NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

101: 96!

In this decisive Game 7, the Nuggets ultimately prevailed by 5 points!
Throughout the game, apart from Billups and Nowitzki exchanging 40+ points, the Mavericks' Howard scored 29 points, Dampier had 9 points and 9 rebounds, and Terry had 8 points. No other player scored more than 5 points.

On the other hand, the Nuggets had a more balanced offensive lineup. In addition to Billups's incredible 40+ point performance, Milicic had 13 points and 13 rebounds, Kleiza had 11 points, Najera had 10 points, and Camby also contributed 11 points and 14 rebounds!

All five starters scored in double figures, and this more united and balanced performance allowed the Nuggets to advance to the second round despite Milicic's poor performance!

Although Milicic played poorly in Game 7 and was completely outplayed by Nowitzki, he was no worse than Nowitzki throughout the series!

Averaging 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game, along with a 54% field goal percentage, that's Milicic's performance in this round of games.

Nowitzki averaged 29 points and 8 rebounds per game, with shooting percentages of 48%, 39%, and 88%, once again demonstrating his status as a European superstar! In the decisive Game 7, he completely dominated Milicic, continuing to prove that he is the best player in Europe!
The only pity was that Terry completely lost his form in Game 7 and couldn't withstand Billups's relentless attacks, which led to the Mavericks' unfortunate elimination and another early exit from the playoffs.

Next up is the final matchup in the West, and the only one of the four Western Conference matchups that didn't go to a Game 7!

Lakers vs. Suns!

This game also marks O'Neal's return to Los Angeles and his rematch against his former team.

With the hype of OK's reunion in this round of matches, he won't lack attention!
Even looking at the viewership data for the entire series, this series ranked second in viewership among all eight series, second only to the Knicks' blowout of the Hawks!

Everyone is incredibly curious and excited about OK's reunion.

They wanted to know just how well the two of them could fight.

But once the series began, fans following the series quickly noticed something.

Shaquille O'Neal is really getting old.

He can't beat Bynum!
Or rather, he couldn't beat Bynum most of the time!
He only managed to gain an advantage over Bynum in the first 4-5 minutes of the first quarter, while for the rest of the game, Bynum's containment of him was virtually perfect!

Throughout the series, O'Neal averaged only 14 points and 9 rebounds per game, with a field goal percentage of only 49%!

This is the first series in O'Neal's entire career where his field goal percentage is below 50%! All the evidence points to the fact that Shaq is nearing the end of his career.

As for Bynum, who was matched up against O'Neal, although he only averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds per game, which doesn't seem much better than O'Neal, firstly, his field goal percentage was as high as 55%, and secondly, he was only the Lakers' fourth option, so getting these numbers was already an exceptional performance!

The Suns are counting on O'Neal to play like a pillar of strength and anchor the team's interior defense!

A stark contrast between the inside and outside defenses reveals that the Suns' interior players have suffered greatly in this series!

Fortunately, although O'Neal's performance was disappointing, Nash once again played at an MVP level, averaging 29 points and 9 assists per game in the series, playing an average of 47 minutes per game. Starting from Game 4 of the series, Nash played the entire game in four consecutive games.

He almost completely burned himself out so that the team could win this series.

Unfortunately, apart from Nash's continued stellar performance, the rest of the Suns team underperformed, otherwise Nash wouldn't have only averaged 9 assists per game.

Marion and Kirilenko were almost evenly matched; these two versatile forwards with similar styles were unable to distinguish one of them in this series, and both played rather poorly.

而皮尔斯在和科比的对位之中却完全落入了下风，科比系列赛场均34分6篮板5助攻，而皮尔斯却只有25分7篮板2助攻入账。

In addition, Durant thrived against the Suns' relatively weak defense and their offensive-oriented, fast-break-heavy, half-court-heavy style of play in this series, completely finding his rhythm!

He averages 23 points per game with shooting percentages of 46%, 39%, and 86%!

