On April 18, after four days of suffering, the NBA playoffs of the 2009-2010 season finally started.
The first game between the Clippers and Lakers is scheduled for three o'clock that afternoon at Staples Center.
The first few games of the playoffs are scheduled from afternoon to evening, mainly to consider the issue of national broadcast of the first game.
The United States has a vast territory, a long distance from east to west, and spans four time zones. In some places, it is still during the golden hour at night, while in another place people are already asleep.
Therefore, the first shot of the playoffs, which will be broadcast live across the United States, must be well publicized and strive to achieve full coverage during the time period.
Los Angeles is located in the Pacific City, with a three-hour time difference from the Atlantic coast to the east.
If the game starts at 7pm as usual, it will already be 10pm in the East.
By the time the game is over, it is already the second day in the Eastern Region, and many fans will not choose to watch the live broadcast.
Adjust the time to three o'clock in the afternoon, which is six o'clock in the east, and it will be after nine o'clock after the game, which is completely acceptable.
Although subsequent games will be arranged according to the customs of this time zone as much as possible, it is still necessary for the opening game to attract more attention.
A side effect of this is that the opening game of the playoffs can only be broadcast live in China in the early morning.
Not only the opening game, tiebreakers and key games will also be moved to this time.
Many fans can only choose to stay up late or wait until tomorrow to watch the news to know the result.
On the 17th, four series in the playoffs have been decided first.
The Cavaliers defeated the Bulls, the Hawks defeated the Bucks, the Celtics defeated the Heat, and the Nuggets defeated the Jazz.
Overall, the results of the game were as expected, without any upsets.
The higher ranked teams all got their opening wins.
Noteworthy: Derrick Rose scored 28 points in the first game, the highest score in the game.
Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings scored 34 points in the first playoff game, showing off his talent.
The Celtics only allowed the Heat to score 76 points in the first game, and their defensive state was excellent.
Anthony scored 42 points in the first game against the Jazz and was hot on the offensive end.
On the first day, there wasn’t much of a stir, but on the 18th, it was the highlight.
The two teams in Los Angeles will meet in the playoffs for the first time, and the two teams will not have to travel between places.
Staying in Los Angeles, the staff can change the floor and complete the switch between home and away games.
The first home game was for the Lakers, and needless to say, all the tickets were sold out.
Ticket prices for the playoffs have increased significantly compared to the regular season.
Min Congda's ticket behind the bench was given by the Lakers.
It will cost you $1,500 if you buy it.
Not counting season tickets, the box office for this show is definitely over 1.5 million.
It’s just that most of the revenue from the playoffs goes back to the league.
Therefore, the longer the series, the higher the league's revenue.
A seven-game series would bring in twice as much box office revenue as a sweep.
Min Congda doesn't want the series to reach Game 7. If that happens, the $9,000 will be wasted.
If the Lakers play well and sweep away 4-0, Min Congda won't have to deduct a penny.
Therefore, although sitting behind the Clippers bench, Min Congda's heart is towards the Lakers.
He even secretly bought a Lakers No. 24 jersey to wear underneath.
This is the best-selling jersey in the Los Angeles area, followed by Curry's No. 30.
I don’t know if Min Congdane wearing a Lakers jersey played a role.
The first Los Angeles Derby, which many people were looking forward to, did not turn out to be an earth-shattering battle.
The Lakers, who were defeated by the Clippers 4 days ago, welcomed Kobe's return in this game. It was like a different team.
The Lakers showed a strong competitive state throughout the game, completely suppressing the Clippers on both offense and defense.
The Clippers are obviously not used to the intensity of the playoffs.
They were beaten 30:15 by the Lakers in the first quarter, and the point difference suddenly widened to 15 points.
In the following games, the Clippers kept filling the big hole they dug in the first quarter.
They didn't come out of the pit until the end of the game.
The final score was not an exaggeration, 97:89, the Lakers beat the Clippers by 8 points.
