This Forward is Not Serious

So the four playoff matchups in the Western Conference are: Mavericks VS Clippers, Lakers VS Suns, Thunder VS Jazz, Spurs VS Grizzlies.

There is a lot to watch in these four groups.

Among them, the Lakers and Suns are a pair of old enemies, and the Grizzlies defeated the Spurs in the previous eight.

Let’s look at the east side again.

The Bulls maintained first place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 62 wins and 20 losses.

Although Rose still suffered some injuries at the end of the season, he was much better than in history.

His performance of 22.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game is better than the same period in history.

The Knicks are second in the Eastern Conference with a record of 60 wins and 22 losses.

James once again showed his maturity, and his shooting performance in the second half of the game was obviously better than that in the first half of the season.

He eventually produced MVP-level data, averaging 26.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 10.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

The Pacers are third in the Eastern Conference with 58 wins and 24 losses.

They are the most surprising yet reasonable ones this season.

Team basketball, every point is above the league average.

The Heat rank fourth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 53 wins and 29 losses.

The biggest bad news for the Heat was that Billups was out for the season due to a torn ankle after the All-Star break.

This caused a big ups and downs in their record.

If it weren't for the other teams in the same division, they might have been squeezed out of the top half.

The Nets rank fifth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 56 wins and 26 losses.

Because of the ranking rule that "the first in the division must enter the top four in the division", although their record was better than the Heat, they ultimately missed the top half.

And Joe Johnson's knee injury at the end of the season also had some impact on the team's performance.

However, considering that the Nets had a record of 58 losses last season, this almost turned a negative record into a positive record, which is enough to satisfy Nets fans.

Moreover, Lin Ying ushered in a new breakthrough in his career this season.

In the fifth season of his career, he averaged 27.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.

Among them, his scoring ranks third in the league behind Durant and Kobe.

And his shooting percentage of 53% also set a career high.

You must know that the Nets also have Deron and Joe Johnson. Such data has shown that he has transformed from an All-Star into a super giant.

The Celtics ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference with 50 wins and 32 losses.

The words "Sunset and Xishan" are the most suitable for the current Green Army, and what's even more terrible is that the contracts of Ray Allen and Garnett will expire at the same time this summer.

Where the Celtics go will become a major focus of attention from the outside world.

The 76ers ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference with a record of 47 wins and 35 losses.

Holiday, Iguodala, Bynum, Lou Williams...

This team is actually not as weak as it looks.

The Hawks are ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 46 wins and 36 losses.

In fact, Joe Johnson's departure did not have much impact on this team.

But against the background of the overall strength of the Eastern Conference, they were finally squeezed to the end.

The playoff matchups in the East: Bulls VS Hawks, Knicks VS 76ers, Pacers VS Celtics, Heat VS Nets.

Compared with the attractions in the west, the theme here in the east is "suspense".

After two seasons, the Knicks are afraid that their top insiders have become a well-known weakness.

Unfortunately, the 76ers have Bynum. Coupled with the presence of Iguodala, the 76ers who play seventh against second are not without a chance.

Although the Celtics are waning, their skinny camels are bigger than horses, and it will not be easy for the Pacers to step on them and advance.

Not to mention the Nets and Heat.

Billups' season reimbursement has greatly reduced the Heat's strength, and their record is not as good as the Nets.

And according to the rules of the competition, although they are in the top half, the Nets with a better record have home court advantage.

This should be the most likely matchup in the first round this year.

…

A villa in Miami.

Anthony was in a terrible mood.

Originally, in the first half of the season, he was one of the popular candidates for MVP, chasing James.

But after playing against the Nets and watching Lin Ying perform in front of him, he felt that the familiar yet terrible feeling from before was back.

First, he was not selected to start the All-Star Game, then he saw Lin Ying and Howard flirting with each other in the All-Star Game, and then Billups was reimbursed for the season!

And now, they actually faced the Nets in the first round! !

I suspect God is targeting me!

What is the reason for all this?

Why did James steal New York from him, and why did Lin Ying come to the East!

At this time, he had automatically ignored that Lin Ying was traded to the east like him!

…

Vaniuk.

