NBA: I am the god of basketball

Chapter 252 In the first round of the playoffs, black and white double evils restrain the Rockets who lack insiders?
With an average of 36.3 points per game, Wang Chao successfully completed the three-star achievement task, and it feels pretty good to get 6000 points into the account.

In contrast, the various praises and praises from the outside world for his unparalleled historical data of 36.3+13.8+11.2+2.6 per game are not worth mentioning.

The current Wang Chao no longer needs to use pure statistics to prove his ability. There are only two awards that can affect his historical status, regular season MVP and finals FMVP.

For the MVP of the regular season, considering that although the Rockets have dropped 12 games this season compared to last season, they are still the first in the league, and Wang Chao's luxurious average data and terrifying high-level data such as efficiency value and victory contribution value Performance, a fifth straight regular-season MVP is not out of the question.

After all, looking at the league, only Wang Chao and Durant are currently qualified and capable of winning the regular season MVP. Even James, who has always been ranked second in the regular season MVP list in the past two seasons, has no chance this season. The Heat's record is really bad. Although they rank second in the Eastern Conference, they only rank seventh in the league.

Compared with Wang Chao, Durant is like a firefly light competing with the bright moon.

No one still doubts that when the results of the regular season MVP selection are announced, Wang Chao will definitely crush Durant with an absolute advantage and win the fifth career MVP and the first five consecutive MVPs in history.

However, the results of the regular season MVP selection will not be announced until the end of the second round of the playoffs, and the main event before that is the playoffs.

The Rockets' opponent in the first round is the Memphis Grizzlies, ranked eighth in the West, with a record of 50 wins and 32 losses.

There is one thing to say, in the eyes of the outside world, the Grizzlies can be said to be one of the teams that the Rockets are least good at dealing with, because they have the league's top inside combination, with Marc Gasol and Zach Gasol supported by black and white. randolph.

Both of them are tall and heavy inside players, and the Grizzlies have Mike Conley, Tony Allen and Courtney Lee three top outside defensive players on the outside.

Mike Conley was selected to the second team of the All-Defensive Team last season, and Tony Allen is well-known as a defensive expert and has been selected to the All-Defensive Team for many years. Courtney Lee has never been selected to the All-Defensive Team. When the Magic won the championship, it was one of the main defensive forces on the outside of the team. At the same time, they also had a relatively stable fixed-point three-pointer.

The Grizzlies were able to stand out in the fiercely competitive Western Conference this season, even if they were only eighth in the Western Conference and achieved a record of 50 wins, they relied on the impregnable defense of the five starters.

During the regular season, the Grizzlies averaged 94.6 points per game, third in the league, second only to the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls, two teams that are also good at defense. Of course, everything has advantages and disadvantages. Although the Grizzlies’ defense Strong, but offense has always been a problem, averaging 96.1 points per game is the bottom ranks in the league.

In terms of comprehensive ability, the Rockets absolutely beat the Grizzlies a few streets, but everything is born and restrained. The Rockets currently lack a heavy center in the team. In theory, there is still the possibility of being restrained by the Grizzlies.

It is worth mentioning that the Rockets' original starting center Dayao's recovery from injury.

Although it has not been mentioned before, Dayao's recovery is not ideal. He originally planned to return at the end of March, but after starting training with the team, Dayao still felt a little discomfort in his ankle. In addition, the Rockets' record is not good. Too bad, Wang Chao, Leonard Butler and others are completely able to bear it, so the team postponed Dayao's comeback time and planned to let him come back in early May.

If they come back in early May, they will naturally miss the first round of the playoffs in mid-to-late April.

Of course, if the Rockets are really suppressed by the Grizzlies' inside twin towers and the situation is unfavorable, Dayao can also come back quickly to save the game, but many outside media commentators believe that the Rockets will be restrained when facing the Grizzlies. But Wang Chao doesn't think so.

Black and white Shuangsha are indeed quite strong, but if their dominance in the interior penalty area is really that strong, how can they only be the eighth in the West?
Even though the Rockets are at a disadvantage compared to the Grizzlies on the inside, their advantages are obvious. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph are heavy insiders who don’t move fast. The defense line is as simple as chopping melons and vegetables.

Most of the commentators who are more optimistic that the Grizzlies will have the upper hand in the series are just trying to use this to attract people's attention.

