NBA: Sharks at the peak, guard the basket!

Chapter 220 The curtain of the playoffs kicks off, and a new round of fighting is about to begin!
at the same time.

A very coincidental incident was nakedly exposed to the public by the Los Angeles media.

Whenever Lin Hong played the Lakers VS Jazz game, the postman Malone would always miss the game due to various reasons.

The last time was enough technical fouls.

This time, it was shoulder pain again, and he entered the team's daily observation list.

You know, Karl Malone is a well-known iron man in the league.

It is precisely because Malone has hardly missed a game for many years after entering the NBA, just like the postman will show up to deliver your mail every day regardless of wind or rain, so he was nicknamed "Postman".

He missed only two games throughout the 96-97 season.

As a result, these two games were all met by the Lakers!

And Karl Malone played in the Lakers game against the Jazz.

Lin Hong was either suspended or rested.

Perhaps, the final contest between the two top iron elbows in the Western Conference, or even the strongest iron elbows in the league, will have to be kept until the playoffs, or even the Western Conference Finals.

"I'm worried that I won't meet Lin Hong again this season."

When the postman Malone was interviewed by reporters, his mouth was as tough as ever, like a platypus:

"We're going to get to the Western Conference Finals, and the Los Angeles Lakers, I'm not sure they're going to get to us."

If you continue to fight according to the current record.

The Lakers will be No. [-] in the Western Conference, and the Rockets' Big Three are somewhat weak in succession. It is entirely possible for the Jazz to overtake in a corner and rush to No. [-] in the Western Conference.

Then if the two teams want to meet in the playoffs, they have to wait until the Western Conference Finals!

Postman Malone thinks that it is not a big problem for the team to reach the Western Conference Finals, or even get out of the Western Conference! !
Instead, the Los Angeles Lakers.

The core of their lineup is very young, and they have no experience in the playoffs at all. It is very likely that they will be eliminated by the Los Angeles Clippers, who are all soldiers in the same city, in the first round of the playoffs!
"Hope the mailman can do a good job in the playoffs and stop being lazy and strike."

Lin Hong, who was questioned by the media, naturally would not forgive others.

Isn't it just the playoffs?

Who is afraid of who!
In the closing stage of the NBA regular season, apart from the strategic competition for the best ranking in the playoffs, there are not many things worth paying attention to.

Just like the Lakers started to rest Lin Ke and properly controlled their playing time.

Seeing that there is no hope for the second place in the West, the Rockets' Big Three directly started the frenzied rotation mode.

After all, they are all old guys over 33 years old. They must ensure sufficient physical reserves in the playoffs, otherwise they will be delivered food and dragged to death by their opponents.

At the same time, the NCAA March Madness battle has completely entered a white-hot stage.

Lin Hong's lifelong enemy, Tim Duncan, led his Wake Forest Devil Deacon in the last year of his college career, and went one step further.

Defeated the defending champion Kentucky Wildcats in the semifinals and advanced to the NCAA Finals for the first time.

US time, April 4rd, ncaa finals.

Facing the championship trophy that is close at hand, the Wake Forest Devil Deacons played very anxiously with the Arizona Wildcats.

In the end, the flying devil Duncan missed a move, and fell at the feet of the white devil Bibby, and returned in defeat again.

White Devil Mike Bibby led the Arizona Wildcats to their first NCAA championship in school history.

Tim Duncan, who ended his NCAA career and still failed to realize his dream of a championship trophy, was not too discouraged, after all, he fulfilled his promise to his mother.

When interviewed by the media, Duncan was as low-key and loud as ever:

I will participate in the 1997 NBA Draft and bring my talent into the NBA.

Especially when asked by a reporter which team he would most like to be selected by if he joined the NBA, Tim Duncan's answer was unprecedentedly certain:
"Any team other than the Los Angeles Lakers."

Obviously, the flying devil joined the NBA, in addition to chasing the O'Brien trophy that symbolizes the highest honor.

More importantly, he wants to defeat Lin Hong himself!

It is worth mentioning that, in addition to Duncan, there are others who choose to enter the NBA early.

Arizona's freshman white monster Mike Bibby just led the team to win the NCAA championship.

One NCAA championship is enough, he decided to join the 1997 draft directly!

In addition, North Carolina sophomore star guard Vince Carter made a decision at this time that did not match the original timeline.

After discussing with his mentor Dean Smith, who is also Jordan's mentor, the half-human and half-god resolutely chose to end his college career early and join the 1997 draft.

Vince Carter's decision caused a wave of waves in the 97 draft, which was originally calm, but.

