After the first game, the Clippers team was determined.
Returning to the locker room after the game, Jordan commented on tonight's opponent: "Madman has the ability but no leadership qualities, Marbury has the ambition to lead the team but has no ability, Johnson has good talent but lacks ability and is not reused, and Marion has ability and enthusiasm. They have both, but he is not enough to connect the inside and outside... They have no possibility of defeating us, and they do not have the conditions to defeat us. We just need to play steadily."
Jordan's instructive tone made his teammates feel comfortable listening to him, because this man deserves to speak like this.
Big Q didn't hear enough and asked: "Michael, which teams in other series do you think can advance to the second round?"
Jordan likes the praise of Big Q very much, but he just didn't say enough. He only played 13 minutes tonight and had no place to use his strength. He analyzed:
“The Magic and Nets are definitely going to advance.
The strongest players on the Wizards are Brand and Hamilton. They were unlucky to encounter Duncan and McGrady who were stronger than them.
No one on the Hornets is Kidd's opponent. Except for Duncan, no one in the Eastern Conference can prevent Kidd from winning the next series.
I estimate that they will lose one game at most. If it is still a win-win-win system of 5 games, they will never lose a game. "
"The Pistons are strong on the outside, but they are too weak on the inside. They happened to encounter Iverson, the most powerful breakthrough player. Iverson narrowed the strength gap between the 76ers and the Pistons. If the Pistons failed to make effective adjustments, The 76ers are more likely to advance."
"The Pacers have a better lineup than the Raptors, but the Pacers' coach is not good, their offense is too poor, and their defensive system is good but not adaptable enough to stop Carter."
"The Lakers and Trail Blazers, I think the Trail Blazers are actually stronger, but the Lakers have the Black Mamba and the Shark. No matter who wins, it will be very difficult for them."
"The Timberwolves and Kings, if Garnett can keep limiting Webber like that, it will be difficult for the Kings to advance this year."
"It's a pity for the Mavericks. They are very unlucky. If they met the Timberwolves or Trail Blazers, they would have a great chance of winning, but they happened to meet the Jazz who restrained them. They are taking an offensive and defensive line this season, but regardless of Neither the offense nor the defense are strong enough, and the Jazz are very good at dealing with such a team..."
Li Ao was undergoing physical therapy while listening to Jordan's instructions. From the perspective of analyzing the situation, the God of Basketball is worthy of being the God of Basketball.
It's just that Jordan's analysis perspective is becoming less and less like a player...
All the first games of the 8-group series in the first round have been played, and the playoffs have begun.
On the 22nd, the league announced the Best Coach Award. Gentry, who had 70 wins, beat Rivers, who had no losing streak in a single season, to win the best coach award.
Winning the best coach twice in three years has given Gentry another layer of gold.
On the 23rd, the league announced the Best Sixth Man and Most Improved Awards.
Jordan got 49 first-place votes and accounted for 27.2% of the total points, beating Odom who got 35 first-place votes and 24.1% of the total points to win the Best Sixth Man.
Arenas received 101 first-place votes and won the Most Improved Award with an absolute advantage of 50.1% of the total score.
On the night of the award, Jordan performed brilliantly in the second game of the series against the Suns. He made 8 of 14 shots, including 1 of 1 three-pointers, plus 6 of 8 free throws. He scored 23 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 assists in the three quarters. Snap and clock out.
With a record advantage of nearly 30 games, the Clippers theoretically have the possibility of underestimating their opponent. In fact, they do have the idea of underestimating their opponent. They are also full of contempt for the Suns in preparation... but they can't hold Marbury to death. , single-handedly increasing the concentration of the Clippers players.
Jordan was 40 years old and won a personal award trophy. Just when he was happy, Marbury jumped out to give an interview and said that Odom and Kirilenko were the real best sixth men, and Jordan's performance was not worthy.
So Jordan let Marbury know whether he was worthy or not!
When it comes to cheating, a guy like Jordan is quite skilled. He just scores in isolation, shrinks to grab rebounds, and occasionally passes the ball. There are many irrelevant things. He focuses on using his strengths and avoiding weaknesses. It seems that the veteran is still working hard.
Jordan was playing so hard, swearing and giving orders, his teammates must have stepped up and went all out on both offense and defense...
102 to 85, the Clippers defeated the Suns again, leading 2-0.