The Nets are waiting for work and are conducting their final training before the playoffs at home.

The team members are all high-spirited and eager to try.

From a team perspective, this is the first time the Nets have returned to the playoffs after 5 years since the 2006-2007 season.

Kidd was still with the Nets at that time, and this lineup change seemed like a century later.

From a player perspective, this team has too many people who need to prove themselves.

Deron and Joe Johnson are now at the lowest evaluations of their respective careers.

Including head coach Avery Johnson also needs a successful season to clear his name.

"How do you feel, Joe?"

After Lin Ying finished training, he walked to the sidelines to care about Joe Johnson, who was doing recovery training on his bicycle.

Historically, he has suffered knee injuries at this stage, and he also missed the All-Star Game due to knee injuries.

Now that he has changed teams, this situation has not been avoided, which shows that his knee injury was not an accident, but a hardware problem.

This should also be a situation that is difficult for heavy defenders to avoid.

"It looks like I'm going to lose weight next season."

Joe Johnson said jokingly.

He was originally a relatively reserved person, but the overall atmosphere of the Nets was very good, and he talked more.

Lin Ying smiled and nodded.

That Johnson was joking meant it wasn't a big deal.

And losing weight is indeed a good thing for him at this stage.

Although that will make him lose some of his back-up advantage, he is also an offensive kaleidoscope type player, which does not mean that he can only play that move with his back.

"Brothers, enjoy this series."

DeLong then came over and joined them.

He looked extremely happy.

After the Nets added pick-and-roll tactics, he should be the most comfortable one.

"Yes, enjoy."

Lin Ying nodded.

It's a bit strange to say it, but I don't know why, beating Anthony gives people an inexplicable sense of confidence.

It felt like I was bound to win.

After the chat was over, Delong suddenly pulled Lin Ying aside.

"I've made an agreement with Dennis Lyndsey that he will set up a meeting for me and Coach Sloan in the summer, and I want you to come with me."

"Why do I?"

Lin Ying was stunned for a moment when she heard Delong's request.

He didn't know Sloan at all.

It would be inappropriate to ask him to go to such an occasion, right?

"Coach Sloan has praised you more than once. When he scolded Andrei (Kirilenko), he used you as an example, saying that he was far inferior to you. Including the summer when you were traded to Phoenix, the Jazz also kept I’m working hard, if you come with me, it should make the atmosphere more harmonious, please help me.”

Delong said and made a helping gesture.

This passage is very informative.

First, Delong really regards Lin Ying as his eldest brother now, and his attitude is very low.

Second, Sloan actually likes Lin Ying too!

Therefore, Lin Ying's reaction was very surprised. He had never heard that the Jazz was interested in him back then.

However, think about it, the Jazz didn't have much leverage to attract the Nuggets at that time. Just like many people calling Liu Yifei's wife, they could only shout.

Lin Ying asked about the time and found out that it was scheduled for June, when the season was over and he had not yet returned to China to prepare for the Olympics, so he finally agreed.

Anyway, it’s just a trip along.

Moreover, Deron respects him very much now, and he has no reason to refuse this kind of thing that is easy for him.

…

The playoffs are about to begin, and the league also announced the first batch of awards for the season at this time, including the Most Improved Award, Best Sixth Man Award, and Best Head Coach.

The Most Improved Award was won by Holiday of the 76ers.

Holiday basically didn't perform in the Suns last season, averaging less than 2 points per game, but this season he averaged 12.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game with the 76ers.

It can be said that there is no suspense about winning the award for such a performance.

The Sixth Man of the Year belongs to James Harden of the Thunder.

Harden averaged 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, and his shooting percentage was as high as 49.1%. He is definitely a superstar.

The best head coach belongs to Avery Johnson!

Among the three awards, this one undoubtedly attracted the most skepticism.

After all, Carlisle, who has 69 wins next door, should be the candidate who deserves this award.

But obviously, this is a convention, the best head coach is also known as the "most improved coach".

The Nets went from 58 losses to 56 wins. This polarizing record made it difficult for the media not to vote for him.

And in the second half of the season, Johnson even showed "improvement" and developed pick-and-roll tactics for the Nets.