On April 4, the opening game of the first round of the playoffs was held at the Toyota Center Arena in Houston, home of the Rockets.
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"Hello, audience friends, long time no see. This is the first round of the NBA 2013-14 season playoffs brought to you by CCTV Sports Channel, the Houston Rockets vs. Memphis Grizzlies game. I will also explain this game together with our old friend Director Zhang, Director Zhang, what do you think about this game, and which side is more optimistic about winning the game?"

In the CCTV sports studio, Director Yu talked eloquently.

"Of course it's the rocket." Director Zhang said immediately without thinking. "The Rockets are No. [-] in the Western Conference. Don't listen to those who say on the Internet that the Grizzlies lineup restrains the Rockets. How many times have there been black eights in NBA history? The probability of the Rockets losing is too low. Besides, once the team is in crisis, Yao It can also be played in the line of fire.”

"Those who say that the Rockets may be blackballed by the Grizzlies still underestimate the Rockets and Wang Chao's strength!"

"It seems that Director Zhang is full of confidence in the Rockets and Wang Chao." Director Yu said with a smile: "The game is ready to start. Today's Grizzlies starting lineup is the same as in the regular season. Guard Mike Conley, shooting guard Tony Allen, small forward Courtney Lee, power forward Zach Randolph, center Marc Gasol, this is a lineup with the ultimate defensive intensity, three perimeter players The players are all top perimeter defensive experts in the league, and there is Marc Gasol on the inside guarding the basket. The defense is a bit like the Rockets last season, but the offensive ability is slightly worse."

"The Rockets' starting five are point guard Wang Chao, shooting guard Jimmy Butler, small forward Kawhi Leonard, power forward Chandler Parsons, and center Hassan Whiteside."

"Since the All-Star Weekend, Wang Chao has appeared more at the point guard position, and because of this, we have witnessed the most exciting individual performance in NBA history and even in the history of world basketball."

"Under this lineup, although the Rockets' interior defense is slightly worse, the overall strength is still quite strong, especially the offensive firepower, which can be called one of the strongest in the league. It’s hard to tell from the Rockets’ indiscriminate bombing.”

"The starting players from both sides have already appeared, and the game is about to begin!"

Whiteside and Gasol jumped the ball, and there was naturally no suspense about the result.

When the height is close, Whiteside's jumping and explosive power are far better than Gasol Jr., and he can easily turn the basketball to his side.

After Wang Chao got the basketball, he slowly dribbled the ball across the half court.

Standing in front of him was Tony Allen, the Grizzlies' strongest single-defense player.

As a player known for his defense in the league, Tony Allen's defense is indeed very good. As a role player, being selected to the All-Defensive Team six times throughout his career is the greatest recognition of his defensive ability. Of course, these six best defenses The lineup has three more occurrences in the future.

It's just that no matter how outstanding Tony Allen's defense is, he can't defend against Wang Chao. It's not because of Wang Chao's scoring ability, but because the height gap between the two is too large.

Tony Allen is 1 meters tall, and Wang Chao is 93 meters tall. When the two stand together, Wang Chao is half a head taller than Tony Allen. If you count the wingspan, the gap is even bigger.

Therefore, when he saw that Tony Allen was guarding him, Wang Chao didn't even think about it, and directly stood at a distance of more than 1 meter from the three-point line and shot a jumper on the spot.

Tony Allen was already very close to Wang Chao. When he saw Wang Chao's hand, he raised his hand to interfere immediately. However, due to his height restriction, he couldn't form an effective defense against Wang Chao.

"brush--!"

A super-long-range three-pointer made Wang Chao take the lead for the Rockets.

3: 0.

Tony Allen's defensive skills and awareness are excellent. He even has a glorious record of defending Durant alone in the future and successfully limiting the opponent's offensive efficiency. It seems that he can defend a big shooter like Wang Chao.

But Wang Chao is completely different from Durant. Wang Chao's dribbling, physical confrontation ability and accuracy outside the three-point line are not comparable to Durant. Tony Allen is best at those things. has no effect in front of it.

The Grizzlies actually understand this truth, but they understand it. Apart from letting Tony Allen defend Wang Chao, what can they do?

