The sky has unpredictable events, and people have misfortunes and blessings.
The Bulls made rotation arrangements early, and there were no surprises for the main players.
The Heat, who are also competing for the Eastern Conference championship, have experienced some unexpected situations.
In order to ensure the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference, Wade, the head coach of the Heat, entered the playoffs with strong momentum. Unexpectedly, he suffered a very sudden and unexpected shoulder dislocation during the game against the Rockets.
For ordinary people, shoulder dislocation only causes pain for a few weeks.
But for athletes, especially those who rely on their hands to eat, it will take at least several months to recover as before.
The timing of Wade's injury was unfortunate. If it had been the beginning of the season, Wade would have had a chance to return to his full strength through treatment.
But now there is only one month left before the playoffs start.
Wade was unwilling to play so well this season, but due to injuries, the following regular season and playoffs ended directly.
In order to continue to compete for the championship and also to compete for the regular season MVP, Wade chose conservative treatment.
But even so, during Wade's absence, the Heat's record plummeted due to the lack of a team leader and a backbone. The veteran was content with having fun instead of making progress.
The Bulls' record has obviously declined due to their formation. But because of the Heat's losing streak, the Heat's status in the Eastern Conference has risen instead of falling, and they have accidentally become No. 1 in the Eastern Conference.
It can only be said that thanks to the support of his peers, Du En's ranking on the MVP list has been raised from seventh to fourth because of his first record in the Eastern Conference, even though he has done nothing.
Although it is impossible for Duan to win the MVP, to a certain extent, the MVP list shows the media's recognition of the star's strength, and it also indicates the position that the star can occupy in the selection of the best team.
Fourth on the MVP list, as long as the three players ranked ahead of Duen do not overlap with Duen's position, then there is still a high possibility that Duen will win the first team after the regular season.
Now on the MVP list, the top three are Nowitzki, Nash and Duncan, respectively the bosses of the top three teams in the Western Conference.
By the way, Wade originally ranked second on the MVP list, but unfortunately he was unlucky because he had no chance of winning the regular season MVP due to injury.
Therefore, if a super giant wants to obtain the honor that only a super giant can obtain, he also needs some endurance talent and luck.
Wade, like Duane, has already achieved success in his rookie contract and won FMVP and AMVP, but it has become extremely difficult to win the regular season MVP.
Closer to home, it was also because of the unexpected situation with the Heat that the Bulls basically lost their opponents in the Eastern Conference.
Maybe the Pistons have a chance to win one or two games against the Bulls in the playoff series, but the Pistons, who lack big money, have holes inside.
Roaring Heavenly Lord alone will definitely not be able to stop Du En.
This also means that as long as the Bulls use Duen's low-post singles tactics, the Pistons must send more forward players to restrict Duen from catching the ball, thus exposing more defensive risks.
Today's Bulls have no shortage of players who can score.
There is no doubt that it will be easier this year with Duane leading the Bulls out of the East.
However, Du En was not very clear about the situation in the west.
The Mavericks are on top. If the Warriors led by Nelson cannot restrain the Mavericks, the Mavericks may have to break out of the West again.
At present, the main players of the Suns are relatively healthy, and no one knows how far the Suns can perform this year.
Not to mention the Spurs. Duncan looks old due to recurring episodes of plantar fasciitis, but he is actually in his prime. Parker and Ginobili have entered their prime again.
Except that the main rotation players such as Finley, Bowen and Horry are a little older, other aspects are not affected.
Even Popovich has gone from being a rookie coach who won the championship with Duncan and the Admiral Twin Towers to becoming the league's leading ace coach.
Of course, what worries Duane most in the Western Conference this year is the Lakers, currently ranked sixth in the Western Conference.
Duan knows the Lakers very well, and he also knows Jackson, Kobe and Gasol very well.
With Gasol returning from injury and gradually integrating into the triangle offense, the Lakers have the possibility of winning the championship.
The Lakers have recently started a winning streak, and there is still some time before the end of the regular season. It would not be surprising at all for the Lakers to reach the top four in the Western Conference.
You know, in addition to Kobe and Gasol, the current Lakers also have Odom and Hinrich.
It is worth mentioning that Odom does not know the NBA's best defensive player - Khloe Kardashian.
As for Hinrich's strength, he is obviously above the elderly Fisher.
Today's Lakers are only missing Bynum from the Lakers who won the second consecutive championship.
However, Bynum's performance in the second consecutive playoffs cannot even be considered a fifth championship.
Dunn studies his opponents in the finals in advance and must put a new version of the Lakers into his plan.
