Chapter 268 The first round of the playoffs

   With the All-Stars over, the regular season continues to deepen.

   Kevin Johnson's injury has not recovered, and the best outcome is to return before the playoffs, which is not bad or bad news for the Suns.

   In order to prepare for the playoffs, the Suns entered a stage of increasing rotation, and the bench players got more opportunities.

  However, this time the injury came again.

   On February 21st, when playing the Celtics on the road, the substitute insider Vaiman Tisdale was injured and ended up with a truce for at least ten games after inspection.

   In order to ensure the rotation time of the main players, the team can only arrange for the substitute players to play more time.

   That night, Pharaoh scored his 5,000th career point and received 500 points from the system.

  On the 23rd, Wang Tiejun sent his 500th career block and got a reward of 200 points.

  On the 28th, the injury struck again. When playing against the Clippers at home, the back-up swingman Antonio Lang actually ruptured the cruciate ligament in his right knee and was directly reimbursed for the season. The Suns lost another substitute.

   Fortunately, the injuries are all substitutes. The Suns' lineup has not been defeated by injuries and has not reached the point of injury.

   Only the record was affected. After the season in February, the Suns were overtaken by Mosaic and the Spurs and fell to the third place in the West.

   At the end of February, Wang Tiejun's MVP ranking was still below Jordan, with only scoring in one category. He ranked first, averaging 31.5 points per game.

   On March 7th, the Suns played away to Mosaic.

  Before the game, Da Meng and Barkley came to the visiting team's locker room and called Pharaoh out.

   "Old K, we've been trying your medicated bath and medicated oil massage for half a month, and it's somewhat effective, but it's not very obvious!" Da Meng shouted.

   "You are the magic medicine, didn't he say that it takes years and months of accumulation to have some effect." Old Wang said angrily.

   Having said this, the two laughed again.

In fact, they are still satisfied. Every time they take the medicated bath, they feel very comfortable, and the fatigue after the game disappears quickly, and the medicated oil massage is also good, which can relax the muscles of the body and is also conducive to fatigue recovery. .

   And the price is not too expensive, the business income of the two of them is still good, there is no shortage of this little money, and they plan to continue, just like old K.

   As the regular season deepens, the time enters April.

Although the Suns lacked major generals due to injuries, other teams' records were also unable to maintain their strength in the first half due to various reasons. The Suns actually rose one place, ranking second in the Western Conference, second only to Mosaic, and only one win away.

   After March, the official MVP rankings were announced, Jordan still ranked first, and the Bulls also ranked first in the league.

  Wang Tiejun ranked second, but ranked first in scoring, averaging 30.5 points per game.

   He no longer has any illusions about MVP. This season, the injuries are too severe, the record has been greatly affected, and the luck is not very good.

   But entering April, there are also two good news.

   One is that Kevin Johnson has been able to practice without the ball, and will enter training with the ball after a period of time. This news made everyone in the Suns excited.

  Second is his personal good news. The business of K Martial Arts Hall is still good. In addition to the projects of the police station, several hundred students have joined the martial arts hall during this period and purchased the martial arts courses of the martial arts hall.

   The VIP service items of medicated bath and medicated oil massage are also well promoted. Most of the VIP customers have purchased these two services, and the feedback is good.

   Even those Hollywood stars feel pretty good after trying it, and most of them continue to buy.

   He also transferred a large number of people who are proficient in massage from his hometown and sent them to these VIP customers. Of course, the fee will be charged separately, and it is not cheap.

   Now there are more than 100 people who have been brought to the United States by him. They are both male and female, and they have basically practiced martial arts, mainly proficient in massage. Among them, there are also several Chinese medicine practitioners.

  The income of these people is the basic salary plus commission. After deducting expenses, the remaining money is ten times more than the domestic one, so they are also very motivated. They strive to work in the United States for one year and then go home to marry a wife and build a new house.

  Pharaoh's life is also comfortable. With these brothers and sisters in his hometown by his side, he doesn't feel lonely, and Yu Feihong also flies to Phoenix from time to time, and the relationship between the two is getting closer and closer.

   In April, the regular season came to an end.

