Chapter 144 The end of the regular season

The Knicks played another game with the Lakers and Hornets in March. Since the Knicks are in the East and the other two teams are in the West, this was their last matchup this season.

In the game against the Lakers, the Knicks lost to them 108:116. The game was extremely stalemate, with the two sides constantly alternating in the lead, but in the end the Lakers pulled one back.

With Gasol, the Lakers are like a tiger with wings. They originally had only one weak link, which was the inside line. Now with Gasol, the team's starting lineup has no shortcomings at all.

In this game, Zheng Yang still scored perfect statistics of 28 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, but the performance of other team members was mediocre. Crawford, who was originally the team's second scoring point, only scored 15 points in the end and his shooting percentage was not high.

If his performance could be at his normal level this season, it would be hard to say who would win this game.

If the two teams have a chance to meet again this season, it will only be in the finals, but this will not be an easy task for them.

On the other hand, Kobe Bryant had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists for the Lakers, and his near triple-double was no less than that of Zheng Yang. Fisher had a rare outburst, scoring 26 points and helping the team win.

This Lakers team has truly become one of the strongest contenders for this year's championship.

But then again, the current Lakers team is strong, but do they have any weaknesses?
Actually, there are.

First of all, Gasol has never proven himself in the playoffs. He has never won a playoff game in his career, so it is hard to say how he will perform in this year's playoffs.

The second is that Ariza of the Lakers has not fully grown up yet. It will be next season before he becomes the starting small forward of the Lakers, helping the team with his impenetrable defense and amazing 47.6% three-point shooting percentage.

These two points will be the key factors in how far the Lakers can go in the playoffs.

Of course, there is also the risk of injuries, but this is a problem that may occur to every team, and it is not unique to the Lakers.

The Knicks won the second game against the Hornets.

In this game, the Knicks performed well both on offense and defense, and they also controlled the number of turnovers throughout the game very well, with a total of only 7.

This gave them a great advantage in the game.

In terms of statistics, Zheng Yang shook off the slump of only 15 points in the previous game and scored 38 points directly, tearing the Hornets' defense to pieces.

In this game, Hornets head coach Byron Scott understood why Popovich said after last year's finals that they did not lose to the Knicks, but to Zheng Yang.

It’s really impossible to prevent it. I’m not kidding. It’s really impossible to prevent it!
No matter who defends Zheng Yang or what method is used, no one can restrict him.

If they couldn't keep up with the opponent on offense, the confidence of these Hornets players would probably be gone.

Chris Paul also performed very well in this game, with 18 points, 12 assists and 5 rebounds, fully balancing personal scoring and team cooperation. He just lost both games against the Knicks. If his personal data and team record are not much different when the MVP is selected, then these two losses will greatly affect the MVP votes.

The weaknesses of the Lakers were mentioned earlier, and here we will also talk about the weaknesses of the Hornets.

The starting lineup of this Hornets team is extremely reasonable whether viewed from the perspective of future team building or current team building.

On offense, there were Chris Paul's breakthroughs and shots, David West's mid-range shots, Chandler's slam dunks, and Peja's three-pointers from the outside.

The offense was quite three-dimensional and the entire team was involved.

On defense, David West and Chris Paul are both pretty good, and Tyson Chandler in the interior is definitely a qualified blue-collar center who has provided considerable help in the team's interior defense.

The entire starting lineup is capable of both offense and defense, is very young and has unlimited potential.

But they also have two problems, and these two problems are quite fatal.

One is that their team lacks depth, especially the two substitutes in the interior, both of whom are not very useful, which makes David West and Chandler play too long.

I don't have the energy when the critical moment comes.

Another problem is that although the team's starting lineup is capable of both offense and defense, the players themselves have some flaws. These flaws may not be very obvious at ordinary times, but they will be infinitely magnified once the playoffs arrive.

