Chapter 1933 The Regular Season Ends and the Playoffs Are Coming

The Spurs are one of the most successful teams in the NBA in the past ten years. In the Western Conference, it is precisely because of the existence of the Spurs that no Lakers team is dominant. It is difficult to imagine that if the Lakers were at their peak without strong opponents like the Spurs, How many championships will the Lakers win?

It stands to reason that the Spurs are located in the small city of San Antonio, and no stars will be willing to join. Moreover, the Spurs owner Holt is the owner with the lowest assets in the NBA, with assets of only US$200 million, which is not as high as the players' salaries.

Why did the Spurs succeed when faced with a double dilemma?

This is inseparable from luck. In 1987, the Spurs got the No. 1 pick and selected David Robinson. However, although David Robinson is one of the "four major centers", he has a weak character and cannot lead the team to win the championship. Fortunately, the Spurs won the No. 1 pick again in 1997 and selected Duncan to form the Twin Towers. The Spurs' dynasty began.

However, every time the Spurs won the championship, they were unable to win consecutive championships. This shows how poor the Spurs' boss is. He was unable to strengthen the lineup, which resulted in the Spurs being unable to win consecutive championships. They did not even disturb the league in 20 years. The transaction, in the final analysis, is a transaction without money.

Many people are engaging in conspiracy theories, saying that the Spurs were too boring to attract viewers and were being tricked by the league. This is actually unfair. The Spurs were responsible for three of the finals ratings below 10.

But the two-year dirty battle between the Spurs and the Pistons that people often say was not the lowest in ratings, but the "Future Is Yours" version 1.0 was the lowest in the past twenty years. The score was 4 to 0. It was a simple defeat. , no one is interested in seeing it.

Therefore, neither luck nor the boss is the most important factor in the Spurs' success. The main reason why the Spurs can still compete with the terrifying Lakers in the Western Conference even though their GDP is old today is two words: vision!

Popovich is great, his ability is undoubted, and his selection of players can be called the ultimate opposite of Jordan. Since it cannot be traded, it is better to "scouring the sand" and select talents from the draft.

Parker, Ginobili, Hill, and now Leonard, they can always pick out those potential stocks in the draft at a glance. These people are all treasures obtained by the Spurs in the draft. If they were switched to other teams, they would not be able to pick them at all. You can't make these guys superstars, only the Spurs can.

There is no way, other teams don't have a coach like Popovich who is best at cultivating new players, and such a poor management.

The Spurs have also carved out a path of their own in the league. In this league filled with metropolitan areas, they are undoubtedly a clean slate.

However, the current NBA has changed and has become a business-first league. The Spurs can select excellent people, but they can never retain excellent people. Ginobili, Parker and Duncan are unique, and not everyone likes them. Sacrifice yourself to become a global team, which will be very obvious in the next few years.

But now, the Spurs West Lake have reached the era of their second rise. This match against the Lakers seems to give them a little more confidence in the upcoming playoffs.

…

On April 14, the Lakers faced the powerful rival Orlando Magic back-to-back. Since reaching the Finals in the 2009-10 season, the Magic have been hoping to go one step further. They are one of the most active teams in the trade market in these two seasons.

However, the thinking of the Magic management has never been normal. Their movement has been very loud, but the effect is definitely the opposite compared to the movement!

They first brought in Carter, but when they thought it was not possible, they traded Carter for Arenas. They thought that Turkoglu's salary was high, so they traded him out. After a season, they remembered that Turkoglu's role was restored. During the season, he felt that Turkoglu was no longer good and replaced him...

Back and forth, back and forth, the Magic created an endless cycle and turned a team that could compete for a championship into what it is now.

To be honest, the Magic are not short of luck. They have received many more good cards and high-ranking rookies in history than the Spurs. Not to mention the two top picks O'Neal and Howard, there are also high-ranking rookies such as Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill. Not famous.

And what is inversely proportional to their luck is their brains. Countless tricks and blind transactions have prevented them from taking any further steps. This seems to be the most awesome evidence of the Spurs management.

Everyone may have luck, but the ability to seize luck is not something that just anyone can achieve.

Do not believe?

If you don’t believe it, just look at the magic!

Except for Howard and Nelson, everyone in this Magic is different from two years ago. Such frequent personnel turnover has greatly reduced the Magic's competitiveness. The best evidence of this is that they were upset by the Hawks in the first round of last season. This season they Taking a step back, we are currently ranked 5th in the Eastern Conference.

The most uncomfortable thing is that the conflict between Howard's coach and management has been completely public, and Howard has even begun to slack off in his work. The abnormal management met Howard with a child's temper. This is destined to be a confrontation without a winner.

This kind of magic can only frighten fish belly, and they have no chance when encountering the Lakers.

In this game, the Lakers had the advantage. Although Howard worked harder than before, it was still useless. After all, the Lakers still adopted the tactics of cutting down Howard when they were leading. As a result, Howard made 6 of 16 free throws in the game, with an impressive shooting percentage.

The Lakers also successfully defeated the Magic 110-92 and continued to remain undefeated in April. After the game, Howard almost cried. He complained to the media: "They were leading and they fouled me. Do they have any humanity at all?"

But for the Lakers, the easier they can defeat their opponents, the better. After all, the playoffs are coming, so why not defeat them easily? Besides, the Magic probably won’t face the Lakers this season. It's such a classic, it doesn't feel like the season is complete without one.

After beating Howard, the Lakers continued their winning streak. On April 18, they defeated the Raptors again at their home court. This game belonged to Artest. The last time, Artest was in Toronto because of his passport. The heroic score of 24 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists helped the Lakers defeat the Raptors 106-96.

Ji Feng easily and freely scored a triple-double of 14 points, 10 assists and 13 rebounds. This kind of triple-double is rare for Ji Feng. Many people said jokingly: It turns out that Ji Feng's bottom line is Uncle Kidd. .

After defeating the Raptors, the Lakers have only 6 games left this season. Currently, the Lakers have 53 wins and 7 losses after 60 games. They are the only team with a record of 50 games. They have beaten the second-place Spurs in the Western Conference. They are far behind, with a win gap of 13 games, and the Heat are also 7 games behind the Lakers due to their recent record fluctuations.

In other words, the Lakers won the first place in the regular season this season 6 games ahead of schedule and won the first place in the league for 5 consecutive seasons.

And they can finally take turns as much as they want!

"There are still 6 games left!" Ji Feng stretched on the bench. He was very much looking forward to his fifth playoff trip.