As the schedule continues, the Sonics will inevitably have some injuries.
Among the main players, Matt Geiger injured his knee and was sidelined for eight games.
In addition, Kendall Gill suffered a calf strain and was sidelined for eleven games.
Important substitute defender Sarunas Mathilionis was seriously injured and was out for the season.
Important substitute Ai Siqiu strained his left knee ligament and also missed twelve games.
However, veteran McMillan is good. He has a tough playing style and a well-trained body. He only missed two games.
Among the fringe players, Steve Scheffler was seriously injured in a training and it is estimated that it will be difficult to return in the playoffs.
Another fringe player, Byron Houston, also suffered a serious injury during the game and was also sidelined for the season.
These injuries frustrated Zhou Quan's idea of chasing the Bulls.
The Bulls' injury situation is better than that of the Sonics. No matter whether they are the main players or substitutes, there have been no serious injuries.
However, the battle between Zhou Quan and Jordan for the scoring title continues.
Although what Jordan wants most is to win the championship and defend his title, now Zhou Quan wants to compete for his scoring title, which makes him very annoyed.
He believed that the assists king belonged to Zhou Quan and the scoring king belonged to him, and no one could steal it from anyone else. He couldn't bear this, so in the second half of the game, he obviously started to work harder.
Jordan's offensive firepower is still stronger than Zhou Quan's. According to the system level, it has reached at least a top offense like level 95, which is a level higher than Zhou Quan's offense.
The SuperSonics' style of play and head coach George Karl's tactical style are all about averageness. Zhou Quan's shots in the SuperSonics are already very high, reaching 20 times. He can't blindly increase his shots, so he catches up for a while. Not going up.
On March 25, Michael Tyson, the world boxing champion with the most violent attacks in the history of world boxing, received a reduced sentence and walked out of the Indiana Youth Correctional Center.
Outside the center, a large crowd of reporters was waiting for him.
"Michael, can you still box?" a reporter asked loudly.
"certainly."
Michael Tyson is not like a beast that bursts out of the cage and is full of hunger, but like a beast that has been tortured to the point of losing its energy, with no sparkle in his eyes and no aggression.
During the few years in the correctional center, as a black man, he once again realized what racial discrimination is. There, he had no dignity, and as for the dignity of a world boxing champion, it was even worthless.
On April 8, Tyson's manager Don King announced that Tyson's first match after his release from prison was officially finalized. The opponent will be Pete McNee, and the venue will be the MGM Hotel in Alaska.
On April 23, the SuperSonics lost to the Suns on the road, ending the 1994/95 regular season, with a record of 61 wins and 21 losses, ranking first in the Western Conference.
The Bulls had 17 losses in 65 games, ranking first in the league.
After playing the last game, Zhou Quan returned to the locker room and asked the coaching staff to get his personal data for the season.
He seemed very excited. It was about regular season tasks and huge rewards, which made him impatient.
Played in 82 games, started 82 games, averaged 41 minutes per game, 28 points, 5.1 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 4.5 steals, 1.2 blocks, 2.8 turnovers and 2.8 fouls per game.
He averaged 11.2 of 21.5 field goals per game with a field goal percentage of 52.1%, 1.05 of 2.6 three-pointers with a field goal percentage of 40.4%, 4.6 of 5 free throws per game with a field goal percentage of 92%, a true shooting percentage of 59.2%, and a turnover-to-assist ratio of 5.28.
This season, he ranks first on the team in playing time, first in field goal attempts, first in points, third in rebounds, first in steals, first in blocks, first in assists, first in defensive efficiency, first in personal plus-minus, shooting Third in hits.
He scored 2300/7308 points in the regular season and career this season; rebounded 418/1546, assisted 1214/4176, stole 369/1102, and blocked 98/274 shots.
"Mission accomplished!"
With a thought, he opened the system.
Sure enough, a new tip excited him immediately.
When he opened it, he saw that it was the reward prompt. He had received rewards of +2 injury resistance, +1 bounce, +1 agility, and +1 strength.
His injury resistance is now level 95, his jumping and agility are level 95, and his strength is level 87.
Of all ten physical qualities, eight are above level 95, two of which are at full level, and only strength and speed are below level 95.
Before he could be happy, several new prompts appeared again.
"The host's physical fitness has been further improved. Please continue to perform shooting and breakthrough training tasks. Every 2,000 times, you can improve one level. Shooting skills can be improved to level 96, and breakthrough skills can be improved to level 95."
"Every time all shooting skills are improved by one level, the basic shooting skills will be improved by one level; when all shooting skills are upgraded to level 96, the shooting improvement will reach the full level."
"All breakthrough skills have been upgraded to level 95, shooting skills have been upgraded to level 96, and the offense has been upgraded to level 95."
Zhou Quan laughed when he saw the mission content.
