The Grizzlies' official website vigorously promotes the team's entry into the playoffs. Of course, Xie Kai's election as the scoring champion is also the focus of their promotion. This team is about to advance to the playoffs for the second consecutive year, and this time, they

Instead of facing the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, they had home court advantage in the playoffs for the first time.

The first round of the playoffs between the Grizzlies and Clippers, G1, will be played on April 30 at FedEx Arena in Memphis.

On April 28, the G1 tickets for the Grizzlies vs. Clippers series went on sale and sold out quickly, comparable to the tickets for last season’s Western Conference Finals.

On the same day, NBA officials also announced the best players in the East and West for April.

The Eastern Conference Player of the Month is Carmelo Anthony from the New York Knicks, while the Western Conference Player of the Month is Xie Kai from the Memphis Grizzlies.

This is the first time Xie Kai has won the honor of Player of the Month since he entered the league. Best of the Month is much more difficult than Best of the Week. It is not uncommon for ordinary players to lead their team to victory in two or three games within a week.

, but if you achieve excellent results within a month and obtain outstanding data yourself, this will be very difficult.

In the past April, Xie Kai led the team to an excellent record of 14 wins and 3 losses in 17 games. In 38.4 minutes of playing time per game, Xie Kai averaged 27.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 7 assists per game.

2.3 steals and 1.5 blocks.

It was precisely because of Xie Kai's outstanding performance that the Grizzlies were able to surpass the Clippers in the final stage of the season and rise to the fourth position in the Western Conference. And he himself faced the Heat's Big Three in an away game and scored a triple-double, which provided him with a triple-double.

Winning the best of the month provides enough tough performance.

For Xie Kai, the end of this season was basically perfect. He helped the team get the home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and he personally won the first month's best and scoring title.

But he knows very well that what he needs to do now is not to be complacent, but to prepare for the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers are not that easy to deal with. When the two teams play against each other this season, they win or lose.

The Clippers ranked third from the bottom in the Western Conference with 32 wins and 50 losses last season. They were a pretty bad team. But who would have thought that after Paul's trade to the Lakers failed, they were lucky enough to acquire him. After acquiring him,

, Los Angeles has become the "Lob City". Jordan and Griffin have the opportunity to destroy the basket in every game. It is simply too violent.

In this round of the series, the Grizzlies are the more favored team. Before the start of the series, whether it was betting odds, media reporters, experts, NBA celebrities and other parties, more and more people were optimistic about the Grizzlies advancing.

.

Everyone's views are quite consistent: First, from the perspective of the two teams' playoff experience, the Grizzlies would have been better off reaching the Western Conference Finals last season. On the other hand, except for Paul, the Clippers' other core players have not had any post-season success.

Game experience; second, the Clippers' inside advantage. When facing the Grizzlies' inside, let alone an advantage, it would be thankful to be able to tie; third, no one in the Clippers' formation can match Xie Kai.

This is very important in the playoffs where matchups are more important.

Of course, the strength gap between the two teams is far from that big, and anyone can advance. Anything can happen in the playoffs, such as injuries, which may affect the final trend of the series.

The Grizzlies are actively preparing for the game. Their goal this season is naturally to compete for the championship. After all, they entered the Western Conference Finals last season.

Arenas was very emotional during training. He smiled at Xie Kai and said: "It really seems like a dream, I am actually going to play in the playoffs again. Haha, I originally thought that my career would never happen again.

There’s a chance to play in the playoffs!”

Seeing the general's sigh, Xie Kai could understand his sadness. The last time Arenas made it to the playoffs was in the 2007-08 season. After that, the Wizards gradually became unable to compete with those strong players in the Eastern Conference.

The team has been able to compete, and now it has completely entered a rebuilding period.

"Let's cheer for the playoffs! We need your help!" Xie Kai smiled and stretched out his hand.

Arenas smiled and held Xie Kai's hand: "Let's work hard together!"

Xie Kai knows very well what the performance of the second team players represented by Arenas means to this team. If the strength of the Grizzlies' starting lineup can be considered the first in the league, then the second team

The strength of the team may be at the bottom of the league. It is impossible for the main players to play for 48 minutes. They definitely need to rest, and during this time, the players in the second lineup need to be able to stand up.

Xie Kai certainly hopes that the general can regain a few percent of his peak form. This can be said to be an X factor for whether the Grizzlies can go further in the playoffs.

April 30, FedEx Arena in Memphis.

The first game of the first round of the playoffs will be played tonight, and this is the first time this venue will host a G1 playoff game.

Xie Kai's parents and a group of relatives and friends had already arrived at the scene early to cheer him on. Zhou Jing did not come because she still had some things to deal with at school.

This game is of great significance to the Grizzlies. If they can win, it will be a good start for this year's playoffs.

Before the game even started, the venue was almost full of fans.

The Grizzlies have prepared white cultural shirts for every fan who comes to watch the game, aiming to create an atmosphere in this way.

For Xie Kai, playing the Clippers in the first round is a good choice. After all, the Clippers' home court is also at Staples, and Staples is equivalent to his second home court.

The momentum at the Grizzlies home court is quite huge, thanks to the excellent atmosphere created by the fans.

The mascot Gray interacted excitedly with the fans. He waved the team flag and made exaggerated movements towards the fans in the front row, which caused the fans to burst into laughter.

The Grizzlies players gave the impression from the pre-game warm-up that they were relaxed and they were confident enough to defeat the Clippers and advance to the second round of the playoffs.

The commentators for this game are TNT's Kevin Harlan and Steve Kerr.

Soon, the starting lineups of both sides were announced.

The starting lineup of the Grizzlies at home is: Center - Marc Gasol, Power Forward - Zach Randolph, Small Forward - Rudy Gay, Shooting Guard - Xie Kai, Point Guard

——Mike Conley.

This starting lineup has been very stable from the regular season to the playoffs. Of course, part of the reason is because there is no one on the bench who can replace any of these five people.

The Clippers' starting lineup for the away game is: center - DeAndre Jordan, power forward - Blake Griffin, small forward - Caron Butler, shooting guard - Randy Ford

Yeah, point guard — Chris Paul.
Chapter completed!