NBA: I am the god of basketball

Chapter 368 The playoffs begin, sweeping the Thunder
Compared with the Western Conference, the teams in the Eastern Conference have relatively fewer upsets.

The first place in the East is the Milwaukee Bucks with 58 wins, followed by the Brooklyn Nets with 56 wins, the Charlotte Hornets with 55 wins, the Toronto Raptors with 52 wins, and the Boston Celtics with 50 wins.

Starting from No. 6, the teams in the Eastern Conference have experienced a gap in their record. The number of wins has dropped directly from below 50 wins to over 40 wins. The three teams in sixth, seventh and eighth are the Cleveland Cavaliers with 44 wins respectively. The 41-win Detroit Pistons and the 40-win Indiana Pacers.

It is worth mentioning that the Pacers without Oladipo and Bojan Bogdanovic and the Cavaliers after James' Westward Journey.

In the absence of two main scorers, the former still relied on a good team lineup and entered the playoffs with a record of 40 wins.

The Cavaliers did not suffer a drastic drop in record because of James' departure, because after all, they still have future MVP-level player Joel Embiid and Thomas Jr. who has not suffered serious injuries.

Although Embiid was later criticized many times for his soft play and stretched his hips at critical moments, his rich offensive methods and all-round internal and external characteristics made him a good leader in the regular season.

As for Thomas Jr., because he did not suffer serious injuries in the Celtics, he still has good combat power.

When Thomas Jr. and James were on the same team last season, their performance was extremely hip.

But this can’t be helped. Whoever makes Thomas Jr. is also a player who needs a lot of ball-handling offense. If he is on the same team as James, a big ball-handler, his performance will inevitably be affected, and his height is indeed a fatal shortcoming in the NBA. Once it appears on the field, it will be used as an offensive breakthrough by the opponent.

During the Celtics period, the head coach Stevens could use the excellent team defense to help Thomas Jr. fill in the gaps, but in the Cavaliers, there is no defense that can help Thomas Jr. make up for the deficiencies.

The result is that Thomas Jr. was even placed on the bench for the second half of last season.

Fortunately, James is gone.

For the Cavaliers, the departure of the superstar is a huge loss, but for Thomas Jr., it is a good thing.

In the new season, Thomas Jr. was re-promoted to the starting position and became the team's master. The strongest 175 on the surface once again glowed with the second spring of his career. He represented the team in 71 games and averaged 21.7 points and 6.6 assists per game. Although the hit rate is not particularly high, it is above the passing line.

Complementing it is Joel Embiid, who also gained a lot of shooting rights after James left the team, and his personal data ushered in a skyrocketing rise.

The Cavaliers in the 2.0 period, Embiid next to James, played the best stats of 20+10. At that time, the Cavaliers fans were already very satisfied with this. After all, the current league can steadily get an average of 20+10 per game. There are very few centers in China, and Embiid is definitely one of the best, the absolute star of tomorrow inside.

But they never thought that after James left, Embiid's data would skyrocket so quickly, directly from the early 20+10 last season, to an average of 27.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game this season!

According to such data, there are only two inside players in the league who can be compared with them. One is Antetokounmpo, who averaged 28.1 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game, and the other is 25.9 points, 12.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists. The thick-browed brother Anthony Davis who assisted.

Driven by the dual core, the Cavaliers' record has not declined very much compared to last season. With a record of 44 wins, they can't even make it to ninth in the West, but they have firmly ranked No.6 in the East.

Fans of the Cavaliers can fully imagine that if the Cavaliers can introduce a superstar to form the Big Three in the free market this summer, the Cavaliers still have a chance to return to the championship.

Of course, with the appeal of Kecun, it is not 01:30 to get a superstar. It will also depend on the courage of the team owner.
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The first-round matchups between the East and West are confirmed.

In the west, Clippers vs Thunder, Warriors vs Mavericks, Nuggets vs Spurs, Lakers vs Rockets.

The four Eastern Conference matchups are Bucks vs. Pacers, Nets vs. Pistons, Hornets vs. Cavaliers, and Raptors vs. Celtics.

On April 2019, 4, the first-round opener of the playoffs took place as scheduled.

The Clippers play against the Thunder at home.

This season's Thunder, in terms of record, is not much different from last season, but the performance of the players has changed dramatically.

