Zhiba NBA

Chapter 61 (Sixty) Long-awaited
"Rudy, at the end of the season, the team has almost nothing to desire. The only small goal is to overwhelm the Pacers and become the number one in the league."

"Based on our current situation, it can be said that we have a chance to win."

"So I have a small suggestion, let's rest the main players in the next match against the Kings."

"What? Why did you deliberately let the water go in the closing stage?" Tang Shuai was a little surprised: "I don't want to be fined by the league again."

"It is reasonable to do so," Yuan Fei explained in detail.

***
On April 4, Tang Shuai, who had a plan in mind, rested many main players in rotation.The Rockets lost at home to the Kings, who were struggling to compete for rankings.The king's number one hero Stujakovic scored 4+28.Fortunately, at the end of the season, the league also turned a blind eye and turned a blind eye, and did not issue a fine.

The last wave of the closing game was calm for the Rockets. After a day's rest, six of them scored in double figures and defeated the Warriors in an away game.Lost the Warriors Arenas bad lineup this season, only made 6 wins.This era does not belong to them yet.

In the back-to-back games the next day, McGrady scored 42+7+4 to kill the Clippers, and the Rockets won by 23 points.After this battle, Tracy McGrady has basically secured the season's scoring title.

9日主场对掘金的比赛很可能是季后赛首轮的预演。掘金以41-37排名西部第八，稍稍领先于41-38的爵士。火箭全队拿出了浑身解数认真应对这个潜在对手，比卢普斯打出了33+3+11的巨星级发挥帮助球队取胜。

Then the Rockets lost the game against the Jazz, won the Sonics and the Mavericks, and finally ended the regular season with a record of 62 wins and 20 losses, ranking first in the league.

The Pacers also played well in this period. A wave of winning streak ended the regular season, and the final record was fixed at 61 wins and 21 losses, which can be regarded as a sigh of relief for the Eastern Conference that has been weak for many years.

The Timberwolves are also competitive enough, and played a wave of 4 consecutive victories in April, which ended perfectly.In the end, he ranked third in the West with a record of 6 wins and 58 losses. Garnett, who was ridiculed by the media as "the first round of ten thousand years", is bound to take off this shameful hat this time.

4月11日的关键战中，韦伯终于一雪前耻打出了巨星级的发挥。他砍下25+12+5，帮助国王主场17分大胜湖人。最终国王和湖人战绩都为55胜27负，国王以3-1的相互交手战绩优势压倒湖人，成为了太平洋区头名，也压倒了战绩更好的森林狼和马刺成为了西部第二。

The first round of the 2003-2004 Western Conference playoffs was: Rockets vs Nuggets, Kings vs Grizzlies, Timberwolves vs Mavericks, Spurs vs Lakers.

This reflects the wisdom of the Rockets taking turns to lose to the Kings.The Kings narrowly overwhelmed the Lakers, which made the Rockets' two biggest opponents on the road to the championship, the Spurs and the Lakers, meet in the first round.These two strong teams are the favorites among the favorites, and it is always good to be able to eliminate one of them first.

In the East: Pacers vs Celtics, Nets vs Knicks, Pistons vs Raptors, Heat vs Hornets.The Nets, a veteran team, had a bad start, worked hard in the second half, overcame the difficulty of Kidd's knee injury, and finally squeezed out the Heat's top spot in the Atlantic region with a record of 47 wins and 35 losses, thus occupying the second place in the Eastern Conference.In the West, the 49-win Grizzlies only ranked seventh.But there is no way, this is the era when the gap between the east and the west is the greatest, and there is no fairness.

In some award selections, Rockets players have also won.McGrady averaged 29.8 points per game and was elected as the leading scorer.His main competitor, Kobe, averaged "only" 24.0 points per game due to reduced possession of the ball; Iverson missed too many games due to injuries and lost his eligibility for the election.Stujakovic, No. 2 in the scoring list, only scored 24.2 points. It is rare in history to have such a wide gap between the top two.

