Chapter 374 The battle for Zhanku and the best lineup
Howard started all the next four games, and his defensive effect on Jokic was indeed as miraculous as Wang Feng said. Although it was not the key to winning or losing, it did make the process of the Lakers winning the game easier.
More relaxed.
When the Lakers eliminated the Nuggets in five games, the other three conference semifinals in the Eastern and Western Conferences were still in full swing.
The two matchups in the Eastern Conference are the Milwaukee Bucks vs. the Boston Celtics, and the Brooklyn Nets vs. the Toronto Raptors.
The Celtics eliminated the 76ers in the first round. The combination of Embiid and Simmons has a limited upper limit, and is not even a match for the Celtics after Tatum becomes more powerful.
However, the Celtics, who eliminated the 76ers and entered the conference semifinals, were a little stretched when they met the more powerful Bucks. Currently trailing 2:3, the Bucks had already won the match point one step ahead.
On the other side, the game between the Nets and Menglong was also in full swing.
Without Leonard, the Menglong are still a powerful team in the Eastern Conference. However, the Nets are missing Irving due to the configuration of the Big Three. Although the combination of Durant + George is also very strong, it is missing something after all.
, Moreover, in order to partner with the Big Three, the Nets almost emptied their wealth. Apart from Dinwiddie, there are basically no outstanding role players around the Big Three, so it is quite difficult to play in the playoffs.
However, the strength of the partnership between the two top stars should not be underestimated after all, and the Nets have a high probability of eliminating the Menglongs and entering the Eastern Conference finals.
Compared with these two teams, the other conference semifinals in the Western Conference can really be described as a bloody battle.
This conference semifinals matchup is between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors.
The partnership of James + Leonard easily defeated the Rockets' Harden + Westbrook combination.
On the other side, Paul, who led the Thunder generals to overcome obstacles all the way, met Curry, the master of suffering, and had no choice but to swallow his hatred.
The three heroes of the old Warriors once again encountered James and Lu Bu in the playoffs after a year. However, Lu Bu had Dian Wei standing next to him. How does it make sense that the 1v3 game turned into a 2v3?
The most terrible thing is that as we all know, the so-called Three Heroes Battle against Lu Bu was actually Guan Yu and Zhang Fei leading Liu Bei, a dragster, to gain a reputation. Without Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's partnership might have been able to suppress him faster.
Lu Bu.
This version of the NBA is no exception. Green is definitely more of a trap than Liu Bei. No matter what, Liu Bei was able to make a few gestures when he was young, and he was also a good leader in battles.
Green is different. This guy really cheats his teammates, at least on the offensive end.
In the series of games against the Clippers, Green's effectiveness in defending James and Leonard was very average, and he was always lagging behind on the offensive end. Cole was speechless several times and wanted to push Green to death on the bench, but he couldn't.
In order to ensure the mobility of small ball tactics, Green had to be on the court to protect rebounds.
Thanks to Curry and Thompson being really good in this series, they have been fighting the Clippers so far.
On May 9th, in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors, who were trailing 2:3, fought hard at home. Curry scored 32 points on 11 of 23 shots, Thompson scored 30 points on 12 of 24 shots, and even Green finally rose to prominence.
Once, although he still scored only 7 points, he grabbed 14 rebounds, including 6 offensive rebounds, and also had 8 assists.
The Warriors also took this opportunity to defeat the Clippers and evened the score to 3:3. The two sides competed in a tiebreaker a day later.
The intensity and quality of the battle between these two teams was extremely high, making it the most intense conference semifinal in recent years.
The entire Lakers team, which eliminated the Nuggets early, happily sat back and watched the fight between the two teams, wishing that both teams would suffer losses so that they could reap the benefits in the Western Conference Finals.
Then, in the final tiebreaker, the Clippers led by James and Leonard were superior and narrowly defeated the Warriors and successfully advanced to the Western Conference Finals.
Western Conference Finals, Lakers VS Clippers. This is also the first time the two Los Angeles teams have met in the Western Conference Finals since the Clippers were founded.
The Clippers have gone through a big battle and are almost exhausted, while on the other side are the Lakers who have rested for many days and are waiting to work.
