บท 202: The First Round of the Playoffs and the Announcement of the Best Lineups.
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The Hawks already had a first-rate lineup, which included shooting guards Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby, forwards Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and center Al Horford. With their return to the playoffs in the 2007-08 season, the Hawks were poised to become a powerful team in the Eastern Conference for the next decade.
However, at this stage, the strength of the Hawks was still quite immature, with the core of the team remaining Joe Johnson, who had made his mark with the Suns.
Joe Johnson had a very good performance this season, averaging 21.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game in the regular season, and he was selected as an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve for the second consecutive year.
Although his performance slightly lagged behind last season's averages of 25 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, it was also partly due to the Hawks acquiring stronger teammates in the new season.
The addition of rookie Al Horford gave the Hawks inside scoring ability, while the arrival of veteran point guard Mike Bibby also boosted the Hawks' strength at the guard position.
This was the main reason why the Hawks, who had the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference last season, were able to reach the Eastern Conference playoffs this season.
But it was obvious that the Hawks were powerless against the Bulls, who had the best record in the regular season.
Like adults beating children, in 4 games, 4:0, the Bulls easily swept the Hawks and successfully advanced past the first round.
There's not much to say about the game. Facing the strong defense and fierce offense of the Bulls, the performance of all the Hawks players was restricted. Although shooting guard Joe Johnson averaged 20 points per game over the 4 games, his shooting percentage was only just above 40%, and his scoring efficiency was significantly lower than during the regular season.
The Hawks' second-leading scorer during the regular season, Josh Smith, was suppressed throughout the game by his matchup with Garnett, finishing with just 15 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 39% from the field.
Speaking of Josh Smith, he is a very interesting player. He is a powerful forward, standing 6'9" (2.06 meters), with a strong build and an extremely athletic ability. He resembles more of a power forward than a small forward.
When Wang Chong used to play 2K, he liked to play with Josh Smith because the controls felt a little like a weaker version of James, running wildly across the court and performing violent dunks.
In reality, Josh Smith and James are of course completely different players. His ball-handling skills are poor, and he primarily attacks the basket without the ball. His style is more similar to that of former Bulls forward Luol Deng. He lacks scoring methods.
Even at the peak of his career, Josh Smith only averaged 18.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He has never been selected to the All-NBA team and has never been named an All-Star.
After Joe Johnson left the Hawks in the future, Josh Smith briefly served as the leader of the Hawks for a period of time and was even called the "Eagle King."
But his strength obviously couldn't carry the load of being the primary force on a team.
In the current season, in his fourth year, Smith has been averaging 17+8 per game in the regular season. Statistically, this is almost comparable to Garnett's numbers.
Garnett's regular season stats this year were close to what was expected of him when he joined the Celtics to form the Big Three. Due to the focus on defense, Garnett's stats were reduced to 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, which is nearly identical to last season's 22+12.8+4 averages, which is incomparable.
But no one dares to underestimate Garnett's contribution to the Bulls. After best defensive player Tyson Chandler and key perimeter defenders like Lagar Bell and Luol Deng left the team, Garnett became almost a one-man defense. Wang Chong, Billups, and others also help, but Garnett is clearly the core of the defensive system.
The stats can't reflect Garnett's on-court contributions, but it's safe to say that Garnett should be this season's best defensive player.
When two power forwards with similar stats faced each other on the court, Garnett treated Josh Smith like a toy.
In 4 games, Garnett averaged 21 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game, outperforming Smith, who scored 15 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and only shot 39% from the field.
In the original 2007-08 season, the Celtics, who were first in the Eastern Conference, also played against the Hawks in the first round.
But unlike the Bulls, who easily swept the Hawks 4-0, the Big Three of the Celtics had difficulty defeating the Hawks. It took them seven games to win. They nearly followed the Mavericks' path from the previous season and were defeated by their opponent, the Black Eight.
The Celtics' championship run in the 2007-08 season was not easy. They defeated the Hawks 4-3 in the first round, eliminated the Cavaliers 4-3 in the second round after two game 7s, and in the Eastern Conference Finals, they beat the Pistons 4-2, while only playing one fewer game. The series against the Lakers in the finals also ended 4-2.