On the 24th, the league announced the Best Rookie Award.
The Little Giants lost to the Little Overlords by 19 points, and unfortunately lost the best rookie.
Yao Ming was quite unlucky. The year he joined, the "minor award voting reform" happened.
Prior to this year, awards such as Best Rookie, Best Sixth Man, Most Improved Award, etc. were all single-vote systems, that is, each voter got one vote, and the final vote was purely based on the number of votes.
This year it became everyone voting for the first, second, third... candidate, with each vote having a different point value.
Yao Ming played in all 82 games during his rookie season, averaging 14.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2 assists, 0.4 steals and 2 blocks per game. The team recorded 39 wins and 43 losses, and received 61 of 115 first-place votes.
Stoudemire also played full attendance in his rookie season, averaging 13.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1 assist, 0.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. The team had a record of 43 wins and 39 losses, and only 54 first-place votes, lost to Yao Ming.
But Stoudemire was higher than Yao Ming in the second vote. He won the Rookie of the Year with 40.6% of his total points, beating Yao Ming's 39.1% of his total points.
The media analyzed that Yao Ming received more first-place votes because of his better personal performance. The reason why Little Bully was able to reverse the situation with second-place votes was because the Suns had a better record.
When competing for Rookie of the Year, Yao Ming was at a disadvantage in New York.
His fight let other players know how hard his punches were, but it also attracted trouble. In New York, the magnitude was magnified even more than in Los Angeles.
On the 26th, the Clippers came to Phoenix to play against the Suns.
Li Ao made 6 of 12 shots, including 1 of 3 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block; O'Neal Jr. made 6 of 11 shots, plus 2 of 4 free throws, and got 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. To 14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Jordan and Odom both came off the bench to score 19 points.
Bibby had 7 points and 5 assists, Jaric had 5 points and 4 assists, Gerald Wallace and Matt Halprin both had 7 points, and Big Q had 6 points and 2 assists...
Four Clippers players scored in double figures, and all 11 players on the court scored. They defeated the Suns again 108-85, with a big score of 3-0.
The Madman made 9 of 17 shots, plus 9 of 10 free throws, and efficiently scored a game-high 27 points. Marion's performance of 16 points and 8 rebounds was also okay.
But Marbury made 9 of 27 shots and scored 22 points and 4 assists...
In this series, Marbury showed people how bad he is at playing in the playoffs. He played extremely well in the regular season, averaging 22 points and 8 assists per game. But in the playoffs, he was still the same as in the regular season, with poor efficiency. Too low to see.
On April 28, at 8:30 pm, the Clippers started Game 4 of the series against the Suns away from home.
Trailing 0-3, the Suns still wanted to give it a try.
Although Marbury's performance in the playoffs was poor, he never gave up, and Madman and Marion are not people who give up easily. The Suns played very good defense tonight, leading the Clippers 20-15 in the first quarter.
The Clippers were caught off guard in the first quarter, but quickly adjusted in the second quarter and defeated the Suns 21-18. Entering the halftime break, the point difference was reduced to 2 points, trailing 36-38.
In the third quarter, the Suns used painful experience to prove one thing to non-top defensive teams - don't fight the Clippers on defense.
The Clippers used their strongest five-man team in the third quarter and scored 24 points while preventing the Suns from scoring only 14 points.
After three quarters, the Clippers led the Suns by 8 points 60-52.
Marbury broke out in the final quarter, scoring 9 points in a single quarter and leading the team to 23 points. However, the Clippers also scored 20 points in the final quarter. The Suns' late counterattack did not pose a substantial threat to the Clippers.
Tonight, Marbury had his best performance of the series. He made 10 of 25 shots from the field. His shooting percentage was not high, but at least 40%, including 3 of 9 three-pointers, plus 4 of 4 free throws. Scored 27 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Facts have proved that he is not incapable of playing well in the playoffs. With such intensity of defense tonight, a scoring point guard can shoot 40%, which is very good. Opposite a player as stable as Bibby, only 9 He scored 12 points and 3 assists on 3 shots.
What Marbury lacks is experience in playoff games. He has been improving in this series, but by the time the progress can be seen, his playoff journey is over.
