Starting from the last bus in the NBA

Chapter 235 The end of the season
In February, the Sonics had only 2 games and a record of 10 wins and 7 losses.

To be honest, this result is not satisfactory.

After all, the three games they lost were not even considered a strong dialogue, so it was somewhat surprising.

It can only be said that after a long season, even a strong team will relax sometimes.

At the end of February, the Sonics had a record of 2 wins and 46 losses.

It's just that the top record is still dominated by the Sonics, leading the league.

Not only that, they even slightly widened the gap.

湖人队目前的战绩是37胜19负，马刺队也是37胜19负，爵士队39胜17负，国王队则是38胜18负，开拓者40胜19负。

These six teams are the top four teams in the Western Conference. Except for the Supersonics, the other teams are pretty close.

There is not much difference in their records between each other. If they win one more game or lose one more game, problems will arise.

Needless to say, the competition is fierce.

On the other hand, in the east, the digital team easily took the top spot.

More importantly, no team can threaten them.

With a record of 43 wins and 16 losses, compared with the Sonics, it is only 3.5 games behind.

However, in the selection of the best player of the month, there were some unexpected results.

McGrady led the Magic to a record of 9 wins and 3 losses, and won the player of the month this month.

Of course, his data is also very good.

场均29.3分7.6篮板5助攻，此外，还有1.7次抢断和1.1次盖帽。

It has to be said that in order to win, McGrady has tried his best.

However, judging from this data, it is not without controversy that he won the best player of the month.

Just say the Jazz, is the record of 9 wins and 2 losses better?
As for personal data, is Karl Malone's 25+10+4 data worse than McGrady?

It can only be said that McGrady's luck is not bad.

The NBA officially decided to praise him. After all, the four major shooting guards now have one more, and they can be among the top five shooting guards.

Of course, in the official publicity, they are still the four major shooting guards, but McGrady also has the candidacy.

The reason for doing this is to create controversy. After all, only when there is controversy can there be attention.

Compared with the other four, McGrady is much worse in honor.

If you want to compare it with the other four, the NBA officials will naturally give McGrady a lot.

Carter: Is mine much easier?

Well, in fact, Carter doesn't have many honors, basically he got them in his rookie season.

However, because of last year's slam dunk contest, his fame was too great and covered up a lot.

I have to say that this is the gap. NBA officials are willing to praise McGrady, but they are not willing to praise Carter.

To say that McGrady is lucky is really not a bragging.

That is, this year, Adidas directly gave McGrady a lifetime contract.

Of course, this contract will not be signed until next year. After all, McGrady still has one year of contract.

But now, Adidas is already paying attention to McGrady, and even has the intention of a lifetime contract.

But the problem is that Kobe is also the spokesperson of Adidas, and his contract is about to expire.

However, Adidas paid close attention to McGrady, and even selectively ignored Kobe.

That's right, it's just ignoring that their executives are more optimistic about McGrady and put Kobe's contract extension in the back row.

Because of this incident, Kobe switched to Nike.

In this matter, Adidas lost to grandma's family, but McGrady made a profit, and a big profit.

Therefore, it is not too much to praise McGrady's luck.

Of course, the premise of everything is McGrady's strength.

If there is not enough outstanding performance, it is impossible for NBA officials to praise McGrady.

Adidas wouldn't be so optimistic about McGrady if he didn't have enough strength to make a bottom line.

Luck is very important, but strength is the foundation.

Time flies, and it is March, and it is less than two months before the start of the playoffs.

This is already the sprint stage!

At the beginning of March, Paul Westphal took advantage of a loss and went into a rage.

This time, he didn't give anyone face.

Whether it's Wang Hao, Gary Payton, or some old players, he yells at them all.

To be honest, it's just losing a game, it's not worth it, it's a bit of a fuss.

That's right, Paul Westphal just wants to make a fuss, and he wants to take this opportunity to remind the players well.