But anyone who has watched the game knows that the Clippers have no chance at all in this game.
Curry participated in the playoffs for the first time and was led by Kobe Bryant for the entire game, scoring only 8 points.
He made 1 of 6 three-pointers, completely failing to take advantage of his outside firepower.
At the same time, the defensive problems in the backcourt composed of Curry and Davis have been infinitely expanded.
Kobe played very casually on the offensive end.
Fortunately, Kobe was in average condition due to two weeks of rest.
He only scored 21 points on 6-of-17 shooting, otherwise the game would have ended in no suspense.
Min Congda sat in the audience and felt no pressure from beginning to end.
This game was really comfortable to watch. He was finally able to put aside his emotions and analyze the matchup between the two sides.
When he goes back to write after the game tonight, he will definitely emphasize two points:
First, the Clippers have defensive problems in the backcourt. Curry and Davis are not good at defensive capabilities.
Whether it is single defense or assisted defense, it is barely enough in the regular season, but not enough in the playoffs.
The intensity of the playoffs is completely different from the regular season. The referee's whistle is obviously loose and defense is very important.
Second, Randolph was unable to support himself inside, and Gasol still didn't play well against his brother.
Randolph became the only outstanding player in this game, scoring 25 points and becoming the fulcrum of the Clippers' tactics.
But Min Congda knew that this was intentional by the Lakers, to let Randolph go.
Randolph was not double-teamed or heavily defended by the Lakers throughout the game.
From the beginning to the end, Bynum defended alone. If he could defend himself, he would defend him. If he could not defend himself, he would be knocked down.
Randolph alone cannot kill the Lakers, and the Lakers are not afraid.
In fact, these two points can be summed up in one sentence: neither outside nor inside!
Seeing the first game, the Clippers lost so cleanly.
Min Congda suddenly had confidence in himself again!
"The Clippers are only at this level. If they hadn't scored a few points in the last garbage time, they would have lost this game by 15 points or more. The Lakers still showed mercy. Isn't it actually my fault? Is there nothing wrong with my operation?"
One game was not enough for Min Congda to reverse his previous reflection.
However, two days later, on April 20, the second game between the Lakers and Clippers took place.
Just when people thought the Clippers would make adjustments, the Lakers won a 100:83 victory, dashing all the little expectations Clippers fans had before the game.
Kobe returned to form in this game, shooting 13 of 28 and scoring 41 points, completely destroying the Clippers' perimeter.
After the game, two voices began to appear: one felt that the Lakers were too strong and that the playoffs were on two levels.
There is another way, which is to say that the Clippers' regular season record is simply false and too poor. This lineup cannot be defended from the outside and cannot attack from the inside.
How did you get 50 wins? A lineup that is pure offense without defense is weak.
Curry recovered somewhat in the second game, but he only scored 19 points and was unable to recover.
The morale of the Clippers team, which was originally full of confidence in the playoffs, fell to the bottom again.
Min Congda recovered 80% of his blood after two games.
"It turns out it's not my fault! The Clippers are still weak! There is no problem with my operation!"
With such confidence, Game 3 was played at Staples Center.
This is too unfair to the Clippers, because the home court is still in Los Angeles, and most of the fans at the scene are Lakers fans.
In seven games, the Clippers actually didn’t have a single home court.
Many teams suffered heavy defeats in their first two away games, and when they return to home for the third game, they can use their home court advantage to make a comeback.
He can hit back hard against his opponent, win the game, and even completely reverse the course of the series.
The Clippers had no such opportunity, because in the third game, the Lakers continued to suppress the Clippers.
There were more than 18,000 spectators at the scene, and most of them were fans wearing Lakers jerseys.
97:90, the Lakers won another game, leading the Clippers 3:0 in the series, and a sweep was imminent.
After the third game, Min Congda finally resurrected with full health and regained his confidence.
"Let me tell you, why is there any problem with my bad operation? It's just bad luck!"
(End of chapter)
