Versatile Point Forward

Chapter 416 Can't Catch Up

The top three in the Western Conference this season are somewhat unexpected. After the All-Star Weekend, the Spurs, Trail Blazers and Thunder have firmly locked the top three positions. Even the Lakers led by Kobe are far behind and have to let People are dumbfounded, knowing that the Lakers were considered one of the favorites to win the championship before the start of the season.

Originally, the Blazers wanted to rush to No. 1 in the Western Conference. After all, they said they didn’t mind, but the home field advantage is indeed useful in the playoffs. If they can get No. [-] in the Western Conference, it means at least before the finals. Can sit on the home court advantage, which can also increase the probability of the team's promotion.But now it's the end of the season, but the Spurs have always occupied the top spot in the Western Conference with an advantage of [-] win, which discouraged the teams behind.

Looking at the schedules of each team, McMillan couldn't help but smile bitterly. The Spurs' schedule of five or six games left is much better than theirs, even though one win is not a difficult task for the Blazers However, coupled with the obvious difference in the difficulty of the schedule between the two sides, McMillan is really not sure that he will surpass the Spurs and rank first in the Western Conference in this short period of time.However, this also means that the Spurs' previous schedule was more difficult than that of the Trail Blazers.

You must know that the core of the Spurs, Parker, Ginobili and Duncan are not young anymore. It is really surprising that they can play such a strong performance in such a dense schedule.Of course, Popovich's rotation strategy played a big role, which allowed the players to always maintain sufficient physical strength.

Now both the Spurs and the Trail Blazers have only 6 games left, and the third Thunder still has 7 games, and they are only 1.5 games away from the Trail Blazers.However, the Thunder's schedule is similar to that of the Trail Blazers. More than two-thirds of the teams are currently the top eight teams in the East and West. With their strength, it is not easy to catch up to the 1.5 wins. .The Spurs only have 6 games against strong teams in the remaining 2 games. The difficulty gap in the schedule can be said to be very large.

Therefore, McMillan also put out his thoughts of competing for the top spot in the Western Conference. He only asked the players to do their best every game, win the games that must be won, and try their best for those games that are not sure.If they want to become No. 4 in the Western Conference, they can only wait for the Spurs to make mistakes. The Blazers just need to be careful not to be caught up by the Thunder behind them.Of course, the fourth-ranked Lakers have a full [-] wins behind them, which is equivalent to a final conclusion.

The opponents of the Blazers in the last 6 games are the Celtics, Magic, Jazz, Knicks, Nuggets and Warriors. Except for the Jazz and Warriors, the other teams are in the playoffs. Fourth, the Magic sixth, the Knicks eighth, and the Nuggets seventh in the West.Even for the two teams that haven't entered the top eight for the time being, the Jazz are ninth in the Western Conference and are only one step away from the playoffs. The only weak team is the Warriors.

The only good news is that these 6 games are divided between home and away, although two of the three away games are in the East... If there are more away games than home games, it will be very bad for the Blazers.After all, everyone is now starting to accumulate energy for the playoffs, and long-distance flying is one of the things that consume the most energy. No matter how you adjust after landing, the state will not be very good. It is very exciting when the playoffs are approaching. It hurts.

It's a pity that the Blazers got a bad start at the beginning of the closing stage. They lost the first game away to the Celtics.Although Ye Feng had a triple-double of 27 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists, only Matthews scored 18 points and Aldridge scored 15 points among the other starters.The old and strong Celtics Big Three teamed up to score 72 points, and it is reasonable for the Blazers to lose.

However, when they returned to the home court, they defeated the Knicks and the Jazz successively, and continued to follow the footsteps of the Spurs.In the game against the Knicks, Ye Feng really played soy sauce once. He only played 27 minutes and scored 18 points and 6 assists. The reason is very simple. The Knicks were beaten in the first half. Feng naturally doesn't need much playing time.McMillan obviously took this game as training. Roy got 28 minutes of playing time, Oden also played 23 minutes, and they both played well. Roy got 23 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists. Deng contributed a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

It is not so easy to play against the Jazz. After all, the Jazz is only one game away from the eighth Mavericks in the West, and they still have not given up on chasing the playoffs. Such a team is the most difficult to deal with.If it weren't for Matthews hitting a quasi-lore 1 seconds before the end of the game, the Blazers might have to suffer at home. You must know that the Thunder has chased the gap to only 4.5 wins, and it is possible to surpass the past at any time , so now the Blazers cannot afford to lose.

Then they flew to Orlando in the southeastern United States, and retreated unscathed with Howard scoring 24 points and 22 rebounds.This time it was Aldridge, who had always been tepid, who made the contribution this time. He seemed to have regained his confidence and scored 37 points and 14 rebounds in the game, making Howard's large double-double pale in comparison.Ye Feng once again sent out a triple-double: 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists.

After defeating the Magic, the Blazers flew to Oakland, their last regular season game of the season. Although it was tiring to fly from the West to the East and back to the West, fortunately, the opponent in this game was the third from the bottom in the West. Warriors, the gap in strength between the two sides is so great that the exhaustion of the journey has been irreparable.Sure enough, the result of the game did not surprise anyone. The Blazers easily beat the Warriors 123 to 99. Under the organization of Ye Feng, the seven players of the team scored in double figures. Roy and Oden once again scored more than 25 minutes. Playing time, find a good state for the upcoming playoffs.

In the final battle, the Blazers defeated the Nuggets without any risk, and fixed the record of this season at 49 wins and 17 losses.Of course, this record is beyond the reach of the Thunder. Although they also defeated the Timberwolves in the final game, it has no impact on the overall situation. In the end, the Thunder's record is 47 wins and 19 losses, which is 2 wins behind the Blazers. Reluctantly ranked third in the West.However, the Blazers are also very unhappy. The Spurs won all the last 6 games, and the final record was 50 wins and 16 losses, just overtaking the Blazers and ranking first in the Western Conference.

(End of this chapter)