Although it is no longer 500 times per round, it has increased by a full 4 times, but with his current technical level, this level of improvement is a step forward, and he will be upgraded to a fixed level after 2000 times, which is already very, very good. .
No wonder no more training tasks were issued after the previous training tasks were completed. It turned out that the quality was not up to the requirements.
He calculated that 12 shooting techniques and 6 breakthrough techniques would require a total of seventy or eighty rounds of training and 140,000 to 160,000 training sessions. It would take two years to complete them.
"Iron Fist, congratulations, you have defended the assists and steals title for three consecutive seasons." At this time, George Karl's voice sounded.
"Boss, congratulations."
"Iron Fist, double champion, you have monopolized these two data kings."
Other teammates also sent congratulations.
"Thanks!"
Zhou Quan replied with a smile.
He then said to Rodman: "Dennis, congratulations on winning the rebounding title for the fourth consecutive time."
"Haha, I've said it before, Iron Fist, you monopolize the assists and steals, and I monopolize the rebounds." Rodman chuckled.
George Karl said: "Mutombo is the block leader, averaging 3.9 per game. Jordan is the scoring leader, averaging 30.8 points per game, followed by O'Neal with 29.3 points. Iron Fist, you rank third in the league.
But in terms of field goal percentage and true shooting percentage, Jordan is not as good as you. His two statistics this season are 49.8% and 58.3% respectively.
In terms of defensive efficiency, you are the same as last season, ranking first in the league. In terms of personal win-loss value, you are slightly lower than Jordan, second in the league.
In terms of defensive efficiency, you may get DPOY again, but it may not be given to you again. As for MVP, our record is not as good as the Bulls, and it is also somewhat difficult. "
Kendall Gill said: “Our record is second in the league, and Jordan already has three MVPs, so we may not necessarily give it back to him this time.
Zhou Quan smiled and shook his head: "These are not the most important things to me. The most important thing is the playoffs."
Everyone nodded. They reached the finals last season but did not win the championship. This season they have only one goal, and that is the championship.
Then George Karl introduced the regular season and playoffs.
The top eight in the Eastern Conference are the Bulls, Magic, Knicks, Pacers, Hornets, Cavaliers, Hawks, and Celtics.
The top eight in the Western Conference are SuperSonics, Jazz, Suns, Spurs, Lakers, Mosaic, Trail Blazers, and Nuggets.
Playoff matchup.
First round of the Eastern Conference: Bulls vs. Celtics, Pacers vs. Hornets, Magic vs. Hawks, Knicks vs. Cavaliers.
Western Conference first round: SuperSonics vs. Nuggets, Spurs vs. Lakers, Jazz vs. Trail Blazers, Suns vs. Mosaic.
"What a coincidence, we played the Nuggets again in the first round this year." Zhou Quan said with a smile.
Kendall Gill said: "We beat them three to one in the regular season last year and this year. Last year we even swept the Nuggets in the first round. There will be no problem this time."
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "Don't be careless. Our attitude should be the same as last year. Play every game as the last game and win one by one. This way, even if the worst result occurs, we will be mentally prepared. I won’t regret it either.”
"Yes, boss."
"Iron Fist is right."
The players echoed in the locker room.
George Karl said: "After we advance in the first round, we should play the Spurs in the second round. We are also three to one in the regular season this season. The problem in the first two rounds should not be big. It mainly depends on who the opponent is in the Western Conference Finals."
Rodman said with a smile: "Either the Jazz or the Suns. The Suns and Mosaic met in the first round. They seemed to have met in the second round last year, but this time it was earlier."
Zhou Quan said with a strange expression: "Mosaic got a glider. Unexpectedly, the injuries were worse than ours, and we actually fell to sixth place."
When he said this, he suddenly thought of Mosaic losing two consecutive games at home in the second round of the Western Conference last year, but in the end they reached the Western Conference Finals in the tiebreaker, so he couldn't help but be wary and reminded:
"I don't think Mosaic will necessarily lose to the Suns. Although one of their rotational power forwards has been reimbursed and Maxwell's injury has not fully recovered, their lineup is deep and resilient. We cannot be careless."
George Karl nodded and said: "What Iron Fist said makes sense. The Mosaic team showed resilience in the second round last year. It is indeed worthy of vigilance."
Zhou Quan observed the atmosphere in the locker room. It was pretty good. It was better than this time last season. After going through the playoffs last season, especially the finals, the mentality of the head coach should be better now. The ability to withstand pressure is stronger.
…
"Iron Fist, the fourth and fifth 180 Club member in league history." Seattle Times.
"Congratulations to Michael Jordan for winning the scoring title for the ninth consecutive season. You have monopolized this honor. This era belongs to you." New York Times.
"First in personal data and first in record, Michael Jordan has the greatest chance of winning the fourth MVP trophy in his career." Chicago Sports News.
"Winning the fourth championship and defending it twice will symbolize the advent of the Flying Man era." Chicago Tribune.