…
Time flies by and it’s mid-April in a blink of an eye.
As the Bulls defeated the Nets away from home on April 18, officially completing the last game of the regular season this season, the Bulls will also return to Chicago to prepare for the next playoffs.
As the defending champion, the Bulls' regular season record this season is relatively average, failing to reach 60 wins.
In the end, they only managed a record of 58 wins and 24 losses, ranking third in the league with the Spurs in the Western Conference.
Of course, as the defending champions who are heavily guarded and defended by the entire league, the Bulls can achieve 58 wins this season, ranking third in the league, which is already very good.
No matter what, the Bulls are the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference.
If the record of 73 wins last season was not so dazzling, it would not be difficult at all for the Bulls to win 60 games this season.
It is precisely because of this that the Bulls' comprehensive strength and championship competitiveness are not much worse than last season.
Some time ago, the teams ranked sixth to eighth in the Eastern Conference only had one win each.
In order to avoid such a powerful enemy as the Bull, the Eight Immortals crossed the sea to show their magical powers and staged a lot of fights between dragons and tigers.
The Knicks, Nets, and Magic are all trying their best to win, hoping to move their respective rankings up one position before the end of the regular season.
But it's a pity that the Magic are still a little young. Since McGrady's crazy scoring championship, the Magic have not made the playoffs in three years.
The star Howard has just grown up, and the championship lineup is not well matched. In addition, in terms of schedule, the last two games happened to be difficult.
Therefore, it is normal for the Magic to fail to win in key battles.
However, now that we are working hard to reach the playoffs, the final result has already been determined - the future is yours!
Duan said - I can't wait to play against Howard!
It is worth mentioning that due to the principle of the first and top four in the division, the Bulls will play against the Heat or Cavaliers in the second round of this year's playoffs.
In terms of record, the Cavaliers are third in the Eastern Conference, but the Bulls and Pistons, who are ahead of the Cavaliers, are in the central zone just like the Cavaliers.
Therefore, the Cavaliers were forced to fall to fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat, originally fifth in the Eastern Conference, moved up one spot and became fourth in the Eastern Conference, gaining the advantage of one more home court in the upper division.
Of course, the changes in the top eight rankings in the Eastern Conference will not have a big impact on the Bulls.
Not surprisingly, the Bulls' opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals will only be the Pistons.
Whether it is the Raptors, which is third in the Eastern Conference, or the Knicks, which is sixth, the possibility of defeating the Pistons is very slim.
Let's talk about the Western Conference. The sudden emergence of the Lakers has disrupted some situations and also caused some teams on the fringes of the playoffs to lose the possibility of taking a step forward.
In the last dozen games of the regular season, the Lakers finally exposed the strength of a championship team.
The Hornets were expected to enter the playoffs, but they were just one step away from the playoffs, but were kicked out by the Lakers.
On the contrary, the Clippers, who are also in Los Angeles, took advantage of the Lakers and entered the playoffs again.
It's just that their opponent is the Mavericks, who are first in the league with 67 wins.
However, as the culprit behind all this, the Lakers are in the same Pacific Division as the 61-win Suns, and the Spurs, third in the Western Conference, are in the same division as the Mavericks.
The current situation is similar to that of the Cavaliers. Although they have a better record and are fourth in the Western Conference, their playoff spot has dropped to fifth in the Western Conference.
Of course, judging from the strength of their opponents, the Lakers are relatively lucky.
The Rockets were originally the fifth team in the Western Conference. Now that McGrady and Yao Ming are both healthy, they are definitely better than the Jazz, who were sixth in the Western Conference but were promoted to fourth in the Western Conference due to the competition system.
As for the Warriors, who are seventh in the Western Conference, they failed to face the Mavericks, who are ranked first in the Western Conference, because of the Lakers' interference. Instead, they were sent to the mouth of the Suns.
Under normal circumstances, as expected, the top four teams in the Western Conference with regular season records can advance smoothly.
However, in the Western Conference semifinals, due to the strength of the opponents, the fight will undoubtedly be more intense than in previous years.
In Dunn's view, only teams coming out of such a fiercely competitive Wild West are qualified to become their opponents!
Doon wants to retain the championship and win a second consecutive championship. But he also doesn't want to see some rookies rush into the finals by relying on whistles and luck, and then be easily swept by the team he leads.
The gold content of a championship comes from playing!
If the opponent is too weak, the finals will look boring.
As far as this year is concerned, the next finals will undoubtedly interest Du En.
Of course, Duan still needs to be down-to-earth starting from the first round of the playoffs and once again reach the finals step by step. (End of chapter)