So he deserves this award even more.

On the first day of the playoffs, organized by Lin Ying, a group of people lurked in the locker room and gave Johnson a champagne bath when he came in.

It was also the first time that the team members saw Johnson's smiling face.

People are not cold-blooded animals. No matter how strict they are, who would feel unhappy when they feel the love and affection of their team members?

And in essence, although Johnson's tactics are a bit monotonous, his on-the-spot reaction ability is a bit poor, and his training is a bit harsh, he still takes his work very seriously.

It’s not so much Riley Jr. as it is Van Gundy Jr.

After playing, Johnson also put away his smile and gave an instruction to the players.

"Tomorrow, do your best for yourselves!"

…

The next night, the Prudential Center in Newark was packed.

Before the game started, Avery Johnson's award ceremony was held on site.

Nets fans gave him the highest level of cheers.

Although some fans usually complain about him, how can they not be happy when their coach wins the award.

After the award ceremony was over, the scene began to warm up.

At this time, attentive fans on the sidelines discovered that there was zero communication between Anthony and Howard.

The reason for this discovery is that the two communicated a lot during the last fight.

It seems that some things have changed slightly compared to before.

The pre-game warm-up is over, and the starting lineups of the two teams are starting to make their way out.

Heat: DJ Augustin, JR Smith, Caron Butler, Anthony, Howard

Nets: Deron, Jimmy Butler, Lin Ying, Battier, Tyson Chandler

Because Joe Johnson had just recovered from injury, Avery Johnson did not arrange for him to start this game.

Howard jumped to get the ball for the Heat and the game officially started.

Howard came up and asked for the ball in singles.

But almost at the same time, Anthony also reached for the ball on the other side.

This made Augustine very worried.

What the outside world doesn't know is that after Billups was reimbursed for the season, the conflict between Anthony and Howard became bit by bit.

Maybe one night Howard felt that he took fewer shots, and maybe one night Anthony also felt that he took fewer shots.

Just like a boxer, after the brain shuts down, punching with the left and right hands becomes very messy.

And what's even more terrible is that neither Anthony nor Howard want to get into trouble over the matter of ball rights, so there should be no more difficult task in the league than being the Heat point guard, and that is the ant in the hot pot.

Augustin finally chose to give the ball to Smith.

When a question had two options but the answers were both wrong, he chose not to do it.

Smith is more direct. He can do this kind of questions with his eyes closed.

He gave the ball directly to Anthony.

Anthony played a back-to-the-frame single and turned around and made a fadeaway jumper.

Battier's blind defense caught up instantly.

"Uh-huh!"

But Anthony still hit the shot and made a cool move.

Compared with offensive beauty, Anthony is not only one of the best players in the league, but also one of the best.

The Heat come out on top!

After scoring the goal, Anthony turned around to find Smith and gave him a high-five, using his body language to express his gratitude to his younger brother.

When Smith returned from the CBA, he was also the one who advocated recruiting Smith to Miami.

Now it seems that what I did at the beginning has helped me a lot.

He has the final say in Miami!

Deron comes up and picks and rolls with Battier and then breaks through and throws.

There was nothing wrong with his choice, but Howard pounced higher than he expected.

"Snapped!"

He directly completed a shot!

There was a commotion in the place.

The peak monster's bounce is 100 million points terrifying!

Fortunately, the Nets' lineup retreated quickly and the Heat's fast break was blocked.

Howard had just completed a beautiful defense, and now he was in position in the three-second zone, expressing his desire to attack with strong body language.

But Smith didn't hesitate and gave the ball to Anthony again.

Anthony caught the ball and made a pull-up jumper.

This time, his reaction rate was so fast that Battier's defense couldn't keep up.

"Uh-huh!"

The basketball is hollow and falls into the bag!

Anthony hit two consecutive goals in the opening game!

After scoring the second goal, Anthony tapped his head with three fingers and let out a roar.

When he knew that he would face Lin Ying in the first round against the Nets, his body's instinct made him resist.

But when the game actually started, he let go.

If Lin Ying is already his inner demon, then tonight he will kill it with a knife in Newark, Lin Ying's home stadium!

Thanks to Plout for the tip~