All teams have already started the final sprint, and they cannot fall behind and must go all out.

In any case, with a better record, they can have home court advantage in the playoffs.

Don't underestimate the home field advantage. Sometimes, this is often the key to determining the outcome of the game.

Moreover, today's Paul Westphal also has this qualification and is furious here.

After all, not everyone can achieve the number one record in the league, and he has this ability.

In March, the Sonics played 3 games.

The Sonics have won 16 of 12 games and lost four of them.

The four opponents who lost were the away game against the Eagles, the away game against the Mavericks, and the away game against the Nuggets.

The only game they lost at home was against the Suns. With the return of Penny Hardaway, the Suns have a feeling of momentum.

By the end of March, the Sonics were 58-16 and a playoff berth.

And, there are only eight games left until the end of the season.

At this time, the digital team's record was 50 wins and 22 losses, which was 7 games behind the Sonics.

It can be said that the digital team's anti-supersonic record is only a theoretical possibility.

Why is it so relevant to the record of the digital team?
Because at this point in the game, the season is coming to an end, and it is time to start considering various awards.

And during the regular season, what awards are the most important?Naturally, the regular season MVP.

Wang Hao and Iverson are strong contenders for the award.

It can be said that this season's regular season MVP list, most of the time, is occupied by two people.

Wang Hao is because of the better performance of the Sonics. After all, according to the historical rules, the team with the best record has a better chance of winning the MVP.

Of course, this is an unspoken rule, not a written rule, so there will be problems when it is implemented.

Otherwise, the award can be awarded directly to Wang Hao, so why should Iverson be considered?
Iverson can appear on the MVP list, naturally because he played the best performance of his career.

It can be said that there are only about 10 games until the end of the regular season, and he has basically confirmed the position of the scoring leader.

The scoring leader and the number one record in the Eastern Conference at home, this is the confidence he and Wang Hao are competing for the MVP.

To be honest, Wang Hao was very upset when he saw these news, because he already had a bad feeling.

In fact, during this period of time, such news appeared frequently, as if there was a feeling of building momentum.

The first record has nothing to do with the regular season MVP, but the scoring champion has something to do with the regular season MVP?
If this is the case, is it okay to go to a big team and score points like crazy?
However, there was nothing Wang Hao could do about it.

Although there are different media creating momentum, the final result still depends on David Stern's choice.

All Wang Hao can do is to play well.

Not to mention widening the record gap with the digital team, at least they can't be caught up by them.

In April, the Sonics directly hit a wave of seven consecutive victories, directly improving their record to 65 wins and 16 losses.

This time, NBA officials did not continue to arrange the closing game, and scheduled all games to be played on the last day.

No need, 82 games a season, sometimes, one game can't affect anything.

As for the real impact, then no wonder others, who told you not to fight well before?
The current situation is like this, the top eight teams in the East and West have basically been determined.

But, there is still a little problem.

The first is the West. The top eight are the Supersonics, Spurs, Lakers, Lakers and Kings. These are the top four in the West.

Then came the Jazz, the Mavericks, the Trail Blazers, and the Phoenix Suns.

It's just that the Jazz lead the Mavericks by one game, and the Mavericks lead by small points.

In other words, in tomorrow's game, if the Jazz lose and the Mavericks win, the rankings of the two sides will be swapped.

It's just that the exchange between the last four is actually not very interesting and not important.

As for whether the Jazz will lose?
In fact, it is also possible that their opponent is the Suns, and the Suns have the same record as the Trail Blazers, half a game behind.

In other words, the Blazers have no game tomorrow, and if the Suns can win, they will be able to overtake the Blazers.

The difference between No.7 and No.8 may be the ability to avoid the Supersonics, which is the top of the Western Conference.

Well, there is actually not much difference between the No.1 Sonics and the No.2 Spurs.

First of all, the Blazers' record is 50 wins and 32 losses.

In other words, the top eight in the Western Conference have reached this point, and they can't make it to the playoffs without 50 wins.

