basketball court controller

Chapter 77 The Playoffs Begin

Winning the Bucks in the next game will put them first in the Eastern Conference. Facing back-to-back Bucks, the Heat will use their lives to drag down the opponent with high-intensity defense, and then take them away in waves.

At this critical moment of competing for the top spot, the Pacers were overthrown by the 76ers. Although it has reached the end of the regular season, several teams in the East are still desperately fighting because the record is a bit wide. The team is divided into three parts.

The Heat and the Pacers are competing for the No. 76 spot in the East, the [-]ers and the Hornets are competing for home court advantage, and the Pistons, Bucks and Magic are competing for two playoff spots.

The West is not so fierce, their strengths are still clear, the top eight has basically been determined, only the Spurs and the Suns are competing for home court advantage.

"I said a long time ago that we will be No. [-] in the Eastern Conference. The season is not over yet, but that's what I said. Next, I will do my best to keep us on the No. [-] list." The reporter said in Zhang Chen's Get the topic you want.

It's a pity that when the playoffs are approaching, everyone is unhappy, but they will not disrupt the rhythm of their own team. Except for the teams that are still fighting for the playoffs, the other teams are subconsciously desperate. Ready to adjust.

So Zhang Chen's words didn't cause any trouble. The image-building thing has gone astray, but it doesn't matter. Fans who like him like his aura. Fans who don't like him are none of his business. Personality, players who can win are more liked by fans, and Zhang Chen is very clear about this.

It is undeniable that the Heat's players are in good condition at this time. After winning the Bucks, the Heat have another eight-game winning streak. Adding the first two games, it is a ten-game winning streak.

The Pacers lost to the Hornets and the Knicks successively, and the Heat's lead was further expanded.

In this case, the Heat also decided to let the players rest.

There are only the last six games left in the game, and the five main players will take turns. Pat Riley has made a rotation schedule, PJ-Brown will take one off, Zhang Chen and Tim Hardaway will take two off, Mourning And Marshburn three games off.

They can almost watch the games of other opponents calmly, but their opponents can still decide that if the Magic, Bucks and Pistons win, they will all win, and if they lose, they will all lose. race ranking.

The Pacers saw that there was no hope of competing for the first place, and they were also making adjustments. However, due to the different ideas of the coaches, they did not take rotations, but reduced the playing time of the main players.

When the last regular season came to an end on April 4, the Heat celebrated well. They had the No. 20 record in the Eastern Conference during the regular season for two consecutive years. They once again created team history.

With the regular season dust settled, all eyes turned to the playoffs.

The Heat's opponent in the first round is finally determined. Although the Heat really want to meet the civilian team Magic, they still rank ninth with a gap of one win. Their opponent is the Bucks with the "Three Musketeers" Team.

This season, they have two wins and two losses against the Bucks. The characteristics of the two teams are more obvious. The games they lose are nothing more than their outside lines playing smoothly, and the games they win are nothing more than their inside lines being abused by the Heat.

Theoretically speaking, the outcome of the two teams depends on their respective performances, so Bucks coach George Karl also said in an interview with the media that the Bucks are not afraid of the Heat, as long as they play their own basketball, they will There is a chance to win.

In fact, the Heat are reluctant to meet the Bucks with three outstanding outside players, but if they do, they will not be pessimistic.

It should be said that this season, as the Heat's offense has become more and more domineering, they are no longer so afraid of such a pure outside team. Just like they won the two games in the second half of the season, it is because Zhang Chen became the outside core. , The team's new style of play has gradually matured.

The opponent of the No.2 Pacers in the East is the seventh Pistons in the East. This is seen as Reggie Miller and Jaylen Rose's two All-Star-level outside battles Grant Hill and Jerry Stark A matchup between House's two All-Star perimeters.

Grant Hill has never led the Pistons to rise in the playoffs, but the statistics of him and Stackhouse this year are very dazzling. Although the Pacers' team tactics are more mature, they are not There is no chance. The playoffs are the stage for stars. It depends on whether Hill can break out this time.

The third place in the Eastern Conference is the Knicks. Their opponent is the newly-emerged Raptors this year. Carter has exploded this season. Compared with the data, Zhang Chen was compared.

In the regular season, except for one lore by the Knicks, they won each other three times. Except that Carter entered the playoffs for the first time and did not know whether he could perform well. The matchup between these two teams is extremely suspenseful. The "two guns" combination of the two cousins ​​against Houston and Sprewell is also full of gimmicks.

