The Basketball Court Swordsman

All 82 regular season games have ended. Henson did not start training immediately after his battle with the Celtics, but gave the players a day off.

The NBA regular season ends on April 12, and the Pacers, as the number one in the East, will not start the first game of the playoffs until April 16.

Therefore, they have plenty of time. A day off can not only relax the players' body and spirit a little bit, but also won't delay their preparations. Isn't it beautiful.

Henson still remembers that he had taken the players to fish before the start of the playoffs. But this time, Henson just stayed with his wife and children at home.

By the way, I also analyzed the situation of this year's playoffs.

The situation in the East this year is very clear. The Pacers, Celtics and Cavaliers are among the top three in the East. They are also the first team in the East.

The Raptors, Wizards and Hawks fell into second gear. They may be able to bring some threats to the top three, but it is difficult to beat them.

In the end, the Bucks without big stars and the Bulls who lost Ross are considered third gear. For these two teams, being able to play in the playoffs is already a victory. The promotion and the championship are not their part.

Henson and the Pacers' opponents in the first round of this year's playoffs are the eighth-ranked Bulls in the East.

At the beginning of the season, after the introduction of Wade and Rondo, people had high hopes for the Bulls. As everyone knows, the Bulls are just entering the threshold of the playoffs.

There is no doubt that the Bulls' performance this season has been disappointing. After playing against each other during the regular season, Henson also believes that the Bulls will not cause him any trouble.

The only thing to note is that the Bulls have always been a tough-willed team. Even if the strength is not dominant, they will do their best to bite off a piece of your meat. Therefore, the Pacers must not be taken lightly in the first round of the series.

As for the second round, the Pacers' opponent will be the winner between the Wizards and the Raptors.

On the Wizards side, John Wall was finally recognized this year. This season, Wall ranked second in the league in assists with 10.7 assists per game. And he averaged 2 steals per game, tied with Paul for first place in the league.

However, this is actually the third consecutive season that Wall has averaged a double-double. It's just that in people's minds, the Wizards were weak, so everyone ignored Wall's growth.

But the shortcomings of the Wizards are also obvious, that is, they have no experience and have not fought hard battles. Henson believes that as long as Wall is restricted, the Wizards will not pose any threat to the Pacers.

As for the Raptors, the reputation of "Trash Brothers" has been powerful in the regular season. But it's unclear what these two guys, especially Lowry, can play in the playoffs.

It's not once or twice that Lowry played out of play in the playoffs. In terms of stability, the Raptors and Pacers are simply not comparable. As long as you seize one or two games, it is not a problem to defeat the Raptors.

Thinking of this, Henson's thoughts came to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Henson very much hopes that the Celtics can advance, but if it is James who eventually advances, Henson can also deal with it.

As long as Korver and Deron Williams do not "chump" in the playoffs, the Pacers should be able to win the Cavaliers in six games. This is not Henson's arrogance, but the Cavaliers are far from being as powerful as everyone thought.

The Cavaliers have a very unbalanced offense and defense this season, scoring 113.8 points per 100 possessions on the offensive end, ranking third in the league. However, the defensive end has dropped significantly compared with last year, with 110.3 points per 100 possessions lost, and the defensive efficiency ranked only 21st in the league!

Except for James, the Cavaliers' defenses are not reassuring. In the playoffs, the importance of defense is unmatched in the regular season.

If the Celtics advance, Henson will be even more troubled. Because the Celtics, like his Pacers, are a team team. Henson believes that team-based teams are more difficult to deal with than star-led teams.

However, although Thomas Jr. has played an MVP-level performance in the regular season this season, Henson believes that the Celtics are still a bit worse than himself in terms of lineup depth. Thomas and Horford alone cannot win the championship.

In the end, Henson's attention fell on the Warriors. The Golden State Warriors are a combination of a team and a star-led team. They can use the individual abilities of the stars to solve problems, and they can also use the power of the team to play sophisticated strategies. With this, the Warriors opened a gap with other teams.

"Henson? Why are you in a daze?"

"Ah!? No." Hearing An Jiali's shout, Henson shook his head immediately. He shouldn't want to work while spending time with his family.

"Are you thinking about the playoffs?"

Hearing An Jiali say this, Henson lowered his head embarrassedly. Sure enough, his careful thinking couldn't hide his wife's eyes.

"I'm telling you, for the first game of this year's playoffs, I will go live to sing the national anthem." An Jiali leaned into Henson's ear and smiled mysteriously.

"what!?"

"I have promised my father, I hope my singing will bring good luck to your team. Do it well, Henson, I believe you can definitely bring the championship trophy back."

"Hmm...It seems that I have one more reason to win?"

Henson hugged An Jiali and looked at the sunset outside the balcony.

Summer is here, the craziest summer is here again...

Jimmy Butler travels through the player tunnel lightly, after all, he has played countless playoff games in the Bankers Life Arena. And as a result, most of them ended in victory.

But this time, walking in the player channel in the Banker’s Life Arena, Jimmy Butler felt more anxiety in his heart.

In the regular season this season, the Bulls and Pacers have met four times, and the Bulls have 4 losses and 0 wins. Since Henson's return, Jimmy Butler has never won even one game against the Pacers.

In the regular season, the Pacers have already pushed the Bulls into desperation. In the playoffs, will the Pacers perform worse?

Jimmy Butler doesn't want to lose, he doesn't want to be said by others: "It was a mistake that guy left the Pacers for status and money."

He is eager to prove with his actions that even if he leaves the Pacers and Henson, he can create his own world.

But the strength of the Pacers makes Jimmy Butler feel desperate.

After walking into the locker room, Jimmy Butler found that Rondo and Wade were already wearing gear. These two guys looked extremely serious, as if they still had to play this round of the series.

"Jimmy, why take your time? Get ready, and I will go to the court soon to warm up. Today's game, we will try our best to win." Wade glanced at Butler, and then continued to do it. Own business.

"Oh... oh..." Jimmy Butler scratched his head, do you want to win if you die? Who gave Wade so much courage?

"Listen, everyone was more precise when running tactics today! What do you do during training, and how you run when you play! This is the playoffs, and the fault tolerance rate in the playoffs is very low! Bring your spirits, give the **** of Indianapolis some color!"

On the other side, Rajon Rondo also commanded in the locker room. Rondo has always been a smart player and is very willing to put himself in the position of leader. This is why many coaches have a bad relationship with Rondo. Because Rondo sometimes doesn't get rid of the head coach's account at all. In his opinion, the head coach may not have thought of the things he had thought about.

"Jimmy, what are you doing in a daze? Isn't it because you want to give up the game?" Seeing Butler still standing there, Rondo's scorching gaze fell on him.

"No, how is it possible!" Butler hurriedly waved.

"That's good. In NBA history, there has never been a team falling behind 0 to 3, and there has never been an eighth place to win a championship. But there are many examples of black eight miracles. So, we Haven't lost yet. Don't be fooled by outside reports, the reporters will just fart. We played the game ourselves!"

After Rondo finished speaking, Jimmy Butler silently sat back in front of his locker and began to change clothes.

When he came to Chicago, firstly because of higher salary. Secondly, because Jimmy Butler wants to be the boss, he is not satisfied with only playing a sixth man in the Pacers.

But today, Rondo and Wade's performance in the face of powerful enemies has allowed Jimmy Butler to know what a real leader should be.

There is still a long way to go before I am alone...

Just when the outside world believed that the Bulls would definitely lose, the Chicagoans were already preparing for their Black Eight tragedy.

There are no underdogs in the playoffs, before challenging the Warriors. The Pacers' road is not easy at all.