The top four in the West, Mosaic, Suns, Spurs, Jazz, the first two teams are in the same area, and there is destined to have a team that falls outside the fourth place in the playoffs. If the Suns remain in the second place in the Western Conference in the regular season , In the playoff rankings, the Jazz will replace the Spurs, progressing to third, the Spurs fourth.

   On April 10th, after eight days of training without the ball, Lightning Kevin Johnson began training with the ball.

   Injured backup inside Vaiman Tisdale also returned from the injury.

   These are two pieces of good news. The importance of Lightning is self-evident, and the strength of this veteran Tisdale is also good, and he is a qualified substitute.

   After a week of training with the ball, the Lightning entered the team roster on April 17. At this time, there are only three games left before the end of the regular season.

   In these three games, he came off the bench for the first time, played 15 minutes and performed poorly.

   The second game was still a substitute, played for 25 minutes, and his performance was average.

  Wang Tiejun sent 7 assists in this game, which was also his 1,000th career assist and was rewarded with 200 points.

   Now he only has 1400 points in his hand, and he has not used it for the time being.

   The last game was against the SuperSonics at home. Kevin Johnson officially started and played 32 minutes, scoring 12 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls.

   His personal data is a little worse than before the injury, but the effect on the Suns is not fully reflected by the data. The Suns' organization and offense have obviously improved a notch, and the offense has become more reasonable.

   After playing the SuperSonics, the Suns completed all the regular season schedules of the 94/95 season.

   61 wins and 21 losses, ranking second in the Western Conference in the regular season, only one game behind Mosaic who won 62 wins, and also the third record in the league, the first is the Bulls' 64 wins.

  On the 24th, the league released the data of many teams and individuals, including five data kings.

Wang Tiejun played in 82 games this season, starting 82 games, averaging 37.5 minutes per game, averaging 11.8 of 19.5 shots per game, 60.5% shooting, 10.5 shooting 6.5, shooting 61.9%, averaging 30.1 points, 14.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 0.8 steals, 3.1 Blocks 2.4 turnovers 3.9 fouls.

   This data, coupled with the Suns' third-best record in the league, is not very likely to win the MVP, but it doesn't mean that there is no chance, he still has a glimmer of hope.

   In the current MVP rankings, Jordan is still the first, he is second, O'Neal is third, Big Dream is fourth, David Robinson is fifth, Karl Malone is sixth, and Ewing is seventh.

  Compared with last season, the points, rebounds, assists and blocks have all increased significantly, and the playing time, the number of shots and the number of free throws have also increased.

In terms of efficiency, the shooting percentage last season was 56.2%, an increase of four percentage points, and the 60.5% shooting percentage was the highest among all the main players in the league this season, including O'Neal's 58.2%.

In terms of data kings, he is the scoring leader this season, followed by Jordan's 29.6 points and O'Neal's 29.3 points.

   This is also the first personal data king he won, which is a hard honor, but not a first-class hard honor.

The    system awarded 500 points, which is not bad, now he has 1900 points.

  The rebounding champion was won by Rodman, averaging 16.8 rebounds per game.

   Block king, won by Mutombo, averaging 3.9 blocks per game.

   Assists, won by John Stockton, averaging 12.3 times per game.

   Steals king, won by Pippen, averaging 2.9 times per game.

   In addition, this year's DPOY was given to Mutombo, the best rookies were Jason Kidd and Grant Hill, and the league played a double yolk egg.

  The best sixth man is Anthony Mason Jr., the most improved player is Dana Barros, and the best coach is Del Harris.

   At the same time, the league announced that the results of the MVP will be announced after the second round, and the results of the best team will be announced before the finals.

  The regular season is over, and the regular season rankings and playoff rankings of the East and West are also out.

  The top eight in the Eastern Conference regular season are: Bulls, Magic, Knicks, Pacers, Hornets, Cavaliers, Eagles, Celtics.

  The top three are divided into one division, so this is also the top eight ranking in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

  Eastern playoffs first round matchup: Bulls vs Celtics, Pacers vs Hornets, Magic vs Hawks, Knicks vs Cavaliers.

  The top eight in the Western regular season are: Mosaic, Suns, Spurs, Jazz, Supersonics, Lakers, Nuggets, and Trail Blazers.