Westbrook continued to pursue his great career of averaging a triple-double per game, averaging 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game in the regular season, averaging a triple-double for the third consecutive year.

However, compared with the average triple-double in the first season, Westbrook's efficiency can be described as a high-level dive. While shooting only 42% from the field, the average number of free throws per game has dropped to 6 times, and his shooting percentage has also dropped to a career low of 65.6%. As a guard who mainly breaks through the basket with the ball, how can he play with only 65% ​​free throw percentage?
The sharp drop in free throw percentage and number of free throws is the direct reason why Westbrook's scoring average has plummeted from 31 points and 25 points in the previous two seasons to 22 points. Anthony.

Regardless of how bad Anthony performed last season, after all, he was the main player who could contribute 16.2 points and 5.8 rebounds, and was the Thunder's third scoring point at the time.

After Anthony left the team and Westbrook's efficiency fell off a cliff, George was the only one who wanted to keep the team's record.

Ever since, George in the 18-19 season, just like the original historical process, played the most representative performance of his career this season.

Averaged 28 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4 assists per game.

With this performance, George has officially stepped into the ranks of top strikers, and is regarded as a striker second only to Wang Chao, James, and Durant. As for the two strikers Leonard and Butler, who is he? Whether it is strong or weak is still under discussion.

But the first round of the playoffs between the Clippers and the Thunder, there is no suspense, it is completely crushed.

The Thunder simply don't have the power to fight the Clippers.

In the original first round of the 18-19 playoffs, the Thunder, ranked sixth in the Western Conference, met the Trail Blazers, third in the Western Conference, and were beaten 4:1 and eliminated.

In the entire series, facing Lillard, Westbrook only shot 36% from the field. He averaged 5 points, 22.8 rebounds and 9 assists in 10.6 games. He couldn't even maintain the proud triple-double.

Not only that, on the defensive end, Westbrook has nothing to do with Lillard, allowing the latter to average 33 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage is as high as 48%!

Even if George is as strong as ever, averaging 28.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, he is still alone, and can only watch the team fail and be eliminated.

After the free market opened, George didn't even have the slightest hesitation, and immediately packed up and ran away, joining the Clippers and Leonard to form an injury brother combination.

Of course, that's another story, let's go back to the current game.

Westbrook's hip stretch in the playoffs was expected, even against the Trail Blazers, let alone the Clippers.

The Blazers' inside player Nurkic at the time was not much better than Lopez in defending the rim, and Nurkic was reimbursed due to injuries in the playoffs. He actually played 5 games and defeated Westbrook. It was the Blazers' backup center who was crushed.

And Lopez, a heavy-duty rim-protecting center, is the type that Westbrook has the most trouble with, because Westbrook's personal abilities have completely degraded. When he was young, he had a good mid-range pull-up jump shot, but now he no longer has it. , in addition to being able to hit the basket and forcefully cause damage, the only thing left is the lucky shot.

As in the regular season, the Thunder could only rely on George's offense to barely sustain itself. However, under the Clippers' strong offensive firepower, the Thunder only lasted two quarters before collapsing across the board, with the point difference reaching 30 points.

This made Wang Chao not even play much in the second half, but even so, the full main lineup of the Thunder and the half-substitute lineup of the Clippers were evenly matched. .

No way, who made the Clippers' bench lineup quite luxurious?Just the super sixth man Louis Williams and the impactful Harrell are enough for the Thunder to drink a pot.

The final result of the first game was 125:99, and the Clippers won by 26 points at home.

The huge gap makes the whole series no suspense, and the fact is the same.

The Clippers, who won the first game, made a strong effort and won three consecutive games again. They eliminated the Clippers 4-0 and successfully advanced to the second round.

Among the four games, the smallest point difference was 4 points, and the largest was 11 points in the first game. The strength of the two teams is not at the same level.

Fans who have never watched the game may be surprised just by looking at the statistics, because Wang Chao averaged only 24 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists per game in these four games. It can't help but make people wonder whether the 36-year-old Wang Chao is old?

However, on the All-Star stage two months ago, Wang Chao scored 81 points that shocked the league, and Wang Chao's regular season averages were finally fixed at a large triple-double of 29 points, 13.5 rebounds and 12.6 assists. Wang Chao's average of 35.8 points per game has dropped significantly, but his rebounds and assists have improved significantly. At the same time, his average of 2.8 steals and 1.8 blocks per game makes Wang Chao's evaluation on the defensive end very high. It is very likely that he will win the best defensive player again this season. DPOY.