This result is placed in the Eastern Conference, basically making it into the top four.

Why is it firmly in the top four?Because the top four teams may not have the record of the Blazers.

The top four teams in the East are the digital team, the Bucks, the Heat, and the Knicks.

By the way, let me say that neither the Knicks nor the Heat have less than 50 wins.

Even if they win tomorrow, it will only be 50 wins and 48 wins. If they are placed in the West, they may not be able to enter the top eight.

The only suspense is that between the Hornets and the Raptors, there is a difference of one win, and there will be a game tomorrow.

Well, it's another competition for the bottom four, which is not interesting.

The only interesting thing is, if the Raptors are fifth, can they beat the Knicks?
If you can, maybe you can see the Raptors and the Numbers face off in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Iverson vs. Carter, this is definitely a topic.

The same is true of the original time and space, those seven battles are really classics, well, mainly the first six games.

The seventh game is classic because Carter chose to run before the game.

Return to my alma mater, North Carolina, to attend the graduation ceremony!

Perhaps, in Carter's view, there is only one chance to participate in the graduation ceremony, but there are many opportunities for the Eastern Conference Finals and even the championship.

I have to say, this is very confident!
It's a pity that Carter never expected that this was the only time in his career that he was close to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Moreover, the opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals is the Bucks. Although the Bucks have three musketeers, their strength is just that.

In other words, if the Raptors are lucky enough to win the digital team, they have every chance to win the Bucks again and advance to the finals.

In fact, there is no need to use the word lucky.

In the original time and space, in the seventh game between the digital team and the Raptors, the Raptors have always had a chance, and even had a chance to make a lore.

Because Iverson played so badly.

He made 27 of 8 shots and scored only 21 points. The shooting percentage was less than 30%, and the true shooting percentage was only 35%.

Although he has 16 assists, this is not normal, not the normal pattern of numbers team winning.

In this game, as long as the Raptors play better, or Carter plays better, there is every chance to win.

As a result, Carter's performance was equally bad. He made 18 of 6 shots and missed the most important goal. His performance was worse than Iverson's.

There is no way, there is not enough training time, there is not enough recovery time, and the journey is exhausted, which will definitely affect the state.

Of course, you can explain that this will not affect the state, after all, it is not unheard of to play back to back.

It's a pity that explanations are useless, in competitive sports, the winner is king.

When you win, no explanation is necessary, because there is no need for an explanation.

Even, you don't need to come out yourself, there are countless fans who will help you explain.

When you lose, no explanation is necessary, because no one will listen to your explanation.

In the closing game of the last day, the Sonics also have a game.

It's just that, because the victory or defeat is irrelevant, the team doesn't care very much.

That is to say, it is not popular to rest in rotation now, otherwise, Paul Westphal can let everyone rest directly.

It's just that he did control the playing time of the main players, especially the old guys.

The Sonics' opponent is the Spurs.

The Spurs also know that this game is irrelevant, whether it wins or loses doesn't matter.

It's just that Popovich is even more shameless.

He directly arranged for David Robinson to be injured, Duncan only played 20 minutes, and the other main players also rested to varying degrees.

Have you ever seen a starter who only played 10 minutes?See you now!

In comparison, Paul Westphal is still a bit honest, he even arranged for Ewing to play.

Although it was only for one session, it was unnecessary!

As for the other main players, they also played to varying degrees, basically playing for about two quarters.

The end result, of course, is that the Supersonics won.

After all, this way of the Spurs is simply to lose.

If this can win, unless the opponent wants to lose more.

In the end, the Sonics achieved a record of 66 wins and 16 losses this season, leading the league.

This is also the best record the Sonics have achieved since detailed statistics began in 1985.

The previous record was 1995 wins and 1996 losses maintained by the Sonics in the 64-18 season.

In that team, there are many good players such as Gary Payton, Sean Kemp, and Schramf.

(End of this chapter)