Compared to the regular season, Durant's stats have improved across the board, delivering an incredibly surprising performance!

With both Kobe and Durant playing exceptionally well, the Suns were down 3-1 to the Lakers in the first four games. Although the Suns won the fifth game in Phoenix, keeping the outcome uncertain.

However, after returning to Los Angeles, the Lakers gave the Suns no chance. Kobe scored 41 points and Durant scored 34 points. The Lakers' outside stars combined for 75 points, helping the Lakers defeat the Suns and advance to the second round of the Western Conference!
This is the first time the Lakers have advanced to the second round since O'Neal left. And to advance to the second round on O'Neal's shoulders is a dramatic and story-driven event that only Hollywood and Los Angeles could produce.

The Suns, who made it to the Finals last year, were eliminated in the first round this year. This clearly means that their attempt failed, and that their all-in gamble to acquire O'Neal was a completely wrong choice and attempt.

To make matters worse, O'Neal still has two years left on his massive contract, but his performance has been declining. Is it possible to trade O'Neal again for enough good assets to continue competing for a championship?
At least on the surface, this is an incredibly difficult task!

The Suns' general manager must be under tremendous pressure this summer.

With the Suns' elimination, the first round of the Eastern and Western Conferences has come to a complete end.

The two matchups in the West have also been officially confirmed.

Lakers vs. Nuggets!

Hornets vs. Spurs!

These two matchups are quite close in terms of buzz, strength, regular season record, star power, player popularity, and roster completeness. No one can confidently and accurately predict either of these playoff series.

The only thing everyone can be sure of is that these two series will be incredibly exciting!

Absolutely brilliant!
It will definitely be more exciting than those two rounds in the East.

Who played whom in those two rounds of games in the East?

I remembered.

The Knicks will host the Cavaliers.

There's no rush in this series.

Perhaps it's because the first round of this year's playoffs was exceptionally long, or perhaps it's because most of this year's awards were not very suspenseful.

So while fans were thoroughly entertained by the various Game 7 battles, the league had already handed out almost all of this year's awards during the breaks in the first round of games.

Besides the previously mentioned Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant, Sixth Man of the Year Childress, and Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Camby, the Most Improved Player award went to Hedo Turkoglu, who has had a breakout season and has quietly become the Kings' star player.

In addition to Camby, Duncan, Garnett, Lin Tian, ​​and Kobe were all selected for the All-Defensive Team.

Then Howard, Kirilenko, Prince, Wade, and Kidd were all selected to the All-Defensive Second Team.

Besides Kevin Durant, the other four players on the All-Rookie Team are Thaddeus Young, Joakim Noah, El Thornton, and Jeff Green.

The second lineup included Chinese player Yi Jianlian, as well as Spaniard Navarro, Argentine Scola, Dominican Al Horford, and Stuckey.

The second team of this year's All-Rookie Team can definitely be called an international team!
The addition of four international players further demonstrates the NBA's appeal and its global success.

Furthermore, this year's four international players are not the end, but the beginning.

The upcoming 08 NBA Draft still has several international players with lottery potential waiting to enter the competition!

If they develop well, next year it won't just be four rookies making the All-Rookie Second Team; instead, there will be quite a few international players vying for the Rookie of the Year award!

Anyway, every time Stern thought about this and saw the list of rookies to be drafted, he couldn't stop smiling.

The title of best head coach went unsurprisingly to Don Nelson.

Just kidding, if the head coach of a 76-win team doesn't win Coach of the Year, then who should get the award, and who would dare to take it?

If someone's virtue doesn't match their position, they'll definitely be ridiculed to the point of despair!

While Don Nelson won the award almost unanimously, the Best General Manager award went to RJ Buford, the leader of the Spurs who acquired the top seed in the West after the trade! Although this top seed in the West is quite unstable, a few more losses could even cause them to fall out of the playoffs.

But first place is first place, and the Spurs' trades have paid off. The team is gelling quite well and is one of the biggest favorites to make it out of the Western Conference this year.