The rebounding king was taken away by Garnett with an astonishing 13.9 rebounds per game.Garnett's data and record this season have both harvested, and he is almost the only candidate who can challenge McGrady's MVP trophy.

In addition to the famous McGrady, the excellent performance of Yao Ming and Billups also attracted the attention of experts.Although the MVP is hopeless, they still have a good chance to enter the selection of the best team.

Regarding the discussion of the ownership of the championship, the media has various divergent views.Some senior sports reporters insisted that the F4 Lakers are the strongest team in the playoffs. After all, in recent years, the Lakers have had a precedent for playing dead in the regular season and breaking out in the playoffs.There are also some media people who are optimistic that the cutting-edge Rockets will maintain their state until the playoffs and win the championship after dominating the regular season.The Spurs are also highly anticipated by fans under the growth of Ginobili and Arenas. The Pacers, who are in the weak Eastern District, are also favored by some experts because of their weaker opponents.Some supporters of the Kings and Timberwolves also have their own opinions. These teams are considered to be the favorites to win the championship.Compared with the pattern of the Lakers and Spurs dividing the world evenly in the past few years, the current alliance is more like a situation where the heroes are separated.

***
On April 4, the playoffs kicked off.The first day was a bit uneventful, and the top-ranked teams (Pacers, Kings, Nets and Timberwolves) at home all won.

The next day, the Toyota Center finally ushered in its first playoff campaign.Before the game, almost no one was optimistic about the Denver people who came from the expedition. There is still a clear gap in strength between them and the Rockets.

Of course, Denver itself doesn't see it that way.Andrew Miller, the 27-year-old main player, and Marcus Camby, the 29-year-old defensive core, are in their prime. With the addition of young future stars Carmelo Anthony and Nene Hilario, the Nuggets lineup is not weak.The last time they reached the playoffs was in 1995. The rise of a bad team that has been sinking for many years has caused blind optimism.Some Nuggets fans believe that the team has the power to fight against the Rockets, and when Anthony grows into a superstar in the future, the Nuggets will dominate the league.

It turned out that hospitable Houstonians taught them an immediate lesson.Speaking of the desire for the playoffs, the Rockets players are the real long-awaited.The regret of losing to the Spurs last year due to McGrady's injury is still branded in his heart. The players are gearing up and are bound to win the championship.

The one with the highest fighting spirit is undoubtedly McGrady, who usually looks lazy. He was very excited to return to the playoffs after he had no choice but to leave the game last season. He was extremely focused and had a strong desire to attack.And Yao Ming has always been very good at playing Camby. He used his solid basic skills and height advantage to score points on Camby's head repeatedly.The Nuggets are a mediocre defensive team, and there is nothing they can do about the outbreak of the Yao-Mike combination.After the game, Tracy McGrady scored 40+5+4, Yao Ming had a double-double of 30+15, and the Rockets beat their opponents by 14 points.

At the end of the game, McGrady and his teammates, who were substituted for a break, clapped their hands and celebrated.As soon as McGrady sat down, he turned his head and asked Yuan Fei: "How did the game between the Lakers and the Spurs go?"

McGrady's problem represents the views of many Rockets players. The Nuggets are just a small stumbling block, not an enemy in the eyes of the Rockets at all.The opponents in the next round, whether the Spurs or the Lakers, are the biggest enemies on the road to the championship.The Spurs and Lakers do deserve such respect.In the 5 years after the basketball god Jordan retired, the two teams won all 5 championships.Duncan and O'Neal won all five finals MVPs, and they also won three regular season MVPs.If 5 years is an era, then the first post-Jordan era undoubtedly belongs to Shark Buddha.In the eyes of many people, defeating the Spurs and the Lakers will win the championship.

和火金之战同时进行的这场比赛也有了结果，马刺打出了史诗级的防守，F4只有科比发挥出色，他倾尽全力砍下了31+10+4。而马刺队邓肯砍下30+11，阿里纳斯20+4+9。湖人78:88憾负。

(End of this chapter)