basketball player

Chapter 364 Chapter 362: Almost promoted

April 2013, 4 is also the final battle of the NBA regular season this season.The Philadelphia 17ers have the honor of being the only team to beat the Pacers twice this season.

With 72 wins already, Henson's plans for the regular season have come to fruition.Therefore, in this last regular season game, Henson completely let himself go.

He sent a full bench lineup to form a starter and greatly increased the playing time of Jimmy Butler and others.The main rotation players almost always just play soy sauce for a few minutes and then go off to rest, and so on.Moreover, Henson didn't arrange any tactics at all in this game. The most he said to the players was: "Enjoy the game as much as possible."

The Philadelphia 76ers were not polite about this, and won the victory 105 to 95 like cutting melons and vegetables.So far, all 82 games of the Pacers this season have come to an end.Unlike the last game of last season, when they still had to compete with the Chicago Bulls for the No. 27 spot in the Eastern Conference, this season, the Pacers have established the No. [-] position in the Eastern Conference, no. [-] in the league.Even the Miami Heat, which has won [-] consecutive victories, cannot match the Pacers' record.

They are not competing with other opponents, but with a record of 72 wins.Therefore, with a record of 72 wins, the Pacers have nothing to desire.

After the game, the reporter also asked Henson if he didn't strive for 73 wins because of the playoffs.

And Henson's answer shocked the reporters once again.

"No, it has nothing to do with the playoffs. It's like a movie. It's impossible for the director to put the most exciting part at the front. We are the same. If we win 73 wins this year, how can we present wonderful performances to the fans next season? So, save 73 wins for later. Let's hold on to the great record of 72 wins for a while longer."

Leaving the stunned reporters behind, Henson turned and left the court.This may be the first coach in the history of the league to say that 70 wins in a single season is like a game.

Walking in the player tunnel, Henson was humming a little tune, and he was in a good mood.After the regular season ended, Henson got two more chances to choose awards in one breath.The first is the achievement of 72 wins, and the second is that after defeating the 76ers, Henson's experience accumulator has once again accumulated full experience.Although this means that he needs to accumulate more experience to obtain rewards in the future, but at least he can gain something now.

This time, Henson first upgraded the "Quick Recovery" badge, which increased the recovery speed of players after injury by 20%.Subsequently, the "Summer Training Camp" badge was upgraded. From now on, Henson will be able to designate two players to improve specific attributes before the start of each season.Henson hasn't forgotten that Paul George was able to become the team's scoring leader this season precisely because Henson used this badge to improve George's dribbling ability in the summer.Thus, turning this young No. 24 into an all-around scorer.

Tied the record again, won the first place in the regular season again, and there are rewards to choose from. Can Henson be unhappy?Of course, happiness is happiness, and Henson is also very clear that he cannot be too happy.After all, the real fight for the championship has yet to come.

The defending champion with a neat lineup will not be satisfied with a temporary victory in the regular season.Chris Paul said bluntly at the press conference: "72 wins without a championship ring are meaningless."

Where is the best stage to become famous?It's not the regular season, nor is it the No. [-] Eastern Conference.It's the playoffs where the fighting is the most intense and everyone will do their best to win!
But the Pacers have been "paddling" since defeating the Thunder in early April, and people can't help but put a big question mark on their ability to fight tough battles.

The defending champion, how long has it been since he played a game with two or eight hundred players?

This is also a concern for Henson, so after the regular season, Henson did not relax.He didn't even give the players a holiday. After all, Henson was on a rotation throughout April. Now that the players' physical fitness will not have any problems, there is no need for a holiday.

Everyone thought that the 72-win Pacers would be complacent, but in fact, they worked as hard as any other team.

This season, the situation in the East is not chaotic.Unlike last season, Henson doesn't have any particular opponents to avoid.

That's right, even if he meets the Miami Heat, Henson will not be afraid this season.What's more, if the Heat and the Pacers meet again this season, it will have to be the Eastern Conference Finals.

In the first round of this season's playoffs, the Pacers will face the eighth-ranked Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference.Although the Bucks reached the playoffs, their strength is really average. The record of 38 wins and 44 losses is not good. This result should be placed in the West, and they can't even make it into the top ten.The Bucks' ability to enter the playoffs is also due to the relatively weak light in the Eastern Conference.So this round of competition, Henson will not be too worried.

