Chapter 1570 The Dust Has Settled in the First Round, and Everyone Is Upset (Part 2)

After the Hawks won the tiebreaker, the top four teams in the Eastern Conference were decided. The Cavaliers and Celtics, Magic and Hawks, the top four teams in the Eastern Conference advanced smoothly without any upsets. These four teams will also fight against each other to compete for two. Eastern Conference Finals spot.

In the West, except for the Lakers who advanced early and waited for their opponents, the other three sets of matchups were frequent upsets.

The first thing to bear the brunt is that the Lakers ushered in their next round of opponents much sooner than they expected.

According to the arrangement of the competition system, the Lakers' opponents will be between the two old rivals, the Nuggets and the Jazz. These two opponents can be said to be old acquaintances of the Lakers. In the first two seasons when the Lakers successfully won the championship, the Jazz and the Nuggets had both It existed twice as a stepping stone on the Lakers' road to the championship.

In the 2007-2008 season, the Lakers swept the Nuggets 4-0 in the first round of the playoffs and defeated the Jazz 4-1 in the semifinals. In the 2008-2009 season, the Lakers swept the Jazz 4-0 in the first round and defeated the Nuggets 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals.

It can be said that no matter who wins this matchup, the Lakers will have the absolute initiative, so the Lakers are confident in preparing for the game.

However, although the Lakers don't care who can advance, this does not prevent the Lakers players from making speculations about this. There is no doubt that among the 13 players on the team, except for Ji Feng who is slightly optimistic about the Jazz, everyone else is more optimistic about the Jazz. He is optimistic that the Nuggets can advance, and Kobe even thinks that the Nuggets have a chance to resolve the battle within 5 games.

This is also the same as the outside world's view. Almost everyone is more optimistic that the Nuggets can defeat the Jazz. After all, the Nuggets were the team in the Western Conference Finals last season, and Anthony and Billups are still strong this season.

The reason why Ji Feng is optimistic about the Jazz is not that the Jazz are absolutely stronger than the Nuggets, but that Ji Feng believes that based on the regular season record and the performance of the last 20 games of the regular season, the Jazz should be in better shape than the Nuggets.

The Jazz started low and then went high in the regular season, going from tenth to fifth in the Western Conference. After the All-Star break, they won 70% of their games and eight of the last ten games. This state is considered excellent. .

On the other hand, the Nuggets started high and went low. They had been ranked second in the Western Conference before the All-Stars. They began to decline after the All-Stars, falling from second to fourth. They were only one and a half games behind the Jazz, especially in the last 10 games. After being blown away by the Lakers, they lost 6 of 10 games.

More importantly, facing the Jazz, the Nuggets trailed 1-3 in 4 games, and it can be said that they did not have any advantage. In addition, George Karl missed the first round of the playoffs due to illness, and Ji Fengcai was more optimistic about the Jazz.

"Hehe, although I also hope that the Jazz advance because they look better, but, you know." After the prediction, Farmar said to Ji Feng in a mean tone.

The Nuggets' victory in the first game seemed to prove the strength of the Nuggets. Although the Nuggets were defeated by the Jazz by 3 points in the second game, the overall feeling was more like capsizing in the gutter. After all, it would have been had it not been for Deron's incredible performance at the last moment. Three points, the Jazz would have no chance at all.

However, in Game 3, the Nuggets were lost in Utah...

Except for Anthony and Billups, who each scored 25 points, no other Nuggets player scored in double figures. JR was even sanctioned for sleepwalking throughout the game, scoring 4 points in 23 minutes.

The Jazz had 3 players score over 20 points and 5 players scored in double figures, giving the Nuggets a disastrous defeat and giving the Jazz an advantage.

In the crucial fourth game, Anthony finally broke out, scoring a huge double-double with 39 points and 11 rebounds. However, as many as 9 turnovers in the game allowed the Jazz to still take the initiative on the court.

Boozer had 31 points and 13 rebounds, and Deron had 23 points and 13 assists. The Jazz won another game at home, leading 3-1 with a total score.

At this time, the Lakers had begun to prepare for the Jazz with all their strength. Farmar was also embarrassed and speechless, while Ji Feng silently took away their sinful gambling funds. He did not expect that he would also get unexpected gains when others played...

The Nuggets, who had one foot on the cliff, finally woke up when they returned home. All 6 players scored in double figures, allowing them to tie the score to 2-3.

"We will do our best to get the game back to home, believe me!" Although Billups promised this after the game, and they indeed played very hard in the sixth game, they still could not change the fate of being eliminated.

Billups worked hard to continue his record. He scored 30 points and 8 assists, but his teammates gave him too little support. Anthony scored 22 points and 12 rebounds, but only made 6 of 22 shots in the game. , J.R. Smith was completely contained, scoring only 3 points.

After the game, Deron smiled happily because they once again completed the counterattack and ended Billups' record of reaching the conference finals for seven consecutive years.

The Lakers and Jazz will become the first matchup in the Western Conference.

On the other hand, the Suns won relatively easily. Although the Trail Blazers successfully counterattacked in the first game, injuries caused them to miss the opportunity. The total score was 4-2, and the Trail Blazers and Nuggets were eliminated on the same day.

The Suns were able to eliminate the Trail Blazers 4:2 mainly due to their defense and the bravery of the dunk king. Except for the Blazers who scored 105 points in the first game and 96 points in the fourth game, the Blazers' scores in the remaining 4 games were not higher than With a score of 90, there is no other way. It just shows that the Bullying Trail Blazers do not have excellent wing offensive capabilities. Roy only played in 1 game, 4 of 16, and Oden did not play in a game.

But the eliminated Trail Blazers also gained respect. Being able to reach Game 6 with the Suns with such a lineup has exceeded most people's expectations. Again, if the complete Blazers have no injuries, What height will they reach?

The Suns' opponent in the semifinals is their old acquaintance, the Spurs!

That's right, the Spurs lost to the Mavericks, ranked second in the Western Conference, in the seventh game. This also caused the biggest upset in this playoffs so far!

San Antonio on April 30th.

When we saw that the Mavericks only scored a pitiful 8 points in the first quarter, the suspense of this game or this series was actually gone - although the Mavericks' counterattack in the third quarter almost succeeded, it would rather be seen As a reflection of the Mavericks' luxurious team, they eventually lost the entire season at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, and Cuban also lost all his bets over the years.

Jason Kidd, Caron Butler, Shawn Marion and Haywood, these sources of vitality were successively added to the Mavericks but ultimately failed to escape the clutches of the Spurs.

If calculated in small points, the Mavericks only lost to the Spurs by 3 points in the entire 6-game series, but Popovich pinched the Mavericks' throat like this.

Since defeating the Spurs 100-94 at home in the first game, the Mavericks' shooting percentage has never exceeded 45% in the next five games. Even in the fifth game when they beat the Spurs by 22 points, the Mavericks' shooting percentage was only 44%.

It is obvious that offense is the most prominent feature of the Mavericks under Carlisle. Even Butler and Haywood were added in the middle of the season to enhance the team's offensive firepower. But in the face of Popovich's defensive system, the Mavericks were at a loss. Especially after the Spurs' troika started running again, the Mavericks' weak defense became even more weak-even in the second game, they lost at home. Giving the opponent 14 points actually paved the way for the final result of this series. After losing to the Spurs in Game 3, the Mavericks basically embarked on a path of no return - Nowitzki was helpless. The eyes and Jason Terry's drooping head are the best answers.

"The Mavericks are really miserable." Ji Feng could only shake his head and sigh. In three seasons, they were hacked eight times and seven times. The Mavericks deserved to be crowned the worst team in the first round in history.