   Due to the rules of the playoffs, the Spurs and Mosaic are in the same region, and the top three can only be the champions of the three regions, so the rankings of the Spurs and the Jazz in the playoffs are reversed.

   Western playoffs first-round matchup: Mosaic vs. Blazers, Spurs vs. Sonics, Suns vs. Nuggets, Jazz vs. Lakers.

  The winners of the first two groups and the last two groups meet in the second round.

  The first round starts from the 27th and the 28th, with eight teams fighting each other every day.

  The first round of the Suns starts on the 27th, and there are two days off.

   In the past two days, countless media and basketball celebrities have analyzed the situation of the NBA playoffs, and sports media such as ESPN have also made predictions for the playoffs.

   ESPN's basketball editor-in-chief Jess Meghan analyzed and predicted the situation of the Eastern and Western playoffs in a program on his NBA channel.

   He said: "In the East, I think the Bulls and Pacers, Magic and Knicks will join hands to reach the second round, and finally the Bulls and Magic will be in the Eastern Conference finals.

   There may be some suspense in the first round, but I don’t think there will be an upset. The top four in the East should enter the second round.

  The reason why I think this way about the second round of the Eastern Conference is that the Bulls are still in a dominant position in the Eastern Conference, and their strength will definitely allow them to reach the Western Conference Finals without any surprises.

   And in the second round matchup between the Magic and the Knicks, O'Neal's dominance at the basket will beat Ewing and his Knicks.

   As for the Eastern Conference Finals, when Anfernee Hardaway faced the perimeter siege of Jordan and Pippen, O'Neal would lose his perimeter support in the low post, and the Magic would also be eliminated by the Bulls, who would advance to the finals.

  For the West, Mosaic, Suns, Spurs, and Jazz, this is the top four, and they have the greatest chance of reaching the second round.

   But the fifth supersonic are very strong, they have a good chance of breaking out, knocking out the Spurs and entering the second round.

  My analysis of the second round of the Western Conference, the Suns will eliminate the Jazz, the postman can't help the old K, and the Suns have a high probability of entering the Western Conference Finals.

   And Mosaic faces the Spurs or the SuperSonics, the low position has an advantage, but the outside line is a little worse, it is difficult to say, all three teams are likely to reach the Western Conference Finals.

   In general, the situation in the west is more complicated than that in the east, and the possibility of upsets is greater than that in the east.

   For the finals, I am still optimistic about the Bulls, optimistic about the Bulls defending the championship, and pointing to the dynasty. "

  TNT's commentator, the famous super center red giant Bill Walton also produced a playoff show, in which he gave his own views on the situation of the playoffs.

   In general, he has a similar view to ESPN, but has a different view of the Finals.

When talking about the finals, he said: "I do think that the Bulls will reach the finals, and the probability is very high. In the West, the three teams of the Mosaic and the Spurs and the Suns are more likely to reach the finals, and the Jazz and the Suns are more likely to reach the finals. Facing these three teams, the Sonics all have their own weaknesses, and their chances of reaching the finals are relatively small.

   I say this because the Jazz and Sonics lack a strong center at the 5, while the other three teams have their own superstar centers who can make or break the series.

   Here I want to talk about Mosaic first. If they reach the finals, they will meet the Bulls in the finals for the second consecutive year.

   Last year, Mosaic played seven games with the Suns in the Western Conference Finals, exhausting his stamina and energy, so he was easily defeated by the Bulls, and this year's situation is likely to happen again.

   So I think the situation in the Finals depends on the situation in the Western Conference Finals, and the Bulls are likely to once again have a huge advantage of waiting for work.

   For the crucial Western Conference Finals, I think the Suns should eliminate the Jazz and enter the Western Finals. There should be a suspense over who will reach the Western Finals between the Spurs and the Mosaic, so I think this year’s Western Conference playoffs will be even more exciting.

   But no matter who makes it to the finals, the three teams in the Western Conference may run out of energy in the Western Conference finals, and the Bulls may pick up another big bargain. "

On the 25th, Wang Tiejun accepted an exclusive interview with CCTV at home.