Li Ao made 9 of 20 shots, including 2 of 2 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks;
O'Neal Jr. made 8 of 18 shots, plus 2 of 3 free throws, and scored 18 points, 14 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks;
Jordan, who came off the bench, made 4 of 9 shots, plus 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists;
Bibby made 3 of 9 shots, including 3 of 7 three-pointers, plus 3 of 3 free throws to score 12 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists...
80 to 75, the Clippers defeated the Suns with a 5-point advantage and advanced to the second round with a big score of 4-0!
…
They eliminated their opponents in the away game and advanced. After the game, Li Ao could clearly feel the change in the fans' attitude towards them.
They were just opponents before, but now they have become hated enemies by Suns fans.
In the past, Li Ao always felt that the Lakers were too hated. Now, the Clippers have also followed the Lakers' old path.
Defeating an opponent head-on in the playoffs will inevitably earn the hatred of the fans of this team. Just like in the 2001 playoffs, the Clippers lost to the Kings, and Clippers fans regarded the Kings as their most hated enemy. .
In 4 games, the Clippers averaged 99.25 points per game, limiting the Suns to 79.75 points per game, with an average margin of 19.5 points per game. It would be strange if the Suns didn't hate them.
This series was the easiest for Li Ao in his three seasons in the NBA. He averaged 28 minutes per game and scored 19 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.2 blocks.
The series against the Suns was easy, and Li Ao had time to focus on other series.
The God of Basketball's situation analysis is still very good.
Before the Clippers, the Magic and Nets have already advanced to the second round.
The Magic swept the Wizards 4-0.
Duncan averaged 21.5 points, 10 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3 blocks per game. He shot 60% from the field and averaged 9 of 15 shots per game, but his free throws... He took 28 free throws in 4 games and only made 14 of them. His free throw percentage was The field goal percentage was 10 percentage points lower.
Duncan shot 42.5% from the field in this series...
McGrady averaged 21 points, 6.25 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, and Cassel averaged 18 points and 8.5 assists per game. The Magic's three major stars all shot over 50% from the field, giving the Wizards no chance.
Brand and Hamilton, who were playing in the playoffs for the first time, learned a lesson.
However, the dominant performance of the Magic's three major stars, like the dominant performance of the Clippers, was ignored by the fans among the three teams that swept the promotion.
Kidd averaged 15.5 points, 10.7 rebounds, 11.5 assists and 2.5 steals in 4 games, and had 3 triple-doubles in 4 games!
This regular season, Kidd played 80 games, averaging 21.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 9.4 assists per game, and scored 22 triple-doubles. He became the first in the modern basketball era and the third in NBA history to have more than 20 triple-doubles in a single season. players.
With these three triple-doubles, Kidd's number of triple-doubles in the playoffs has reached 9 games, ranking third in the number of triple-doubles in the playoffs. He is only one time away from the second-placed Birdie and one away from the first-place. Magic was just...21 shots away.
Magic's 30 playoff triple-doubles are regarded as an unsurpassable record like Chamberlain's 100 points in a single game.
There are too many requirements to achieve this. You have to play enough playoff games, have a high concentration of ball rights, and have teammates with good enough shooting abilities...
Even in an era when triple-doubles are common 20 years later, there are only a handful of players who have more than 10 triple-doubles in the playoffs in their career. They play many playoff games every year, their teammates are always strong, and their teammates' ability to support them is always strong... ...Future Goat who met all the conditions was very close to this record, but he was unable to surpass it until he retired.
In the other five series, the Trail Blazers and the Lakers, the Raptors and the Pacers, and the Mavericks and the Jazz all played very anxiously, with the big scores all tied at 2-2.
The Timberwolves and Kings, the 76ers and the Pistons... all lead 3-1!
After the first four games between Garnett and Iverson, the limelight even overshadowed Kidd's.
Kidd's performance was very exaggerated, but in the end it was just a game of abuse.
Garnett and Iverson defeated top teams on their own.
Li Ao is very happy to have swept the promotion early. He will have time to watch the game between Garnett and Iverson!
But the next morning, an interview left him silent for a while...
Last night, the 76ers defeated the Pistons 108-102 at home, leading 3-1. Iverson said in an interview after the game: "If it were last year, I would be thinking about the second round like Spider-Man. rival."
This is the content of the interview report. The title is - "Answer: Like Spider-Man, I am already thinking about my opponents in the next round."
…
On May 1st, the Pistons returned to their home court and started going on a rampage. The entire team was irritated by Iverson. They scored 129 points and beat the 76ers 129-106.
