ace marshal

Chapter 1096

In the penultimate game of the regular season, the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Houston Rockets at home. With 6 games left in the regular season and 6.5 wins ahead of the ninth in the Western Conference, the Clippers have locked in a playoff game in advance quota.

"You can congratulate us on re-entering the playoffs first, and then ask questions~!"

Perhaps because he had fulfilled his military order, Lan Shengli looked very happy at the post-match press conference, and he was just joking when he came up.

"Hahaha~~"

The reporters laughed as well.

"The Clippers' goals for this season have been achieved, will the team rest their players next~?!"

the reporter asked.

"Rotating off is generally something that teams with a relatively older age structure will choose to do. Our Clippers are a young team. Any game is the key to improving young players, so we will not take turns~"

Lan Shengli replied in a firm tone.

"What's more, we can't prepare for the playoffs in advance. After all, there are still 6 regular season games to play. We just locked in a playoff spot, but didn't lock in the position. We want to have home court advantage. We want better results and rankings, so we still won’t think so far ahead, so the next competition will continue to fight like before~!!”

Lan Shengli continued to answer.

"What is the team's goal for the playoffs~?!"

The reporter continued to ask.

"Goal~?!, every team entering the playoffs should aim to compete for the championship, and the Clippers are no exception, so the goal is only the championship, but a more realistic goal is to win one game after another. The game is the most important~!!!”

Lan Shengli continued to answer.

Just like what Lan Shengli said at the press conference, the Clippers did not relax at all in the last six games of the regular season. They played very focused and serious in every game, especially with the Mavericks and the Lakers. A direct competitor in the rankings, the Clippers played with the same intensity as the playoffs.

In the final battle of the season, the Clippers beat the Warriors at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, won the final battle, and secured the third place in the Western Conference with a score of 55 wins and 27 losses.

"Even if I had to think about it, I would never have imagined that I could get such a result this season, haha~!!, It was a magical season, and Bruce is really an amazing coach~!!!"

The general manager sighed.

This time, Lan finally celebrated his victory, embracing the players, coach Harper, and the team staff, sharing the joy of achieving this phased victory.

"55 wins and 27, the third place in the Western Conference~!!, this is you, the achievements of everyone in the Clippers~!!!, I am so proud of you~!!!"

"Crack clap clap ~!!!"

In the locker room, Lan Shengli said with tears in his eyes.

"Crack, clap!!"

When the team members heard this, they all applauded.

The Clippers' current results are of course inseparable from Lan Shengli's transformation of the team.

You know, the Clippers didn't even win 30 games last season, and the team that was still in the lottery zone has now come to the third place in the Western Conference. It is not easy to achieve such an achievement with an almost civilian team composed of rookies who came in and the exchanged Love and Okur, as well as practical players like Bass.

"Our phased goals for this season have been achieved, but we still have a bigger goal for the next step. Since we can enter the playoffs with the third place in the Western Conference, it has already shown that we are better than most players in the league. All teams must be excellent, so we have reason to believe that in the playoffs, we can do more~!!"

Lan Shengli continued to inspire the players.

"Come on, let's look forward to the playoffs together, playoffs, here we come~!!!"

Lan Shengli waved his fist and shouted.

"Yeah~!!!"

"Oh~!!!!!!"

The team members immediately stood up unconsciously, shaking their fists and roaring angrily.

Leaving aside the tactical level, at least from a spiritual level, all the Clippers have been fully adjusted to their best condition.

With the end of the regular season, the final ranking of the Western Conference has also surfaced.

The seasoned Spurs won the first place in the regular season with 60+ wins, and they are also the best team in the league.

The next teams are the Dallas Mavericks who came to No.2 with their last wave of winning streak, and the defending champion Lakers who fell to No.4.

The teams in the second half are the No.5 Oklahoma City Thunder, No.6 Denver Nuggets, No.7 Portland Trail Blazers and No.8, and the thrilling elimination of the New Orleans Hornets Memphis Grizzlies.

So the first round matchup in the West was released.

Upper half:
San Antonio Spurs (1) - Memphis Grizzlies (8)
Los Angeles Lakers (4) - Oklahoma City Thunder (5)
Lower half

Dallas Mavericks (2) - Portland Trail Blazers (7)
Los Angeles Clippers (3) - Denver Nuggets (6).

In other words, Lan Shengli's first playoff opponent in his coaching career is the Denver Nuggets.

"Compared to the four opponents in the lower half, the Nuggets can be said to be the most ideal opponent~"

Lan Shengli in the office looked at the match list and sighed.

It makes sense for Lan Shengli to say so.

Although the Nuggets made it to the Western Conference finals last season and played inextricably against the Lakers, the overall strength of the team has declined this season despite the fact that the team has a very well-organized staffing. Little Melon" Carmelo Anthony's "departure farce" has a lot to do with it.

The reason why I say "once" is because Anthony is no longer in the Nuggets.

At the previous trade deadline, the Knicks and Nuggets completed a big deal involving [-] players.

Anthony also relied on this deal to be sent to the Knicks by the Nuggets. Anthony returned to his hometown, the Big Apple, and New York.

However, in order to get Anthony, the Knicks also sent a lot of powerful players such as Gallinari, Chandler and so on.

Therefore, the strength of the Nuggets has not been greatly discounted, but after all, the playoffs are the stage for superstars. There are no superstars who can make the final decision, and the running-in period for new players is very short, so the Nuggets want It is very difficult to go far in the playoffs.

But the good news for the Nuggets is that their opponent, the Los Angeles Clippers, is also a team with no superstars and no experience in the playoffs.

(End of this chapter)