the great gatsby

Chapter 571 Playoffs!
The January schedule is not friendly to the Lakers. Most of the Lakers' schedules in January are in the West. They take turns playing against the Clippers, Warriors, Grizzlies, Spurs, Thunder, and Mavericks. Fighting against these teams wants to maintain the winning percentage It's not easy. Throughout January, the Lakers only won 12 games, 39 wins and 10 losses. The entire Lakers team has also begun to enter a period of fatigue. Even though the Lakers' rotation is still implemented, the veterans of the team are a little overwhelmed.

After discussing with Jim Ain, Gatsby had no choice but to consciously give up some games. Of course, if Gatsby couldn't stop Gatsby, he deserved to lose. Fortunately, after entering February, there was an excellent Time for a break—the All-Star Game.

But Gatsby still had no rest. He, Kobe, and Aldridge were selected for the All-Star Game. Gatsby and Kobe were the starters, Aldridge was a substitute, and Jokic was selected for the Rookie Challenge. A total of four Lakers have entered the All-Stars, which can be regarded as a big gain.

Apart from participating in the All-Star Game, Gatsby shirked all other sub-events. At his level, there is no need to participate in this kind of game, and he must give other players some opportunities.

During the entire All-Star Game, Gatsby did not participate in any necessary official activities except for some necessary official activities, and the commercials were not filmed. He did not want to spend precious time filming commercials, but had fun with his girlfriend Long Xiaoman nearby. Playing around, he didn't play until the All-Star Game.

Kobe attended for a while and then sat back on the bench. Now he doesn't pay much attention to this. He is accumulating energy for the playoffs. With a teammate as strong as Gatsby, he wants to win another championship in the later years of his career. Champion, this will increase his historical status again. Although there is no way to compare with Jordan, it will eventually narrow the distance.

The lack of attention from Gatsby and Kobe gave James a chance. Now he doesn't have many honors and is very hungry for even an All-Star MVP. Seeing that Gatsby didn't care much, he boldly took over the power and led As the Western Conference All-Stars defeated the Eastern Conference, he scored a near-triple-double of 34 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists to win the All-Star MVP.

Westbrook does have ideas for the All-Star MVP, but unfortunately his friendship is not as good as James, and no one supports him when Gatsby has no intention of doing so.

After the All-Star Game, the schedule moved forward like flying. The Lakers played steadily in the late stage and firmly occupied the No. [-] position in the league. Coach Jim Ain was grinning from ear to ear. He was basically able to determine the best head coach of the season .

Gatsby averaged 32.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 11.3 assists per game this season, and led the team to a record of 68 wins and 14 losses. He has already locked in the MVP with a high probability. Stephen Curry, who ranks second in the MVP list, averaged 30.1 points per game With 5.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists, he also led the team to 64 wins, ranking third in the Western Conference. If it weren't for Gatsby, Curry might be the MVP of this year.

The other teams in the Western Conference are the Los Angeles Clippers second, the San Antonio Spurs fourth, the Oklahoma City Thunder fifth, the Portland Trail Blazers sixth, the Dallas Mavericks seventh, and the Memphis Grizzlies eighth. , Well, the Rockets ranked ninth and missed the playoffs!
So the first-round matchup in the West is:

The Grizzlies will face the Lakers, the Spurs will face the Thunder, and then the winners of these four teams will advance to the second round;

The Clippers play the Mavericks, the Warriors play the Trail Blazers, and the winners of these four teams enter the second round.

The Wild West has a well-deserved reputation. Almost every round is a meat grinder fight. No team dares to say that they will win, even the Lakers ranked first. Who doesn't know that the toughest Grizzlies in the league, entered After the playoffs, it is the most difficult.

The showdown between the Spurs and the Thunder is the most eye-catching in the first round. These two teams are truly super strong teams. They are also unlucky. They have not avoided each other. After winning, they have to meet the Lakers, but there is no way. In the West That's it. If you don't meet the Lakers, you will have to meet the Clippers or the Warriors. Anyway, no team is easy to deal with.

The Clippers are in good hands. They don’t have to meet the Lakers, Spurs, and Thunder. Although the Warriors are also difficult, the Clippers think this is the best choice. Let alone the Lakers, if they meet the Spurs in the first round With the Thunder, the Clippers dare not say that they will definitely win. The Spurs are old and cunning, and the Thunder are unparalleled. They will definitely not be able to please them.

The Eastern Conference rankings are that the Knicks have rushed to the first place this season, the second is the Toronto Raptors, the third is the Chicago Bulls, the fourth is the Miami Heat, the fifth is the Atlanta Hawks, the sixth is the Boston Celtics, and Seventh is the Charlotte Hornets and eighth is the Indiana Pacers.

Because the Lakers confirmed their spot in the playoffs early, they were forced to play the rest of the games. Veterans like Kobe and Gasol were full of energy, and Gatsby almost carried the team behind them. Moving forward is to let the veterans rest more.

The Grizzlies and the Lakers are sure, but they dare not relax. The Grizzlies have a lot of energy, and they can feel it during the regular season. The Grizzlies this season is different from the previous life. The entire team is full of players. Sol is also fine, this Grizzlies team is quite terrifying, definitely much stronger than the original period.

But the Grizzlies are the opponents the Lakers are willing to face. The reason is that although the Grizzlies are tough, their rhythm is what the Lakers like. After all, Gatsby could keep up, but the other veterans couldn't run away, either because they couldn't deal with it, or they were troublesome.

The Lakers entered the playoffs again, and the Lakers fans sang and danced. It was not the Lakers who won the championship at Staples last season, but the Clippers, but the Lakers fans were pissed off, especially the ugly things the Clippers fans said. Lakers fans can hold back their energy and want to get it back.

At the end of the regular season, the Lakers won the first place in the league, which gave the Lakers fans a lot of confidence-since they can win the first place, there is no big problem breaking through the West. Once they break through the West, it is time for the Lakers to win the championship again!
When Gatsby stepped into the Staples Center, the fans in the stadium began to shout MVP. This season's Gatsby really left a deep impression on the Lakers fans. Gatsby carried The team is moving forward. He is not as lonely as Kobe. The way he carries the team forward is to integrate the combat effectiveness of the whole team, not just rely on his own offense. This is a unique leader!
This is a great leader!

Gatsby smiled and bowed to the fans, and the screams from Staples Center were even more enthusiastic.

Matt Barnes of the Grizzlies snorted: "What the hell, leave it to me, I'll make it hard for him to move, look at his hypocrisy, it's disgusting!"

Stephenson said seriously: "Matt, don't be careless, Gatsby is the most powerful player in the league!"

Barnes said with a smile: "Lance, I know you guys used to be teammates, but you don't have to talk about him like that. You should know my defense. He will definitely pay for every point he scores!"

Stephenson nodded and stopped talking. It's good for teammates to be upbeat, and he can't hit him, but... I hope Barnes won't be hit too hard!

(End of this chapter)