In the second round, the Pacers will face the winner of the Bulls and Nets.The Bulls will not be able to welcome Rose back until next season, and the Nets are not a super-strong team.

So no matter who the two teams advance to, Henson is sure.

The most difficult thing in the East is undoubtedly the third round, which is the conference finals.If all goes well, the Pacers are likely to run into their old rivals here, the Heat.

The declining Celtics, the Knicks relying on Anthony in the transition, and the Eagles who are unable to protect themselves, Henson doesn't think these three teams can challenge the Heat who have won 27 consecutive victories.Henson himself has experienced 25 consecutive victories, so he knows how terrifying the strength of a team that can achieve such results.

Although the Pacers are the league's No. 66 player this year, the Heat's 66 wins in any other season should not be underestimated.The last time a team won 08 games in the regular season was the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 09-[-] season.

Well, that was also a team led by James.

The team led by James, no matter how many times they have defeated them, must not be taken lightly.As the defending champion, Henson does not want to be swept out before the finals.

Therefore, from the first round of the playoffs, it is necessary to show strength and let the players get out of that "paddling" state as soon as possible.

Against the Milwaukee Bucks, Henson needed more than a victory, he needed a complete victory, 4-0!If a team like the Bucks that can't even rank in the top ten in the West can cause trouble for the Pacers, what will the Pacers use to defend the championship?
Henson's serious attitude on the training ground these days also made the players afraid to relax.Even if the opponents in the first round don't seem too strong, the players are still working hard to prepare for the game.

Finally, on April 4, Henson got the kind of match he wanted.

In the fourth quarter of the game, when Brandon Jennings couldn't get a chance, and the rest of the Bucks couldn't stand up to help the team score at all, Reggie Miller, who commented on the game, couldn't help shaking his head.

"Although Milwaukee fans may not like to hear this, I have to say that the strength gap between the two sides is visible to the naked eye."

Miller's words are not pleasant, but they are true.The game has reached the fourth quarter, and the Bucks still only have two players scoring in double figures.These two people are Milwaukee's "backcourt double guns" Jennings and Ellis.As for the rest of the Bucks, they don't seem to be ready for the playoffs at all.In other words, they simply don't have the strength to play in the playoffs.

The Pacers with a full lineup went all out, as if making the Bucks feel that they were playing a fake NBA before.The intensity of the playoffs and the intensity of the regular season are fundamentally two different things.

On the other hand, the Pacers have already scored in double figures with 5 players at this time. Paul George lived up to expectations and showed his strength again with 4 points after a paddling April.And Paul, with 27 points, 16 assists and a mere 12 turnover, let Jennings and Ellis see the gap between them and the league's top point guards.

Jennings and Ellis desperately want to score, but there is no way.Facing the Pacers, a team with the second-best defensive efficiency in the league, it is difficult for the Bucks' offense to pose a threat.

In fact, the players of the Bucks may ask themselves in their minds when they attack: win the defending champion with 72 wins?We can't do it at all!
So, they really can't do it...

In the last 5 minutes of the game, the 20-point difference made the strong smell of gunpowder suddenly disappear, and Ellis and Jennings seemed to have lost their spirits.

In the stands, Pacers fans started to celebrate the victory early.Will the defending champion still fight tough?No one knows the answer.Because the game against the Bucks is far from being called a "tough battle" for the Pacers.

TV shots began to be given to Henson frequently, and his close-ups appeared on the big screen again and again.It was this man who created everything in front of him, and the revival of the Pacers officially began the day he took the position of head coach.After sweeping the regular season, the defending champions remained unstoppable in the playoffs.

In the end, it was the electronic buzzer at the end of the game that saved the Bucks.This brutal massacre is finally over. 87 to 110, the Bucks couldn't even touch the edge of victory.

"The game is over! The Pacers won easily. Let's connect with the reporters on the sidelines and do an interview with Coach Henson."

After Miller finished speaking, the screen cut to Henson who was being interviewed.The reporter's question is simple, what do you think of the first game and this round of the series.

And Henson's answer is simple and rude, and quite classic.

"What do you think of this game? There's nothing to look at, because I've already started to think about my opponent in the next round." The Chinese coach shrugged. Since when did the Pacers even look down on the first round of the playoffs?
Perhaps, this is the arrogance that a real super team possesses.

(End of this chapter)