The fourth-ranked Hornets in the Eastern Conference and the fifth-ranked 76ers are also a suspenseful matchup. The Hornets took advantage of the confrontation between the two teams in the regular season. The thickness of the lineup seems to be stronger than the Hornets. home field advantage.

But don't forget the sharp knife of Allen Iverson. Didn't they kill the seemingly stronger Pistons last season? If Eddie Jones can't limit Iverson, the outcome of the two teams It's very uncertain.

Anyway, according to various media analysis, only the Pacers in the East are relatively safe, because the stability of the Pacers in the playoffs is in stark contrast to the instability of the Pistons in the playoffs.

In the West, the situation of each team is also somewhat confusing.

Of course, the Lakers, who won 67 wins in the regular season this year, are considered to have little suspense in winning the first round. The Big Three composed of Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Glenn Rice have solid attacking power. It's too scary.

The eighth king in the west is considered to be a soy sauce role. Their Princeton tactics were very powerful in the first half of the season, but in the second half of the season, it seems that they are not so effective, and the record also fell to the eighth place, very helpless In the first round, they encountered the extremely powerful Lakers.

Between the second-ranked Jazz in the Western Conference and the seventh-ranked Supersonics, it is a bit uncertain. The Jazz has always had great results in the regular season, but their results against the Supersonics are also mixed. Payton can make Stockton's organizational efficiency decline, and the Jazz will be especially dangerous.

Reminiscent of the Jazz's drop-off behavior in the playoffs last season, Malone and Stockton, who are one year older, seem not so reassuring.

As for the third Trail Blazers and the sixth Timberwolves, the regular season matchup is equally divided. To be honest, the luxurious lineup built by the Trail Blazers with a lot of money is not as sharp as imagined. The stronger Garnett may not be able to Lead the team to overthrow the opponent.

As for the fourth Spurs and the fifth Suns, it is even more unclear who will lose and who will win, because both teams have been plagued by injuries. Duncan on the Spurs injured his foot and must not be able to play. Kidd of the Suns also strained a muscle, the situation is unknown.

It seems that the situation of the Spurs without Duncan was even worse, but after Duncan couldn't play, David Robinson played the dominant data again on the court, and the Suns without Kidd couldn't play that sharp fast. If you attack, you can only know who wins and who loses after the fight.

After a day of rest, the Heat started targeted training against the Bucks.

The opponent's internal and external strengths are too obvious, so there is no need to think about the offensive strategy. It is to attack their weak internal lines. The key is to defend their external lines.

The "Three Musketeers" are man-to-man in the halfcourt, giving priority to defending the opponent's shots. With Mourning's help in the interior, it's okay to let them rush in, but they must not be allowed to shoot easily, especially not let them shoot consecutively. To score, even if it is a foul, their offense must be interrupted.

This is the difference between the playoffs and the regular season. In order to win, the Heat don't care about making the game fragmented. Anyway, they mainly attack the inside, which has little impact.

"Zhang, your defensive task is the most important. You must keep a close eye on Ray Allen." Although Zhang Chen's defense has always been reassuring, Pat Riley still emphasized it.

After the All-Star Game, the performance of the Bucks was a little unstable, but Ray Allen's performance was very stable, with excellent physical fitness and comprehensive skills, not weaker than Reggie Miller's shooting ability. There is a possibility of further transformation.

"Don't worry, coach, I will follow him every step of the way." This kind of guy who is more comprehensive than Reggie Miller is difficult to defend, but it is not necessarily more difficult to defend than Reggie Miller.

Reggie Miller is the kind of person who has practiced a certain skill to the extreme. Sometimes he will be more depressed when he knows what he will do. If there are too many paragraphs, he will sometimes hesitate.

In addition, the Heat have an innate advantage in defense. If they really can't defend, they can just defend against sudden shots.

Now the only worry for the Heat is that Tim Hardaway's knees are still a little sore. When it comes to the playoffs, I don't know if this veteran can withstand the intensity of the playoffs.

Anthony Carter is still a rookie, not anyone but Zhang Chen, who can play so well in the playoffs in the first season, so the Heat will reduce Hardaway's playing time, just in case there are two backup plans, If Anthony Carter adapts to the rhythm of the playoffs, he can take the top spot, or let Zhang Chen play the No. [-] position.

As a player who has played five positions, Zhang Chen can almost be used as a universal patch, which also makes Pat Riley feel at ease.

On April 4, the playoffs kicked off, and the Heat ushered in their first opponent in the playoffs at the American Airlines Arena.

(End of this chapter)