Carter's talent is obvious to all. Now that he joined the NBA a year earlier, his age will become another selling point.

After all, the younger the genius, the more worthy of training and polishing, the more valuable it is!
Not just demigod Carter.

His cousin, talented high school student Tracy McGrady also said that he will skip his entire college career and participate in the 1997 draft as a high school student!

The two brothers Cameron participated in the election at the same time, which became another highlight of the 97 draft for a while.

Who can become the spoiler of the best rookie?
Wait and see!
February 4th, US time.

After the Boston Celtics lost at home to the Toronto Raptors, they have completely secured the league's last place in the league.

The Celtics, who had already carried out their bad performance last season, have an even worse record this season.

But all Celtics fans are still full of expectations for the future as they were at the end of last season.

The last record in the league also means that it is the closest to the No. [-] pick.

In 96, the No. [-] pick in the Celestial Dynasty giant Lin Hong, after entering the league, slammed the four major centers with terrifying performance, and the fans are obvious to all.

As Tim Duncan, who was on par with Lin Hong in the NCAA period, it is worth looking forward to by Celtics fans.

"We have a bright future with Kobe Bryant on the rise!"

"We will rise next season, I have no doubts about it!"

After the last battle, the Celtics fans who were interviewed by the media really printed the word hope on their faces.

as they say.

In a completely different timeline from the original, there is also Eddie Jones, who has just entered the All-Star.

In the original timeline, Jones played 80 games and started all of them.

He averaged 37.5 minutes per game, 17.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.

The highest score in a single game of the season was only 26 points.

but now.

After becoming a key striker for the Celtics, Eddie Jones' average number of shots per game has skyrocketed, and his average per game has also skyrocketed to 22.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists.

The highest score in a single game of the season reached 38 points.

Especially after the All-Star Game, Jones once contributed 6+25+5 in 5 consecutive games, showing full scoring aggression.

The tacit understanding and chemical reaction between EJ and Ji Bugong, the pair of backcourt double guns, gradually improved.

Eddie Jones has excellent physical fitness, elegant style of play and strong defense.

He was once known as Pippen's successor, and now under the guidance of Auerbach, even the domineering that has been lacking has begun to slowly reveal, gradually approaching a superstar with both offense and defense.

If Duncan is really under the command of the Celtics, the Celtics will surely rise again next season!
At that time, it seems not impossible for Kidd + Jones + Duncan's Big Three to fight against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Speaking of the Lakers, they happened to be at their home court, defeating the menacing Sonics and ending the regular season.

The Lakers' script this season, starting in hell, until the record is the best in the league, it is called a blood boil, and it is definitely the best example of counterattack and slap in the face.

At the beginning of the season, they defeated strong opponents in a row and won 19 consecutive games in a wave. The fans in Los Angeles were elated, trembling, and reluctant to leave.

The process is even more ups and downs, exciting, blood spurting!
The famous scene of One Punch Man Ben KO Rasheed Wallace is still talked about by fans and reminisces repeatedly.

Kobe Bryant was not willing to be lonely, showing the true colors of the black mamba, punching the hard bridge of the nose with a punch, which made people speechless.

Immediately afterwards, the world's most watched Christmas battle took place.

Faced with the taunt and provocation from Rodman, Lin Hong directly turned on the unparalleled mode, met the gods and killed the gods, and hammered the bull iron triangle with his own power.

The name of the Martial Saint of the Celestial Dynasty has been resounding all over the world since then!

Both rookies were named All-Star starters at the same time.

Lin Hong even climbed to the top of the historical ticket king, stepping on the league's No.1 Michael Jordan!

In the All-Star Game, Lin Hong was unstoppable, and won the Rookie Game MVP + Dunk King + All-Star Game MVP at the same time!

After winning the final game of the season against the Sonics, the Lakers' victory was finally fixed at 64 wins.

They achieved a record of 66 wins and 16 losses in the Western Conference, and also suppressed the Bulls in the Eastern Conference, ranking first in the league!

This means that after entering the playoffs, the Lakers will have home court advantage against any team.

After watching No. [-] in the West, I have to mention No. [-] in the East.

In the original timeline, the Chicago Bulls should have won a proud record of 69 wins and 13 losses, ranking first in the league.

But since the Chicago Budo fight in the Christmas game, Pippen suffered repeated eye injuries, and Rodman also suffered from waist injuries.

Let the Bulls' regular season record drop to 64 wins and 18 losses.

Although it is still No. [-] in the East, it has lost its No. [-] position in the league.