   "Tie Jun, the first round of this year should be fine, the second round is likely to touch the Jazz, how do you feel about it?" Zhang Lili asked.

  "We should have no problem reaching the Western Conference Finals."

  Pharaoh's tone is very positive. At this time, the playoffs have not yet started, but if you don't even have the confidence to win, then it's over. Bragging is also a good way to hypnotize yourself and motivate yourself.

   "Then who do you most want to meet in the Western Conference Finals?" Zhang Lili asked again.

   "Mosaic," he said.

   "Mosaic?"

Lao Zhang asked in surprise: "You lost to them last year, and you want to touch them again this year? Although you have an extra glider this year, Kevin Johnson and Dan Marley's state is not as good as last year, especially the state of the Lightning has declined. Big, and there is one less Thorpe in the inside line, in comparison, your strength should not be stronger than last year, are you so confident?"

   Lao Wang laughed and said, "It has nothing to do with confidence. We lost to them last year, and we have to win back this year. Wherever you fall, you get up from there."

   "Stubborn." Lao Zhang laughed helplessly.

   At this time, Su Qun asked: "Old K, who do you think is the most likely to reach the Western Conference Finals, besides you, who will be the other team?"

  Pharaoh didn't think about it and said, "Spurs."

   "Spurs?"

  Suqun said in surprise, "Isn't it Mosaic?"

Pharaoh smiled and said: "Although Mosaic has a big dream + Barkley, but the outside is weak, and the Spurs have David Robinson + Rodman on the inside, offensive and defensive rebounds are guaranteed, and Avery Johnson + Sean Elio on the outside. Special, the inside and outside are very balanced, I am more optimistic about the Spurs."

   "If you meet the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, will you be sure?" Su Qun asked.

Pharaoh said: "Robinson and Rodman can't guard me, as long as the outside ball can come in, we will be fine. Of all the teams in this league, only the Bulls' Jordan + Pippen outside combination can really press On our perimeter, the combination of Lightning + Thunderbolt + Glider is weaker on both ends of the offense and defense."

   Speaking of this, he said with confidence: "In addition to the Bulls, other teams, to be honest, as long as we no longer have injuries, we have the confidence to beat them, including the Spurs and Mosaic."

   "What if we play the finals with the Bulls?" Zhang Lili asked at this time.

   "Hit the bull..."

  Pharaoh was silent for a while, and suddenly he said: "Rebounding will be the first key to our victory, and low-post offense will be the second key to our victory.

These two key factors, the first point, we must do a good job of rebounding in the backcourt, this is the most important, the Bulls will definitely use the pull-out tactics, when we are pulled out from the inside, the speed of returning to defense must be fast , the speed of returning to the basket will determine the control of the backcourt rebounding.

   The second key factor, whether the perimeter can break through the Bulls' perimeter blockade and pass the ball to me, is the most important reason for our low-post offense. If the perimeter can give me enough support, we will beat the Bulls naturally. "

   "Rebounding, low-post attack..." Zhang Heidee muttered a few times and couldn't help nodding his head.

   At 1 noon on the 26th, the Nuggets arrived in Phoenix.

   For the first-round series between the Suns and the Nuggets, the media overwhelmingly believed that the Suns would easily eliminate their opponents, and there was no suspense.

   Not only because the Suns are stronger than the Nuggets, but also because the Nuggets’ inside gate, African mountain Mutombo, was injured in the last game of the regular season.

TNT's TV interview team stood outside the hotel where the Nuggets stayed and broadcast live on TV. The host said: "Friends from the audience, according to the information I have so far, Mutombo can still play, but he should not be able to play in the starting lineup. It will definitely be seriously affected, especially if he is against the entire league, or against the strongest old K in the history of the league, his performance is worrying.

In addition to this disadvantage, the Nuggets also do not have a star in the true sense. In the regular season, there is no All-Star who averaged 20+ points per game. Although the score is relatively average, it is difficult for them to resist the strong advantage of the old K in the low position, and eventually lead to the collapse of the whole line.

   So for this series, I don't think there is any suspense, and the Suns have a good chance of sweeping the Nuggets.

   The above report comes from TNT's Phoenix correspondent Ham Rox. "

   (end of this chapter)