But after all, among the strong teams, only Buford made a big trade and achieved excellent results. If not him, who else could he be given to?

What about Walsh, who hasn't moved an inch in a year, has a very low profile, and does almost nothing except select the "jumping guy" to join the team?

Well, it's quite possible that the reporters who voted might even prefer to cast their votes for Lin Tian.

At the very least, Lin Tian seems much smarter than Walsh and is more like the actual person in charge of the Knicks.

Then, the final suspense comes down to the All-Regular Season Team!

This is also the award that best proves a player's worth.

The All-NBA First Team members are Lin Tian, ​​Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Tim Duncan, and Yao Ming!
The selection of these five players is basically well-deserved and there is little controversy. After all, apart from these five players, the rest of the players are much worse than them in every aspect!
The All-NBA Second Team members were Nash, Wade, Garnett, Nowitzki, and O'Neal. O'Neal was clearly past his prime this season, especially in the playoffs where he was almost a liability to the team. But ultimately, his reputation precedes him, and the center position is truly facing a shortage of star players and a lack of promising young talents, so O'Neal was still selected for the Second Team.

Third lineup: Paul, Deron Williams, Anthony, Stoudemire, Howard.

The Knicks had a total of three players selected to the All-NBA Team, making them the team with the most selections.

Two other teams, the Celtics and the Suns, each have two players selected to the All-NBA Team.

Meanwhile, eight players from the Western Conference were selected to the All-Warriors Team this year. These eight players come from seven teams: the Timberwolves, Suns, Mavericks, Spurs, Hornets, Warriors, and Lakers. This shows how competitive and evenly matched the teams are in the Western Conference.

Even so, many well-known stars such as Milicic, Billups, Kidd, Davis, Brand, Bosh, Marion, and Pierce were not selected, which led many people to shout that it was unfair and should not have been done.

Eight players were selected from the West, while seven were selected from the East. Three of them came from the Knicks, two from the Celtics, and Yao Ming and Dwyane Wade came from the Nets and Cavaliers, respectively. These four players represent the top four teams in the East.

The number of players selected also reflects the difference in strength among the four teams; the stronger the team, the more players are selected, while the third and fourth teams only have one player selected.

What's even more surprising is that when people are listing the players who were left out of the All-NBA teams, they can indeed name a lot of players, but more than 80% of them come from the Western Conference.

In the East, at most a handful of players like Gasol, Carter, and Arenas would be considered quite regrettable for not making the All-NBA team.

As for the others?
It's normal not to be selected.

In addition, the number of selected individuals and their distribution also reflect the current strength of the East and West.

In the East, the Knicks are the undisputed leader, and the Celtics are the only team that could potentially threaten their dominance.

Although the Nets and Cavaliers are slightly weaker, they would still be competitive even if they went to the Western Conference.

The remaining teams are really not worth mentioning; they are all second- or third-rate teams that wouldn't even make the playoffs in the Western Conference.

Simply put: The best players in the East are almost all concentrated in the top four teams!
In the West, the players are more evenly distributed, the teams are more balanced, and the gap between the teams is not large, making the playoffs exciting and entertaining.

In the east...

Some people say directly: "For the Eastern Conference playoffs, you only need to watch from the conference finals onwards. As for the earlier ones, you can guess the content and process of the games with a high degree of accuracy just by looking at the matchups."

That's absolutely true!

For example, in the game between the Knicks and the Cavaliers, the odds were already available in Las Vegas before the game even started.

The Knicks' 4-0 score is 1.4 to 1.

The Knicks' 4-1 score is 1.8 to 1.

The Knicks' 4-2 score is 3.5 to 1.

The Knicks' 4-3 score is 5.1 to 1.

What about the Cavaliers?
4:3 is 7.8 to 1.

4:2 is 12.3 to 1.

4:1 is 15.5 to 1.

4:0 is 27 to 1.

These odds really reflect the general opinion on this series.

