Legendary star

Chapter 87 Playoff Situation

After the end of the game against the Sonics, the Spurs defeated the Timberwolves, Kings, Knicks, Bulls and other teams in a row. In the last few games in March, the Spurs once again encountered a lot of setbacks. Four days after the Mavericks ended their 11-game winning streak, the Spurs lost again to their rival Trail Blazers. After the All-Star Game, they played a crazy performance of 9 wins and 3 loss. In the 9 games against the Trail Blazers this season, the Spurs also lost all of them. To the Mavericks, who ended March with a 4-17 record.

The current Spurs rank third in the West with a record of 52 wins and 19 losses. The gap between the Lakers and the Trail Blazers in the West is getting bigger and bigger. After that, the record has also been greatly improved. It currently ranks first in the league with a record of 59 wins and 13 losses. Not surprisingly, the Lakers will once again achieve a record of more than 10 wins in a single season after 60 years.The Blazers, 57 wins and 14 losses, followed closely behind.Behind the Spurs is the Jazz who had the same record as the Spurs last season. After experiencing the downturn at the beginning of the season, the Jazz slowly caught up and ranked behind the Spurs with a record of 49 wins and 23 losses. There are 10 games left in the regular season. The situation still has the possibility of catching up with the Spurs.

Ranked fifth in the West after the Jazz is the Suns with 46 wins and 25 losses.After the All-Stars, the Timberwolves are also getting better and better. They only lost 19 games in 4 games and ranked sixth with a record of 44 wins and 27 losses. The Kings ranked seventh and the Sonics ranked eighth. The gaps are very small, and often one game can change the ranking between them, while the Mavericks are still catching up behind, and have not given up hope of competing for a place in the playoffs.

Compared with the disparity in the strength of the West, the gap between the teams in the East is very small. The Pacers ranked first in the East with 47 wins and 25, followed by the Heat with only 44 wins and 28 losses. This record is not as good as the West The sixth-ranked Timberwolves and the third-ranked New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference are also 44 wins and 28 losses, because the record of 3 and the Heat this season is 1 win and 3 losses, and they are ranked behind the Heat.Starting from No.4, the gap is very small. They are 76ers with 41 wins and 30 losses, Raptors with 40 wins and 31 losses, Hornets with 39 wins and 31 losses, Pistons with 38 wins and 33 losses. The Celtics are all within one game, and they are all desperately fighting for a place in the playoffs.So far in the regular season, the final ranking of the Eastern Conference is still uncertain.

"Greg, we've secured the playoff spot." After the last game between the Kings and the Supersonics this round, the Spurs' assistant coach Mike Budenholzer couldn't wait to push Popovich away. Office, wanting to tell him the good news.After the seventh king in the west lost to the eighth supersonic in the west by a big score of 108 to 123, the records of the two teams were 41 wins and 30 losses and 40 wins and 31 losses respectively. The Spurs locked the qualification for the playoffs 12 games ahead of schedule .

"Oh" Popovich responded without looking back, as if he didn't care about it at all, his eyes were still fixed on the video recorder.

"Greg, you've watched these tapes hundreds of times, right?" The tapes Mike Budenholzer was talking about were a few games between the Spurs and the Trail Blazers this season. The Trail Blazers, after the big trade and run-in last season, suddenly exploded this season. They won all 4 games against the Spurs. According to the current situation, the chances of the two teams meeting in the second round of the playoffs are very high. Big, if they can't find a way to deal with the Blazers, the Spurs' defending journey can only stop in the second round.

"This Trail Blazers team is even more terrifying than the Lakers. The five main players on the field all have 5+ scoring ability, and there are two All-Stars on the bench. The most troublesome thing is Pippen. Although he is old, he The ability to connect teams is still so terrifying." Popovich shook his head, looking a little helpless.The Spurs are the best defensive team in the entire league this season, averaging 20 points per game and leading the league. However, in the 85 games against the Trail Blazers, the Trail Blazers averaged 4 points per game, while the Spurs averaged 92.5 points per game in 4 games. Only 83 points can be scored, which is a far cry from the average of 96 points this season.

"I think Meng seems to have found a way to deal with Pippen in this last game." Mike Budenholzer is also very clear about the difficulties the Spurs may encounter in the playoffs.In the first three games of this season, when Pippen met Meng Xu, it was a fancy kneading and all kinds of slaps. The big gap is that it is not inferior to Pippen in defense and offense, even in terms of scenes and statistics.

"We must find a surefire way, otherwise we still have no chance." Popovich said, and called up the last game against the Trail Blazers again. The last game was the most anxious of the two teams. In a game, the score gap between the two sides was always within 3 points, and the Spurs only lost 4 points to the Blazers in the end.

The Trail Blazers have four inside players, Rasheed Wallace, Sabonis, Schramf, and Jermaine O'Neal. Any of these four players is the main player or even the core player in other teams. Therefore, The Blazers' inside strength and bench depth are also the first in the league. The Spurs' inside twin towers are against almost all teams in the league. Even the Lakers' Sharks have an advantage. Only the Blazers are at a disadvantage. of.

And the Trail Blazers' perimeter group, Scottie Pippen, Damon Stoudemire, Steve Smith, and Bryan Grant are also the three irons on the outside line that have completely exploded the Spurs. Oh, it should be the four irons on the outside line now, Meng Xu Although the three-point shooting percentage reached 42% this season, the overall shooting percentage still failed to exceed 40%.Even the fringes of the Blazers like Stacy Ogmon and Greg Anthony are strong men who can average 15+ per game as long as they are given a chance. The Blazers' total salary of 7350 million this year is also the league's first.

"Greg, let's go to bed early, and we have to fly to Miami tomorrow morning." Seeing Popovich who had drank three cups of coffee in a row, Mike Budenholzer persuaded him.

"Well, go back, today you send me, I didn't drive."

　Finally back, normal updates will resume tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)