Obviously the performance is so strong, why is the data of the first round of the game so hip?
The reason is actually very simple. After a little investigation, the puzzled fans suddenly realized.

It's because of playing time.

The Thunder is really too weak. Almost every game Wang Chao clocks out in three quarters, and the average playing time is only about 28 minutes per game. If this time is increased by 10 minutes to 38 minutes, then Wang Chao is still averaging 30+ minutes per game. 10+10 level.

False triple-doubles per game are inefficient and swipe data. Even if the team is already behind by a big margin and has no hope of coming back, it must prioritize taking care of its own triple-double data. If there is still one rebound left, swipe it quickly.

A true triple-double per game, efficient and invincible. Even if the playing time is insufficient, he can achieve a 24+8+9 quasi-triple-double.

To fight the Thunder, Wang Chaochao doesn't need to be too powerful at all. The lineup of Gallinari, Harris, Lopez, Lu Wei and Harrell is enough to compete with the opponent.

Under this premise, the Clippers have an additional historical No.1 Wang Chao, and the result is self-evident.

In addition to the Clippers, which eliminated the Thunder 4-0, there are two other teams in the league that completed a 4-0 sweep in the first round and advanced to the second round.

The Bucks swept the Pacers 4:0, and the Nets eliminated the Pistons 4:0.

In contrast, the rest of the games in the West were quite stalemate.

The Warriors and the Lone Ranger are old rivals. Although Harden did not win the Best Fighting Bravery Award in the Lone Ranger, Curry's style of play in military training is very good.

This season, Harden finally won a scoring title with an average of 34 points per game.

This time he was obviously much more low-key. After winning the honor of scoring champion, he also showed great humility, saying that his scoring ability is still far behind Wang Chao. The reason why he won the scoring champion this time is only because Wang Chao was in the Clippers He made sacrifices and gave up a lot of shots to his teammates to score.

Harden, who spoke very low-key, was not relentless in the first round of the game against the Warriors. He singled Curry after various pick-and-rolls, making Curry miserable.

However, the gap in the overall strength of the team is still too huge. In addition to Curry, the Warriors also have Thompson, Green and Ingram. On the other hand, on the Lone Ranger side, apart from Harden, there is only the aging Novus. Base, pure blue-collar player Jordan and Warriors veteran Harrison Barnes, so the Lone Ranger is still gradually losing to the Warriors' onslaught.

The current record between the two teams is 3:2, and the Warriors have already won the match point. They only need to win one more game to eliminate the Mavericks and enter the second round.

The Nuggets vs. Spurs game was also very intense.

The main players on both sides are old players who have won championships with Wang Chao. On one side are the Spurs, which are based on internal and external dual-core, Butler and Howard, and on the other side are the Nuggets, led by Gobert, Mitchell, Murray and others. .

Before the start of this duel, more people are still optimistic about the Spurs. After all, Howard and Butler are both long-established stars. The Spurs also have the legendary coach Popovich, who is obviously superior in experience and strength.

But the result was completely unexpected. The Nuggets showed extremely strong strength in the series, and they have taken the lead in winning the match point 3:2.

Although the result was a bit unexpected, at least in Wang Chao's opinion, it was reasonable.

First of all, in terms of interior, the current Gobert is definitely more effective than Gobert.

Both of them are defensive blue-collar players. The aging Warcraft has long lost the mobility and explosive power to survive. On the other hand, Gobert relies on his height and long arms, but he can greatly expand the defensive radius. .

In the direct confrontation between the two in the interior, Howard's half-baked interior offensive skills could not single Gobert, although Gobert's offense was worse than Howard.

The inside has no advantage at all, and even when the defensive efficiency is slightly inferior, the Spurs do not have any advantage on the offensive end.

Although they have Butler, a scorer who can be relied on at critical moments, the Nuggets have the double-gun combination of Mitchell + Murray.

The playoffs for these two players are no joke. In the original history, the two people who would meet in the playoffs next year staged a scoring battle that shocked the league. Both players had two 50-point games in the series. +Scoring performance, it can be called the most classic duel in NBA history.

Now that the two are on the same team, no matter how tough Butler is, he can't beat four hands with two fists. It's not surprising that the Spurs are at a disadvantage or even eliminated by the Nuggets.

(End of this chapter)