Players like West are not tall, so they are directly beaten by players like Duncan. Although Tyson Chandler can catch the ball, his independent offensive ability is poor. Once the connection between him and Chris Paul is cut off, his score will plummet.

These two reasons limit the ceiling of this team, making them always one step away from the championship.

……

This year's regular season seemed to pass very quickly. It seemed like the pre-season training camp was just held not long ago, and now the season is over and we are preparing to start the next playoffs.

Let’s first look at the playoff teams in the Eastern Conference.

Celtics, 66 wins and 16 losses!
New York Knicks, 57 wins and 25 losses!
Detroit Pistons, 53 wins and 29 losses!
Orlando Magic, 50 wins and 32 losses!
Cleveland Cavaliers, 44 wins and 38 losses!
Washington Wizards, 43 wins and 39 losses!
Philadelphia 76ers, 41 wins and 41 losses.

Toronto Raptors, 40 wins and 40 losses!
The competition in the West is much more intense:
Los Angeles Lakers, 57 wins and 25 losses!
New Orleans Hornets, 56 wins and 26 losses!
San Antonio Spurs, 56 wins and 26 losses!
Utah Jazz, 54 wins and 28 losses!
Houston Rockets, 55 wins and 27 losses!
Phoenix Suns, 55 wins and 27 losses!
Dallas Mavericks, 51 wins and 31 losses!
Denver Nuggets, 50 wins and 32 losses!
The playoffs are scheduled to start on April 4, but the first game between the Knicks and the 19ers will not start until the 76th.

Before the series began, head coach Larry Brown also told the players his arrangements for this series.

Given the Knicks' strength, the probability of being eliminated in the black seventh round is very small, but being able to win is one thing, and winning in a few games is another.

If you want to win the championship, you have to play four rounds of series. If you have to play to the sixth and seventh games in each round, few people can stand it.

Therefore, studying the opponents and finding their weaknesses is also what the team head coach should do.

In this regard, Zheng Yang still trusts the team's head coach Larry Brown. In the nearly two years they have worked together, they have never had any quarrels and they trust each other's every decision.

"The current 76ers starting lineup is Andre Miller, Willie Green, Andre Iguodala, Reggie Evans, and Dalembert.

The core of their team is Andre Miller and Andre Iguodala.

The former is a tall and experienced point guard who can play one-on-one in the low post and is very good at organizing the offense, especially when switching from positional warfare to fast breaks.

On the defensive end, Miller relies more on his own sophisticated defensive experience, and can accurately judge the opponent's passing path and intercept it.

But Miller's Achilles' heel is his outside shooting. When defending him, we kept a certain distance from him and forced him to shoot.

The latter Iguodala is a player with extremely explosive physical talents. His super long wingspan, amazing bounce and strength can allow him to limit his opponents very well. His offensive skills are very diverse, but his explosive scoring ability is insufficient, and he obviously invests more energy on the defensive end than on the offensive end.

He should be assigned to defend Zheng at that time, but I don't think I need to emphasize too much, Zheng will deal with him, I know. "

After Larry Brown finished speaking, everyone laughed at the same time. Of course, this was not a sarcastic laugh, but the thought that another player was going to be beaten by Zheng Yang.

Zheng Yang also smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry coach, I will take care of him."

After the laughter died down, Larry Brown continued.

"The biggest weakness of this team is their inside line. Power forward Reggie Avonlea is only 2.03 meters tall and has no other role except rebounding.

Center Dalembert is an inside player with rather rough technical moves. On the offensive end, he has almost no low-post singles ability and relies more on secondary offense after grabbing rebounds.

On the defensive end, Dalembert has height and wingspan, but his defensive awareness and ability are very average.

Therefore, I ask you to focus your offense on the inside during the game. As long as you can enter the paint area, our offense will be half successful.

As for the defensive end, as long as we maintain our normal defensive level and don’t make too many mistakes, we’ll be fine.”

