ace marshal

Chapter 1280 Huge pressure from competitors

With an away victory over the Spurs, the Clippers consolidated their sixth place in the Western Conference.

However, judging from the current top eight nouns in the Western Conference, the Clippers' sixth ranking can be said to have wolves before and tigers behind.

The rankings of the Thunder, Spurs and Lakers in the first echelon of the Western Conference are very stable. The rankings of the three teams are very close. Anyone can reach the top of the Western Conference. As long as they don’t suffer consecutive losses, they should not fall too far. back position.

As for the next few teams, it's hard to say.

First of all, let's talk about the two teams ahead of the Clippers.

No. 4 in the West: Memphis Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies' strong rise this season has a lot to do with Gasol Jr. entering the golden period of his career and Griffin's growth.

Gasol's contribution to the team this season far exceeds what is reflected in the statistics.

The high-post support ability, passing ability, defensive assistance ability, etc. are all very strong.

Coupled with Griffin's slow return to health and the stability of the mid-range shooting percentage, the Grizzlies' inside line is the top in the league.

Coupled with defensive champions Tony Allen, Conley, Gay Mayo and other players, the Grizzlies' fourth position in the Western Conference is not for nothing.

Especially in the subsequent playoffs, which rely on defense, the Grizzlies' iron-blooded defense will play a greater role.

The Grizzlies are paying tribute to the traditional style of play by playing against the trend of the times.

No. 5 in the West: Denver Nuggets.

Yes, you read that right, it is the Nuggets that completed a big deal with the Knicks, sent Anthony away, and became a civilian team. The Nuggets were eliminated by the Clippers in the first round of last season.

Without Anthony, the Nuggets still have "Italian Cannon" Gallinari, without Billups, the Nuggets still have "Mini Iverson" Lawson, in short, the players who came to the Nuggets from the Knicks , plus the lineup formed by the players trained by the Nuggets, under the conditions of coach Carl, it has become a team that is all soldiers.

The offensive data of the Nuggets this season, such as average points per game, average fast break points per game, points from beyond the three-point line, etc., are among the top in the league.

Karl used his rich offensive tactics to the fullest on the Nuggets.

These players who used to be unknown behind the superstars now have a chance and a stage to really show their fists.

And they also repaid Karl with practical actions.

Maybe the Nuggets play like this, and because they don't have superstars, they still can't go far in the playoffs, but maybe they can show the style of play that fans want to see most.

No.6 is the Clippers.

No.7 in the West: Dallas Mavericks.

As the champion of last season, after retaining most of the main players and introducing Carter, the performance of the defending champion this season is like a quadratic function, with ups and downs.

At the beginning of the season, the team seemed to be immersed in the championship parade. The players all seemed to be on vacation, and there was no comparison at all, especially the star Dirk Nowitzki, who seemed to have no practice at all during the offseason , the hit rate plummeted.

However, after the adjustment of Coach Carlisle, and Nowitzki slowly regaining his form through the game, and setting up the bold ambition of "not shaving if the winning percentage is less than [-]", the Mavericks began to wake up.

They chased all the way from No.12 in the West, not only quickly achieved the goal of winning more than half, but also quickly came to the top eight positions in the West.

If the defending champion regains the amazing efficiency of the playoffs last season, no team will be willing to meet them.

However, can the defending champion, who is one year older, really be able to complete the defense~? ! , There is really going to be a big question mark here.

And the No.8 in the West is the Jazz in a semi-reconstruction state.

In the middle of last season, Jerry Sloan, the Jazz's veteran coach for more than 20 years, resigned as head coach of the Jazz in a fit of anger because of a feud with Deron Williams, and left the team he had played for for more than 20 years.

The Jazz quickly sent Deron to the Nets in exchange for insider Favors and others.

Although Deron and Boozer have left the team one after another, coupled with Sloan's departure, the Jazz can no longer be compared with the former Jazz.

But the blood of toughness and tough game style flowing in this team has always been there, so the Jazz are still in the playoffs, and they are still a playoff-level team.

However, they are only 1.5 games away from the ninth Rockets in the West. This gap is really very small. Considering that the two teams will face each other in the future, the Jazz want to hold on. No.8, even going forward, is very difficult.

In the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the No.7 Mavericks played against the No.8 Jazz at home.

As long as the Mavericks beat the Jazz, they can surpass the Clippers in the rankings and come to sixth in the West. If the Jazz wins, they can widen the gap with the Rockets and stabilize their No.8 position.

So this game is very important to everyone.

"Swipe~!!!"

"Swipe~!!!"

"Swipe~!!!"

After the game started, Nowitzki, who shaved off his beard, seemed to be unsealed. He was in a brave state. He hit three-pointers from long-range shots from the outside, as if he had regained the feeling of last season's finals~! !

"Yeah!!!"

"Pretty~!!!"

"MVP~!!!"

Byron on the sidelines was still shouting and shouting.

For every home game the Mavericks play, Byron will definitely still be in place.

Under the leadership of Nowitzki, the Mavericks successfully defended their home court and defeated the Jazz.

Not only let his ranking overtake the Clippers and come to sixth in the West, but also let the Rockets see the possibility of overtaking the Jazz and returning to eighth in the West.

"Sorry, Bruce, passing your team is just the beginning, let's recover slowly~!! Last year, we also won the championship under the circumstances that we have not been optimistic about. This year, please continue this kind of plot Let's go!!!"

Byron on the sidelines looked at the championship banner above the arena and sighed.

"I really can't relax, the No.6 position has not been sitting for a long time, it was replaced by the Mavericks~, and the Jazz is only 3.5 wins away from the eighth place, it is not safe at all~ !!"

After watching the game between the Mavericks and the Jazz, Lan Shengli sighed.

"Hey~, the pressure of this season is really great~, I thought I would have a chance to hit the first echelon, but now it seems that the difficulty is too great~!! The pressure from competitors is too great~!!"

Lan Shengli shook his head and continued to sigh.

(End of this chapter)