"The Green Team will be swept in the first round. Neither the Pacers nor the Hornets will be able to pose any obstacle to the Bulls in the second round. The Bulls have already secured a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals." Los Angeles Daily News.
"Tekken defends the assists and steals title for the third consecutive year, and the honor of double titles will last throughout his career." Detroit Worker Daily.
“Leading the league in defensive efficiency, the Iron Fist will defend the DPOY title.” Seattle Post.
"They swept the Nuggets in the first round last season, and there will be no difficulties this season. There is an 80% chance of facing the Spurs in the second round. There will still be no difficulties. The SuperSonics have already booked a spot in the Western Conference Finals." Los Angeles Daily News.
On the 24th, major media began to hype the situation of the playoffs. As the two most popular people, Jordan and Zhou Quan were naturally the top priority of media reports.
Zhou Quan couldn't help but laugh when he saw the Los Angeles Daily report. It seemed that even the Los Angeles media was not optimistic about the Lakers' strength.
Major media have also begun to analyze the playoff situation and the championship situation.
At the beginning of the season, the media identified several championship-level teams, including the Bulls, Magic, and Knicks in the East, as well as the SuperSonics, Mosaic, Spurs, and Suns in the West. The media recognized four championship-level teams. team.
The analysis of the Eastern Conference is still very accurate. The three first-tier teams ranked among the top three in the Eastern Conference. However, the analysis of the Western Conference is inaccurate. Neither the Spurs nor the Mosaic ranked among the top three.
These two teams have also been criticized by the media, with the two super centers Dameng and Admiral being criticized.
In the sports news on the morning of the 24th, NBC TV station gave the organization's prediction of winning the championship.
Bulls 25%, SuperSonics 20%, Knicks 15%, Magic 13%, Jazz 11%, Suns 8%, Mosaic 7%, and the rest of the teams add up to 1%.
Zhou Quan glanced at the newspapers. Except for the media in Seattle, the media in other cities basically ranked the Bulls first in winning the championship.
But the SuperSonics are also the No. 2 seed team predicted by major media, and are the media's second favorite team to win the championship.
The first round starts on the 27th, and the SuperSonics start on that day. There is not much rest time, and the playoff schedule is very tight.
On the 25th, the league officially announced a series of regular season honors.
Among the five data kings, Zhou Quan once again won the assists and steals double crown, Rodman once again won the rebounding king, and the SuperSonics won three of the data kings. The scoring leader was Jordan, and the block leader was Muttoboom.
The Rookie of the Year went to popular star Grant Hill, the Sixth Man of the Year went to Anthony Mason Jr., and DPOY went to Mutombo.
On the 26th, the Nuggets arrived in Seattle.
Zhou Quan invited Mutombo, who was the same year's top player, to dinner. He said helplessly: "Iron Fist, I'm really unlucky to meet you again in the first round."
Zhou Quan laughed and said: "There is no way, Dikembe, I can only ask you to travel in one round this time. Your strength is not as good as last season, you know this."
Mutombo said unconvinced: "That's not necessarily true. Maybe I will eliminate you this time."
Zhou Quan nodded and smiled: "People always have to have dreams, otherwise what is the difference from salted fish? Dikembe, your dream is not bad, you have broken away from the ranks of salted fish."
"Iron Fist, you're a bastard!"
…
The fact is that Mutombo did have a dream in which he eliminated Zhou Quan. The reality was that he was swept by the SuperSonics again.
In addition, the Bulls also swept the Green Team on this day and advanced at the same time as the SuperSonics.
The next day, May 2, the Magic swept the Hawks.
In the other 5 games, the Pacers and the Hornets played 2-1, the Knicks and the Cavaliers played 2-1, the Spurs and the Lakers played 2-1, the Jazz and the Trail Blazers played 2-1, and the Suns and Mosaic tied one to two.
On the 3rd, the Pacers eliminated the Hornets with a big score of 3 to 1 and completed promotion.
At the same time, the Knicks also eliminated the Cavaliers and advanced to the second round.
On the 4th, the Spurs defeated the Lakers again and advanced to the second round.
At the same time, the Jazz and Trail Blazers were tied at 2-2.
The enemies of the Suns and Mosaic played 2-2 in the first four games.
On the 6th, the Jazz defeated the Trail Blazers and advanced to the second round.
At the same time, Mosaic once again showed strong tenacity, defeated the Suns, and reached the second round with difficulty.
But Mosaic suffered another injury in the first round. Madman Maxwell was seriously injured again in the G1 game and left the twelve-man roster and was reimbursed for the season.
In this way, the second round matchups are in the East, the Bulls vs. the Pacers, and the Magic vs. the Knicks; in the West, the SuperSonics vs. the Spurs, and the Jazz vs. Mosaic.
The second round will start on the 7th, with the SuperSonics playing the Spurs and the Magic playing the Knicks, with the other two games starting on the 8th.
(End of chapter)