From Larry Brown's remarks, it can be clearly seen that he has indeed spent a lot of time studying his opponents recently. Although the 76ers are not a strong enemy, he hopes that they can resolve their opponents as soon as possible.

There are powerful enemies waiting for them behind.

……

On April 4, the first game between the Knicks and the 20ers officially started at Madison Square Garden.

The starting players of both teams were the same as the regular season lineups, with no changes. Although on paper the 76ers had absolutely no chance of winning, they still showed high morale before the game.

Anyway, those with bare feet are not afraid of those wearing shoes. No matter whether you can beat him or not, just beat him first!

Besides, it doesn’t matter if they lose, no one will blame them because everyone knows they can’t win.

But if you win, then it's your opponent who should be anxious.

I have to say that the 76ers have a very good mentality this time.

The game started quickly, and Eddy Curry passed the basketball to get the team's first offensive opportunity.

Although this guy ate himself into a ball during the offseason, his weight returned to normal not long after the regular season started.

Although he has not been able to continue to evolve like Crawford this season, his condition has not deteriorated, and he is still a strong helper to Zheng Yang.

After Quentin Richardson dribbled the ball across half court, he glanced at the positions on the court and found that the defensive player in front of Zheng Yang was indeed Iguodala.

Among the 76ers' starting players, apart from Iguodala, there is indeed no one else suitable to defend Zheng Yang.

As for whether Iguodala can do it, 76ers head coach Maurice Cheeks doesn't know either, he can only let him go up and give it a try.

Facing Zheng Yang, who already had three scoring titles, Iguodala did not dare to take it lightly. He kept attacking him from the moment Zheng Yang received the ball, trying to consume his strength and touch.

Zheng Yang, who was tightly wrapped by Iguodala's big pectoral muscles and strong arms, suddenly wanted to sigh that this guy's figure was really a bit scary.

Just the circumference of his arm seems to be bigger than his head.

How did you practice this?

However, the opponent's active defense also aroused Zheng Yang's competitive spirit. To be honest, he doesn't have any other hobbies these days. He just likes to beat everyone who tries to defend him.

So he suddenly turned around, blocked Iguodala's position, and then asked Quentin Richardson for the ball. The opponent now had a tacit understanding with Zheng Yang and immediately passed the ball to him.

After receiving the ball, Zheng Yang still had his back to Iguodala. The latter did not want to sit there and wait for death, so he continued to press forward.

But Zheng Yang just turned his ankle slightly and used his auxiliary hand to block the opponent's position, and he actually left Iguodala behind immediately.

What is a textbook attack?

This is a textbook attack!

When the opponent comes to press, you don't need to do any complicated movements. You can just shake the opponent off with your flexible footwork.

Of course, this is easy to say, but only someone of Zheng Yang's level can use it in front of a defensive player like Iguodala.

He has taken every detail of his attack to the extreme. Every part of his body, every twist of his ankle, and every muscle force are all serving his attack. There is no unnecessary or strenuous movement.

After being pushed aside by Zheng Yang, Iguodala immediately reacted and wanted to turn back to fight for the ball again.

But Zheng Yang would never let him do as he wished. He first pushed to the side, pushing Iguodala, who was about to rush over to defend, away for some distance, and then accelerated and rushed directly into the inside.

The opponent's center, Dalembert, tried to defend, but Zheng Yang easily passed him with a turn and then made an easy layup.

The whole process, whether it was blocking Iguodala's position to ask for the ball at the beginning, then using footwork to pass him, or the turn under the basket, was elegant like art.

Whether you know basketball or not, you can't help but appreciate this round.

Elegant, so elegant!
The young-looking Iguodala knew just how big the gap was between him and his opponent through this round.

They are not at the same level of players at all.

But so what?
If he can’t defend in this round, he will continue to defend in the next round. He still doesn’t believe it. Is it true that he can never defend against the opponent?
At this moment, Iguodala showed the excellent quality of young people who are not afraid of failure!

(End of this chapter)