the Lakers will definitely not be afraid. Playing a series is very different from the regular season in which opponents are changed every game day. It is normal for the opponent to fight a game in the regular season and lose with their own performance. However, the seven-game four-win series will expand the advantage of strength to an extreme.

But the Lakers still have to consider the issue of home court advantage. After all, it is too rare for the Rockets to win the championship from the sixth place in the Western Conference in the second half of the playoffs. The probability of that is less than [-]%.

……

The two bosses of the Lakers team were discussing the game the day after tomorrow. Liu Mang brought Little Lolita, Wade, Rondo, McGrady and Yi Jianlian to watch the game between the Lakers and the Warriors, and his heart was a little heavy.

The Lakers are doing great!
The record can well reflect the strength of a team, but if it is placed in such a dangerous environment in the West this season, it can be ranked in the top four for a long time at the beginning of the season, it is already very strong.

The Warriors performed exceptionally today. Monta Ellis scored 47 points to set a new career high. The Warriors' running and bombing also took off today, but they were still defeated by Kobe Bryant's three consecutive mid-range shots at the last moment.

Kobe, who turned 29 in the summer three days before Liu Mang's birthday, is now at the peak of his skills and physical fitness, averaging 28.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6 assists per game, plus a career-high 40.00% field goal percentage. He is one of Liu Mang's main competitors who want to win the MVP.

刘莽想要三连MVP，比数据，科比场均28+5+6+1.9的数据很狂野，但刘莽有场均26.5分5.9板9.8助攻1.4抢断2.3盖帽的数据，数据刘莽还是战很大优势的。

The problem for Liu Mang is that he already has two consecutive MVPs, so he needs more advantages.

Then it's important to beat your direct competitors!
Just like in the original time and space, Kobe and Paul performed evenly at the end of this season, and the MVP is basically determined to be produced between the two.

But Kobe beat Paul at the end of the regular season. Kobe scored 17 points, 9 rebounds and 29 assists in 10 of 8. Paul was defended by Kobe that night.

It's a testament to how important direct matchups between MVP competitors are.

After thinking for a while, Liu Mang put all these things aside. He didn't worry about the Lakers when he played the game. He asked Yi Jianlian who was about to drive back to the apartment: "Lianmei, will you participate in the draft next year?"

"No, I'm going back to China in May to participate in the national team training camp, and I don't have enough time," Yi Jianlian replied.

Liu Mang looked at Yi Jianlian, and it seemed that Yi Jianlian had no dissatisfaction with the national team's early opening of the training camp to delay his draft. He felt that Yi Jianlian might have planned from the beginning not to participate in the draft in 08. As he said before, he wanted to finish four years of college before entering the NBA.

Moreover, for Yi Jianlian who grew up within the system, the Blue Association let him come to the United States to play college league games, which is already an "extrajudicial favor". The Olympic Games next summer will be the most grand Olympic Games in the history of his country.

There is no way for Liu Mang, Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, and Sun Yue. The regular season is over at the end of April, and all four of them may play in the playoffs.

However, Liu Mang was very curious about Yi Jianlian's college life: "How is your game? This year, you seem to have won 10 consecutive seasons, right?"

"Boss Ace, you didn't expect that, we are too strong this year, we will definitely win the championship..." Yi Jian became excited when he thought of his teammates, and began to talk about his outstanding teammates.

Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook at guard, Luke Mbah a Moute at small forward, Kevin Love and Yi Jianlian inside...

Westbrook and Mbah a Moute's front line defense is almost invincible in college. Both of them are the best defensive players in the Pacific Ten League. They have been locked in the first defensive team in the United States in just one month of the season.

The sixth man is Zhu Holiday, who will be the NBA's defensive first team in the future...

This lineup, Liu Mang thought it was amazing, and felt that Yi Jianlian really had the possibility of touching the NCAA basketball championship trophy.

After chatting with Yi Jianlian for a while, Liu Mang and Yi Jianlian's few short contacts each year ended. Liu Mang and three teammates went back to the hotel together. Tomorrow, he had to get up early to prepare for the game the day after tomorrow.

……

As for the ultimate move, it is natural to save it for a more critical time.

When the Eagles came to Los Angeles Toyota Center for tactical training on the 24th, they just reviewed some minor problems in the "civilian five-man tactics" in the game against the Heat the day before yesterday, but there were not many problems.

The main thing is to conduct tactical drills for the Lakers' inside combination tactics. With Wade, who is much stronger than Finley and Mason, on the bench, there must be some changes in tactics.

Of course, the core is still inside. O’Neal will be suspended for four games. Others will have heavier tasks. The peak Yao Ming + Gasol + Odom + Wang Zhizhi + Radmanovich... This luxurious inside combination is no worse than the Eagles’ luxurious outside combination.

The influence of the inside line in the game is obviously stronger than that of the outside line. The Eagles who have temporarily lost O'Neal will have greater pressure on the inside line.

However, compared to last season, the inside gap has been much, much smaller.

Although they were training in the same training hall, Liu Mang, Yao Ming, and Wang Zhizhi did not meet each other that day. On the morning of Christmas on the 25th, Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi met at the hotel where the Eagles stayed to give Christmas gifts to Liu Mang’s two cubs and little Lolita. The three national team leaders met.

And we didn't have much time to chat. After checking on the recent situation, Liu Mang picked up Yao Ming and drove to the kindergarten... No, it was a car bound for the Staples Center. The two teams had a game at 08:30 tonight, so they couldn't be idle during the day. There was too little time for preparation before.

It’s true that the Lakers can’t take care of the Eagles for the time being, but they won’t waste the final preparation time before the game. They have to work hard to win every game in order to ensure that they don’t fall into the second half of the playoffs in the Wild West.

The Eagles need one more day of rest, and of course they want to beat the Lakers even more.

Compared with the number of negative games of the No. 22 Spurs in the Western Conference, the Eagles only lost two more games with 6 wins and [-] losses. The Spurs had to play two more games, which meant that the Eagles were three wins behind.

Liu Mang wanted three consecutive MVPs, and the team naturally wanted Liu Mang to have three consecutive MVPs. The gap between three wins is not too big, but it is not small. Now that Wade is back in such a good state, the goal of the Eagles has changed from not caring about regular season results at the beginning of the season.

Help Liu Mang win the MVP!Fight for the regular season championship!

(End of this chapter)