It was basically a one-sided affair; the Cavaliers had virtually no chance of winning. The only question was whether they could avoid being swept by the Knicks.

For example, in the 02 World Cup, when China's national team played against the world champions Brazil, if you only bet on the most basic win-draw-lose bets, China's national team had a 4-to-1 odds chance of winning against Brazil.

What does this mean?

Using the most basic mathematical methods, the actuaries in Las Vegas would rather believe that the Chinese national football team could beat the Brazilian team twice than that the Cavaliers could defeat the Knicks in the series.

It's clear how vast the gap is between the two sides!

The odds for the Nets and Celtics next door are slightly more normal, but only slightly.

Basically, the general consensus is that the Nets are not favored and are not believed to pose much of a challenge to the Celtics.

This year's Eastern Conference Finals will most likely be Knicks vs. Celtics!

Well, thinking about the next opponent before the competition has even started is somewhat disrespectful and shows a lack of respect for the opponent; it seems overly arrogant.

So Lin Tian apologized.

"I did underestimate them a bit. I thought it was too easy and too simple. This is a series, this is the second round of the playoffs, anything can happen, anything can happen!"

"So, I sincerely apologize to the Nets, and to Yao Ming, Vince McMahon, and Ellen DeGeneres. I underestimated them. They might not be a match for the Celtics. They really had a chance to pull off an upset and could very well win the series!"

"I shouldn't have imagined the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics, it was my fault!"

Gone.

Gone?

Ok?
The reporters in the audience were a little stunned at this moment, as if something was missing!

If you're looking ahead to the Eastern Conference Finals, aren't you just looking ahead to both teams?

Why did you only apologize to one team? What about the other team? What about the other team?
"The other one? Who is it?" Lin Tian scratched his head, then slapped his thigh and said, "Devin and the Cavaliers, right! They're great, they're fantastic! Paul and Devin are a match made in heaven! The two of them created an incredible chemistry the moment they started working together. This is definitely one of the most successful trades in Cavaliers history! 30 times more successful than when they acquired Webber!"

"Maybe next year, they'll have a chance to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals."

"This year? This year they're going to be playing against us! How are they going to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals? Their playoffs are almost over!"

coming!

finally come!

The reporters were thrilled!

Before the series started, they were able to dig up... well, okay, Lin Tian's words weren't something they dug up at all. This stuff was practically like oil, just gushing out directly from underground.

They practically delivered themselves to our doorstep!

Same formula, same Lin!

Lin Tian even took the opportunity to mock the Cavaliers' past practice of forcibly acquiring Webber, resulting in the formation of a "twin fat" duo and subsequent ridicule.

How vicious!
The reporters knew that interviewing Lin Tian before the match would definitely not disappoint them; Lin Tian would definitely reward them and give them what they wanted!

Let's go, let's go, let's stir up trouble!

The reporters quickly pulled out their phones and started messaging their partners and colleagues, urging their colleagues next door who were doing pre-game interviews with the Cavaliers to stir up trouble!

"Devin, Lin just said this series is over, they're guaranteed to win, you have no chance. He said they'll crush them and advance easily!"

"He doesn't take you seriously."

"Isn't that how it should be?" To the disappointment of all the reporters, Wade seemed not to have heard anything, as if the reporters hadn't just been talking about him.

The guy spread his hands and said, "It's not like Lin is playing in the playoffs for the first time, or like he's belittling his opponents for the first time."

"Isn't this just that guy's strategy? Is there anyone in this league who hasn't been mocked and ridiculed by him? Is there anyone who hasn't been looked down upon and ridiculed by him before a game?"

"Anyway, I don't think so. Lin is just an indiscriminate attacker. He's good at using his trash talk and psychology expertise to put psychological pressure on his opponents and thus win."

"That's his strength, and I will never fall for it! I will never take this to heart, and I will never feel that I or my team have been insulted."

"Ignore everything Lin says, treat it like it's air, pretend you didn't hear it—that's the best way to deal with him!" (End of Chapter)