NBA peak

Chapter 704 The first round against the Grizzlies

No, the playoffs are about to begin, and the game between the Heat and the Cavaliers is what fans are most concerned about in the East.

Heat fans once again declared war on James online.

"James, it's time to fulfill our promise and help the Heat win more championship trophies!"

"..."

So much for the East.

Next is the more competitive, also more Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon West.

The Lakers' success in becoming a 70-win club this season and leading the league is indeed something that many fans never imagined at first.

Before the start of the new season, when ESPN columnist Pelton predicted that the Lakers' record in the new season would stabilize at around 54 wins, few experts and fans still laughed at Pelton as a "column rookie."

As a result, unexpectedly, the Lakers not only fulfilled Pelton's prediction, but also far exceeded Pelton's expectations.

If it weren't for Ge Feng's suspension for 5 games and Davis's absence for more than two months due to a malicious foul, the Lakers' record might be even better. They might even surpass the strongest Warriors in history and get 74 wins, or even more wins.

Until now, many fans still echo in their minds what Kobe said in an interview with the media at the beginning of the season.

"Our goal is the championship! We are not afraid of losing in the regular season. The regular season is for trial and error. Only when we lose all the games we should lose in the regular season can we reach the end of the playoffs."

I believe you a ghost!
You are very bad old man!

Ranked second in the West is the Los Angeles Clippers.

In the past three years, Los Angeles has been really proud.

The Lakers and Clippers, the Los Angeles ace brother team, used practical actions to prove to the fans what it means to be rich and powerful.

The defending champion Clippers have a record of 67 wins and 15 losses this season, and they are only one step away from 70 wins.

Ranked third is the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets, known as the home of the Devil, also achieved a proud record of 65 wins this season.

In the same season, there were six 6-win teams in the East and West, which is absolutely unique in history.

The biggest reason why the league will have six 6-win teams within a year is that the polarization of the league has developed to the extreme.

The strong is too strong, the weak is too weak.

Although fans have called for one person, one city in the past two years, it has prevented the NBA from continuing to develop toward polarization in a certain sense.

However, the polarization of NBA teams is the result of Xiao Hua's years of accumulation in his tenure, and it is impossible to reverse it in just one or two seasons.

When there are six 6-win teams in the league at the same time, it means that there are six teams in the league, and they may not even win 60 games after a whole season.

This is the true series.

Losing all year round will not only blow the confidence of the players who have suffered consecutive defeats, but also make the fans in this city lose enthusiasm for their home team.

This is the scariest thing.

Once fans lose enthusiasm for their home team, what future can the NBA expect?

The fourth-ranked team in the West is the Utah Jazz.

The operation of the Jazz management in recent years is still very perfect.

Not only are the new cores Mitchell and Gobert playing better and better, but the Jazz's successive reinforcements of Conley, Clarkson, Ingles, and Favors are all actual players in the league. If it wasn't for the Jazz's Bojan being poached by the Lakers, I am afraid that the momentum of the Jazz will be even stronger than it is now.

The teams in the lower half of the Western Conference are the Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, and Memphis Grizzlies.

At the end of the regular season, the Lone Ranger almost achieved a lead over the Jazz through a wave of winning streak.

It's a pity that when the Lone Ranger played against the underdog Kings in the West, they were counterattacked by the front line composed of Da Baibian and Da Morris, and missed the top half.

Coincidentally, after the Kings and Lakers completed the Joshua deal, both teams have made some visible improvements.

What the Kings need is a ready-to-play player like Morris with 3D capabilities, and what the Lakers need is a player like Joshua who can protect the frame and grab rebounds.

There is no distinction between good and bad players, they just take what they need.

In any case, the Lone Ranger's ranking in the lower half of the Western Conference is a foregone conclusion.

The Lone Ranger had to challenge the Jazz, which has home court advantage, in the first round of the playoffs.

The game between the Lone Ranger and the Jazz is also the most suspenseful game in the first round of the playoffs.

The Pelicans, ranked sixth in the West, will challenge the Denver Nuggets in the first round.

As I said before, the goal of the Denver Nuggets in the past two years is to win the championship.

Although the regular season record of the Denver Nuggets is not as good as the Lakers and Clippers, fans can clearly see the true strength of the Nuggets this year.

There are seven games in the playoff round series. It is not easy for the Pelicans to take the final victory from the Nuggets.

Although Zion has improved a lot this season, his shooting and his temper that is easy to get ahead at critical moments still need to be honed.

The Pelicans are still Ingram's team.

Ranked seventh in the West is the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Blazers have suffered frequent injuries in the past two years, and even missed the playoffs in the first two seasons.

However, this season, Lillard and CJ McCollum came back strongly, leading the Blazers to a wave of 14 consecutive victories.

It is unlikely that the Blazers will beat the Clippers, but if Lillard performs well, he will not be completely unable to fight the Clippers.

The Clippers and the Trail Blazers are still a more suspenseful matchup.

The last team to advance to the Western Conference playoffs was the Memphis Grizzlies, which had entered the NBA for 25 seasons but never won a championship.

Although the Grizzlies' best lineup in team history does not lack powerful stars such as Conley, the Gasol brothers, and Randolph, there has never been a superstar like Kobe, McGrady, and Duncan in the history of the team.

What's even more tragic is that the Grizzlies have not won the No. [-] pick since the establishment of the team.

The second pick in 2019 is their highest pick ever.

The Grizzlies also used this No. [-] pick to select supernova Ja Morant from Murray State University.

The years after 2010 were the best years for the Grizzlies.

The team has a black and white team, created a miracle of black and eight, reached the Western Conference finals, and made it to the playoffs for many years in a row.

However, starting in 2017, the Grizzlies gradually began to decline.

First, Randolph left the Spurs, then Gasol was traded to the Raptors, and the last meritorious veteran was also sent to the Jazz, and the Grizzlies began to completely rebuild.

Fortunately, the arrival of Morant, a potential new star, has accelerated the Grizzlies' road to reconstruction a lot.

After three years of growth, Morant has steadily become the cornerstone of the Grizzlies team.

Morant has played in 67 games for the Grizzlies this season, starting all of them.

In an average of 36.9 minutes per game, Morant scored 26.9 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds. While successfully becoming an All-Star, he also brought the rebuilt Grizzlies into the playoffs for two consecutive years.

(End of this chapter)