The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 511 It's Playoffs Again

After successfully ascending to the No. [-] throne in the Western Conference, the Spurs came to an away game against the Clippers.

The Clippers sent Griffin away, which is already the rhythm of reconstruction.

However, their record in the second half is not bad, but the competition in the West has become more intense. Among the top ten teams, they are almost the first team to withdraw from the playoffs.

Facing the Clippers whose breath had dissipated, the Spurs established an absolute advantage in the first quarter.

With the third quarter, the team led by 20 points.

Popovich hurriedly arranged for the main players to rest. Even if the main players do not take turns to keep the record, they should try their best to seize the opportunity to rest during the game.

Unexpectedly, Louis Williams suddenly exploded on the Clippers side, and the score gap narrowed at an extremely fast speed.

Seeing that it was about to be reversed, the Spurs quickly replaced the main force.

If it is an ordinary team, the rhythm has been disrupted at this time, and the main force may also fall at this time.

But after Zhang Xiaotian came on the field, he hit 2+1 strongly, stabilizing the situation for the team.

Next, the Spurs didn't give the Clippers any more chances, and simply won the game neatly.

The next day they played the Lakers back-to-back in an away game. The Spurs wanted the players to take a good rest. Unexpectedly, the young man from the Lakers played very well. The Spurs played with all their main players in the end. Zhang Xiaotian won the game smoothly against Kuzma, who was full of touch .

Then the Rockets lost to the Thunder on April 4, and the Spurs finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The happy Spurs returned home and easily defeated the visiting Trail Blazers.

For the remaining two games, they can finally let the main rotation players take a good rest in batches.

When facing the underdog Kings at home on April 4, the Spurs let the players who didn't play much play to familiarize themselves with the state, and easily defeated the opponent by the way.

In the last game against the Pelicans, because the opponent was still working hard, the Spurs were not too entangled. The main rotation players tried to rest as much as possible. The other players determined their status and lost this game that did not affect the ranking.

The Eastern Conference's ranking is relatively fixed. Only the Heat's last game and the Raptors who killed the Eastern Conference's No. [-] Raptors were promoted to sixth, while the Bucks lost the game and dropped.

The ranking in the East has become the Raptors, Celtics, 76ers, Cavaliers, Pacers, Heat, Bucks, and Wizards.

On the west side, because No.4 to No.9 records are very close, the ranking was determined on the last day.

The Blazers ranked fourth because of their victory over the Jazz, and the Jazz dropped from fifth to seventh.

The Timberwolves defeated the Nuggets and improved their ranking from eighth to sixth, and the Nuggets lost their chances of the playoffs.

The Spurs' loss pushed the Pelicans, who were originally ranked seventh, to fifth.

The Thunder won the Grizzlies and won the last ticket in the playoffs.

In this way, the ranking in the West becomes the Spurs, Lakers, Warriors, Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Timberwolves, Jazz, and Thunder.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, the Spurs' ruthlessness in the final period will not only affect the Pelicans.

With the style of the Thunder, the Spurs are the worst matchup, and they are unlucky enough.

However, the top three in the Western Conference are actually very difficult to play. The other teams should be the happiest for the Trail Blazers and Pelicans. They must all think that the other party is weak.

As the No. [-] team in the Western Conference, the Spurs can take an extra day off to watch the performances of other teams first.

The Rockets and the Jazz are the first to start the game in the West. The two teams are somewhat similar in some respects. They can organize and defend the first position, the offensive second position, the defensive third position, and the inside defense.

But the Jazz's starting strength is more average, the bench lacks strong scoring points, the Rockets have an excellent sixth man, and more firepower is concentrated on the back line.

As far as the core players are concerned, the Rockets are still better.

The gap between the two sides is the normal gap between a strong team and a strong team in the playoffs. The Jazz does not mean that there is no chance, the possibility is very small.

Without him, the rocket's firepower is too strong.

Both Jazz guards have defensive capabilities, but Harden is really strong.

When the Jazz were still in the testing stage in the first quarter, Harden scored consecutive points. The Rockets' outside three-pointers helped them quickly establish a double-digit lead.

It was a bit late for the Jazz to react. They were originally a team with stronger defense than offense.

This can be regarded as paying tuition fees, but the only comfort for the Jazz is that Mitchell does not have the jerkyness of a recruit at all. He is the kind of player who is extremely adaptable to the game.

Jazz head coach Schneider was very unconvinced, "Obviously, we didn't make good choices in this game. Our players seemed too slow, especially at the beginning of the game. When you get the ball, you have to know how to catch it." What to do next, at least have a clear idea."

In another game in the West, the Warriors played very well against the Timberwolves.

Curry was absent due to injury, but the Timberwolves did not seize the opportunity.

In fact, Curry is not there, and the Timberwolves actually have a chance, but their three strong points, Jimmy Butler, Towns and Wiggins, have not shown the toughness that the All-Star level should have.

Instead, their two substitute players, Rose and Crawford, are very active on the offensive end.

To be honest, they are even worse on the defensive end. Their head coach Thibodeau was also called a defensive master back then. It is really shameful to bring the team like this.

The defense is not good, but the offense is embarrassing. This is the embarrassing state of the Timberwolves.

After the game, Jimmy Butler admitted the gap very depressed. He said that Durant and Klay Thompson were too difficult to limit.

But in fact, fans are more disappointed with the performance of the Timberwolves themselves.

With an average of 30.9 points per game, Zhang Xiaotian, who already holds the season's scoring champion, is calmly watching the Western Conference games.

Among his fans, Yang Feiyu also organized an intelligence team, enthusiastically assessing the situation of the Spurs' possible opponents in the future.

Of course, the Spurs coaching staff has professional analysts, this guy is looking for something to do while taking care of the children.

Now it seems that neither the Rockets nor the Warriors will have any twists and turns in the first round.

As opponents, Zhang Xiaotian certainly hoped that they would consume more, and then the two teams would meet for another seven battles, until they ran out of ammunition and food, and would give them some bargains.

Of course, their current opponent is Lei Ting, a shit-stirring stick.

If Thunder's strength erupts, it may really cause trouble for them.

In order to nip trouble in the bud, he and Leonard must focus on defending Anthony and Paul George from mediocre players.

Simply kill the opponent and win more rest and adjustment time. This is the correct way for a championship-level team to open.

Before that, he will also pay a little attention to the movement in the east.

(End of this chapter)