At the forward position of the Grizzlies, there is no player who is flexible and has outstanding defensive ability.

Perhaps because of the butterfly effect, small forward Tayshaun Prince, the original champion of the Pistons, did not join the Grizzlies this season.

During the period of the Eastern Magic, Wang Chao played against Prince many times. At that time, Prince was completely unable to defend against Wang Chao.

At the beginning of the first quarter, after Wang Chao scored several goals in a row, the Grizzlies had no choice but to double-team Wang Chao, and arranged for Tony Allen and Courtney Lee to double-team Wang Chao to reduce his offensive efficiency.

Wang Chao stopped attacking under the double-team, but he still passed the ball to assist his teammates to score.

The Grizzlies have no choice but to let Wang Chao score or let his teammates score. They can only choose one. They chose the former. Who made Wang Chao's scoring so scary in the second half of the regular season? ?Scoring 50+ and 40+ points in consecutive games, that is a terrifying performance that can really defeat an entire team by one's own strength!
Wang Chao also said that he is not in a hurry with the Grizzlies' defensive strategy.

It's not like the system issued tasks to him during the regular season, forcing him to score high points to complete the tasks to earn points. In the playoffs, as long as he can win the game, it doesn't matter if his score is lower.

Wang Chao's current pass assists are also at the master level. With the talent of God's perspective, he can easily find teammates who are in the open state, and then use the fancy pass of the talent of the passer to pass the ball to the open teammates very beautifully. Score.

As a result of the Grizzlies double-teaming Wang Chao, Wang Chao's assists reached 9 times before halftime.

14 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists in the half!

Under the leadership of Wang Chao, the Rockets led the Grizzlies by 56 points 44:12.

In the second half of the game, the situation did not improve at all. The Grizzlies played almost the entire game under the pressure of the Rockets.

"Congratulations to the Rockets for successfully defending their home court and winning the first game of the series with a 107:89 victory over the Grizzlies by 18 points!"

With the end of the game, Director Yu said in a brisk tone: "I believe this game can quiet down many voices who doubted before the game. The Rockets' first record in the Western Conference is the result of a real fight, game by game. How come? Maybe because of the restraint of the lineup, they lost to a team that was weaker than them inexplicably?"

"And those who think that the Rockets' internal strength is not strong enough, look at the Grizzlies' internal double towers in this game, and the black and white double evils should be able to understand. This kind of thinking itself is wrong."

"Mark Gasol made 21 of 7 shots, shot only 33.3%, scored 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Zach Randolph made 19 of 7 shots, shot 36.8%, scored 17 points and 6 rebounds. The shooting efficiency was much lower than expected, whether facing Whiteside or Gobert who came off the bench, the offensive scoring was not as easy and simple as imagined."

"The inside is not effective, the outside offensive ability is not strong, and the Rockets' offense is completely unable to pass the defensive restrictions. It is completely impossible to see that the Grizzlies have any chance of winning this series."

The evaluation given by Director Zhang is very pertinent, because immediately afterward, the Rockets won two consecutive games at home and away from the Grizzlies, and the score came to 3:0 in the blink of an eye.

这两场比赛，灰熊队的内线双塔依旧没能打出统治比赛的表现，兰多夫在第二场比赛倒是20投10中，罚球6中5，高效的砍下了25分8篮板，但小加索尔15投6中得到16分7篮板的表现依旧只能用平庸来形容。

In the third game of the series, Randolph scored 16 points and Gasol Jr. had 14 points. The combined score of the two was just equal to that of Wang Chao.

After these three games are over, no one in the league thinks that the Grizzlies' lineup has a restraining effect on the Rockets.

It's 3:0, and you still restrain a hammer?

In the fourth game of the series, the Grizzlies finally played a big game. Gasol Jr. had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, Randolph had 21 points and 9 rebounds, plus Mike Conley with 14 points and 11 assists, the Grizzlies finally Win the next game at home and avoid the embarrassment of being swept out 4:0.

Of course, this is just a reprieve.

Two days later, at Houston's Toyota Center, the home court of the Rockets, the Rockets won 120:98 with 22 points, completely sending the Grizzlies back home.

With a total score of 4:1, the Rockets eliminated the Grizzlies and successfully advanced to the second round of the Western Conference semifinals.

(End of this chapter)