But after all, the Clippers are a top dual-core partnership. Although the Lakers are currently configured with the Big Three, Butler's status is still inferior to Leonard's. Ingram has never been selected to the All-Stars.
It's even more incomparable, so it's hard to say who will win in the Western Conference.
…
Before the start of the Eastern and Western Conference finals, the league officially announced the best lineup of the season as usual.
In fact, there is not much suspense.
Wang Feng, who averaged 35.2 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game, was also selected for the All-NBA First Team. Also selected for the All-NBA First Team was Curry of the Warriors, who averaged 31.2 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists per game.
Antetokounmpo averages 29.7 points, 14 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, James of the Clippers averages 26 points, 8 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game, and Doncic of the Mavericks averages 28.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game.
Selected for the second team are Damian Lillard who averaged 28.9 points and 7.8 assists per game, Harden who averaged 34 points and 7.3 assists per game, Durant who averaged 29.4 points, Leonard who averaged 27 points, and Leonard who averaged 24.4 points and 9.7 rebounds.
Jokic assists.
It is worth mentioning that although Harden's statistics are extremely gorgeous and the Rockets' record is one place higher than that of the Mavericks, the completely different situations of the two teams still caused Harden to lose to Doncic in the first-team quota match.
Array is coming.
Doncic led a team that was previously at the bottom of the league back to the playoff stage, while Harden made the Western Conference Finals Rockets, who had won the best defense award two years ago, be reduced to only ranking in the Western Conference.
The seventh position, so it’s not surprising that he was pushed down for a while.
As for the Rockets' declining record, should they blame Westbrook? No one cares anymore.
Among the five spots on the All-NBA Third Team, the Lakers' second-best player, Jimmy Butler, finally reached the top spot with his 23.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and team record.
Also selected with him were Chris Paul of the Thunder, Jayson Tatum of the Celtics, Clay Thompson of the Warriors and Anthony Davis of the Pelicans.
Among these five people, Brother Big Eyebrow is obviously the most embarrassing one, because the Pelicans are the only team that has not entered the playoffs.
Big Eyebrow's statistics this season are career highs, averaging 29 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.9 blocks per game. His performance on both ends is perfect, but the Pelicans are only ranked tenth in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.
I originally expected Zion Williams to be his right-hand man after coming to the Pelicans, but Zion missed most of the season due to injury, and finally played more than 20 games with the team, but at that time the Pelicans
It was too late for the team to catch up.
It is foreseeable that the poor record has made Brother Big Eyebrow intolerable, and he is likely to ask to leave the team again this summer. After all, he does not have a few years of peak time to wait for Zion Williams to grow into a top star.
…
After the best team, there is the best defensive team.
Those selected for the All-Defensive First Team are Wang Feng, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Davis, Rudy Gobert and Ben Simmons.
The defensive second team is led by Leonard, Adebayo of the Heat, Beverley of the Clippers, Smart of the Celtics and Bloody Blessed of the Bucks.
The announcement of the best lineup made some people happy and others unhappy.
Just like Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who also scored 30+ points this season and is one of only four players in the league averaging 30+ points per game, he didn't even make the All-NBA Third Team.
Similarly, in the same period as Doncic, Trae Young, who averaged 29.6 points and 9.3 assists per game, not losing to Doncic in terms of statistics, was not selected for the All-NBA Team.
Trae Young, as the current All-Star starter in the Eastern Conference, failed to be selected for the All-NBA Team, which can be regarded as a relatively embarrassing record.
Of course, the reason why the above two players have gorgeous statistics but were not selected for the All-NBA Team is also very simple: the team did not make it to the playoffs.
Both the Wizards and the Hawks have a record of less than 40%, ranking 11th and 12th in the Eastern Conference respectively, which is worse than the record of Big Eyebrow's Pelicans. Therefore, Big Eyebrow was selected for the best third team, and these two were excluded.
.
It is worth mentioning that Westbrook, who averaged 27+8+8 per game, also believes that he is qualified to be selected for the All-NBA Team... Well, well, at least from the data point of view, Westbrook is definitely qualified, but like ha
Just like Deng lost the best first team and was ranked in the best second team, Westbrook's data combined with the team's record can only be used as a deduction item, so don't mention it.