This means that if the Bulls and the Lakers meet in the playoffs, they will lose home court advantage.

Of course, the Bulls don't really care about this stuff.

"Home field advantage is not important. In the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy is futile."

In the interview after the game, Michael Jordan said very directly.

Absolutely strong, will not become weak just because you are in your own home field.

At the same time, in the eyes of some Bulls fans, the playoffs between the Lakers and the Bulls will be the Finals.

Just because the main players of the Los Angeles Lakers are all rookies, it's the stage of the playoffs.

Whether it can break out of the West is still an open question.After all, the Utah Jazz, second in the West, but
For the young little Lakers, look at it!
The Utah Jazz this season have shown amazing combat effectiveness.

They scored a terrifying record of 62 wins and 20 losses in the regular season.

In the original timeline, they faced the Lakers with 3 wins and 1 loss, winning 64 wins.

It's just that because of Lin Hong's appearance, the Jazz's record against the Lakers has become 3 wins and 1 loss, a total of 62 wins.

However, a record of 62 wins and 20 losses is enough for the Jazz to have an absolute home court advantage against any other playoff team in the Lakers and Bulls.

"We'll be the team that makes it out of the West!"

After the final game of the season, Karl Malone spoke out again:
"Only the Chicago Bulls are worthy of our opponents, other teams are not qualified!"

As for the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, and Seattle SuperSonics, they are all just stepping stones for the Utah Jazz to break out of the West!
Only the Chicago Bulls are worthy of my iron elbow, ah no, they are worthy of a fight with my Jazz! "

So far, the East and West playoff teams have all been seated.

East side.

The Chicago Bulls ranked first without any suspense.

Ranked second is the Miami Heat. They also have a record of 61 wins and 21 losses, and they are full of confidence in challenging the Bulls.

Third in the Eastern Conference: New York Knicks.

Fourth in the East: Atlanta Hawks, 56 wins and 26 losses.

The fifth to eighth seventh are the Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Hornets, and Orlando Magic.

As for the eighth in the East, it is the Philadelphia 76ers led by O'Neal's single-core team.

It is worth mentioning that the Sharks have missed 82 of 20 games this season.

Otherwise, it is entirely possible for the 76ers to rank sixth or even fifth!

However, even if he only played 62 games, it has surpassed the 51 games O'Neal played in the Lakers' first season in the original timeline.

After coming to the 76ers, the number of games played by the Sharks is no longer that of the Orlando Sharks who played 81 games in the Magic.

The specific battle situation in the East is as follows:

Bulls' Iron Triangle (1) VS 76ers' Sharks (8);
Heat's Bug Hardaway + Mourning (2) VS Magic's Penny Hardaway + Ronnie Sekali (7);

Knicks' New York Gangs (3) VS Hornets' answer Iverson + New York "Monster" Anthony (6);

The eagle's thief Braylock + Smith + Mutombo of Africa (4) VS Grant Hill of the Pistons (5).

Judging from the format of the first round of the playoffs, there should be no surprises in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The four upper-half teams, if nothing else, should join forces in the second round.

However, the Heat and the Knicks are clearly superior.

But in the end, who will stand on the stage of the Eastern Conference Finals and become the team to challenge the Bulls?
Not yet known!

Maybe this is the biggest highlight of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

After watching the east, let's look at the west.

The first and second in the West are the Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz, respectively.

The third place in the West is the Houston Rockets who barely beat the Seattle Supersonics by virtue of their home court advantage!
The Sonics lost one game more than the Rockets.

As a result, they ranked fourth in the Western Conference with 55 wins and 27 losses.

Fifth in the West is the Portland Trail Blazers.

The record of 49 wins and 33 losses is enough for them to secure the top spot in the lower half and firmly enter the playoffs.

The sixth and seventh in the West are the Timberwolves and the Phoenix Suns, respectively.

Although the Suns failed to get Kidd, they just kept Finley + Kevin Johnson, and then reinforced the slam dunk king Ceballos.

However, they will encounter the Jagged Jazz in the first round of the playoffs, and there is a high probability that they will win the first round.

But in the first season of losing Fliggy Barkley, he can continue to make the playoffs, which is considered a successful completion of the goal.

The eighth place in the West is the Los Angeles Clippers, the Lakers' city brother.

The Los Angeles Clippers lack superstars, so compared to the wealthy Lakers, they have no sense of presence at all.

But under the leadership of Lord Baylor, all the people are soldiers, and finally with 2 wins, they successfully blocked the Sacramento Kings from the gate of the playoffs.

……

(End of this chapter)