Ray Allen made 18 of 32 shots from the field, including 9 of 16 three-pointers, setting a new NBA playoff record for three-pointers in a single game. In addition, he made 6 of 7 free throws, setting a career playoff high in a single game. 51 points.
Iverson was still furious tonight, making 13 of 22 shots and 9 of 9 free throws to score 35 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, but he was beaten by Ray Allen.
Li Ao watched the live broadcast. This game... was actually pretty good to watch. In addition to Ray Allen's 51 points, Billups' 12 points and 19 assists were also very eye-catching. Ben Wallace had 8 points and 22 rebounds and Artest. Sturt made 9 of 16 shots and 4 of 6 free throws to score 22 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 2 blocks, and he was also very grumpy...
The buff the answer gave to the opponent's gloves was so powerful that it suddenly ignited the Pistons who were about to lose their fighting spirit.
Li Ao watched G4 between the 76ers and the Pistons. Iverson made 14 of 29 shots in that game, plus 13 of 15 free throws to score 41 points and 6 assists. He single-handedly defeated the Pistons. At the end of the game, the Pistons The players on the team looked confused and looked like they wanted to run away from the stadium.
Even tough guys like Artest and Ben Wallace had their mentality exploded at that time, and the whole team couldn't outscore a single dwarf.
But because of Iverson's words, the Pistons were risking their lives tonight as if they were facing someone who would cut off their financial resources.
After the game, Li Ao saw a close-up of the faces of the Pistons players, and his energy suddenly changed, and all the lost confidence came back.
In fact, if you read the full text of Iverson's interview, you will know that Iverson did not mean to look down on the Pistons, but when the media published the news, the title was just a sentence, and the fans quoted it out of context...
Li Ao was puzzled. What kind of special button was used to defeat the Pistons with a 3-1 lead?
The same goes for Iverson. If you want to consider it for the next round, consider it. He also mentioned Spider-Man.
If Spider-Man himself offends the Pistons, it doesn't matter. Now it feels like a pot fell from the sky.
Look at Garnett, he is so smart at this time.
After the Kings showed strength in G4, they were disheartened. Garnett caught his teammates bragging after the game and was determined not to buff the Kings.
In G5, Garnett made 12 of 20 shots, plus 6 of 8 free throws. He scored 30 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. He led the Timberwolves to a strong victory over the Kings 106-98, advancing to the third round with a big score of 4-1. Second round.
After slandering Iverson, Li Ao returned his attention to his own playoffs.
Although he guessed that the Timberwolves might advance, he didn't expect that the Timberwolves would actually win! And so neat and tidy.
From the G5 live broadcast, Li Ao saw frustration written on the faces of other Kings players.
The performance gap between the two teams' stars is too big.
In 5 games, Garnett averaged 27.8 points, 18.6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2.6 steals, 2.2 blocks, and a 51.4% shooting percentage.
Weber averaged 17.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and shot 44% from the field.
In addition to the performance gap between the stars, the head coach's on-the-spot response gap is also reflected. Flip Saunders has expanded Garnett's advantage to the extreme.
As for the Kings, Adelman was almost helpless after his star player was suppressed, which led to the collapse of the team's confidence.
After this series, the topic of who is the second most powerful forward in the league has been decided.
If the position is divided by playing style, then Garnett is the first power forward, and his personal ability is one step ahead of the second place.
Li Ao was a little regretful that he could not play against the gorgeous Kings in the playoffs for the third consecutive year, but he was still looking forward to playing against Garnett at the peak of his personal abilities.
Garnett is the only team to defeat the Clippers twice in the regular season this season!
That's right, Garnett's sixth consecutive first-round trip was cut off, and he can't summon the dragon with seven stars... There is a high probability that the Suns will not let the madman go. The madman's contract has two years left, and Colangelo will definitely not Like Dolan, who gave away a madman to the Timberwolves for nothing, as long as the Magic management is not crazy, they probably won't let Cassell go... So where can I find the other two heads of the Huskies?
The 'loyalty' of the Wolf King in the original time and space somehow extended to 2007.
In this situation, if the Timberwolves fail to get some strong helpers for Garnett next season, will he renew his contract with the Timberwolves after his 2004 league-highest salary of 28 million is over?
(End of chapter)