Overall, the Celtics' path to the championship in 2007-08 almost completely faltered, as they were only two games away from playing all of them.
Wang Chong really couldn't understand why the Celtics' Big Three had so much difficulty in the playoffs if they were so powerful.
You must know that, except for the Lakers in the Finals, the Eastern Conference opponents were basically not strong: the Hawks in the first round, the Cavaliers in the second round, and even the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals weren't particularly tough opponents. Their quality is far below that of the Western Conference.
Wang Chong couldn't understand the reason and could only attribute it to the fact that Pierce and Ray Allen, as part of the Big Three, weren't strong enough in scoring.
In fact, compared to the highest-level Garnett in history, while Pierce and Ray Allen are good enough to enter the Hall of Fame and top 75 in the future, they are obviously inferior in terms of personal skills and court dominance. Both are players who have never been in a season MVP, let alone the highest honors in the NBA.
The current Bulls won't have the same problem as the Celtics. Garnett only needs to focus on team defense. There's no need to worry about offensive scoring. In today's league, Wang Chong has long been recognized as one of the strongest scorers. In the series that swept the Hawks, Wang Chong easily averaged 30 points per game. He was obviously in a state of calmness on the court, which allowed the Bulls to easily sweep the Hawks 4:0 and advance to the second round.
In the entire first-round series, there were only two teams that swept their opponents 4:0. Besides the Bulls, who swept the Hawks, the other team was the Los Angeles Lakers, who finished first in the Western Conference.
The Lakers' first-round opponent was the Denver Nuggets, who ranked eighth in the Western Conference.
After seven years, Kobe and Iverson, the two strongest players of the 1996 generation, faced off again in the playoffs.
But unlike Iverson, the lone hero who showed his advantage in the Finals seven years ago and averaged 35.6 points per game, and Kobe, who was only the second-best player on the Lakers, averaging 24.6 points per game, there was a huge gap in status this time.
This time, when the two faced off, it was recognized that Kobe's strength surpassed Iverson's, the first pick of the 1996 draft.
In fact, Iverson's performance this season hasn't been bad. He and Anthony, two players with sharp personalities, were paired together. There were no conflicts over ball rights or status on the team.
During the regular season, Iverson averaged 26.4 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 45.8%, which was also a new high for him in recent years.
Although the Nuggets only ranked eighth in the Western Conference, they achieved 50 wins in the highly competitive Western Conference. Their strength should not be underestimated.
But the Nuggets were unlucky to face the Lakers in the playoffs.
The Nuggets, during their golden era with their dual weapons, were quite weak inside. Power forward Kenyon Martin is a standard power forward with strong offense and weak defense, and his offense isn't that strong either.
As for the workhorse center Marcus Camby, his defensive ability in the paint is comparable to that of a real player, though he is better at blocking shots.
Standing 7 feet tall (2.11 meters) but weighing only a little more than 100 kilograms, what does this concept mean? Garnett weighs 115 kg, Nowitzki, known for being soft as a power forward, weighs 111 kg, and Gasol, dubbed "brother-in-law" of the Lakers, weighs 113 kg.
Camby is lighter than all three. Although he has good physical conditioning and incredible jumps, his defensive effect can only be reflected in shot-blocking. His ability to protect the basket is fairly average, and he can't protect against heavy centers.
Also, Camby was 34 years old this year, and his athleticism and skills were clearly beginning to decline. Facing off with Bynum, Gasol, and even Odom, who was a reserve center and forward, Camby had no way to stop the Lakers' offensive center combination.
To put it bluntly, the Nuggets were swept by the Lakers 4-0 in the first round. As one of the two main players, Anthony had to shoulder at least 70% of the blame.
This battle also caused Anthony to be criticized by the outside world.
Among the four big kings of the class of 2003, the one who now has the most success is Anthony. He has no personal honors and his team's performance has always been outside the first round of the playoffs.
If the team's strength is too weak, that's fine. Anthony's assistant, Iverson, is also a superstar who won the MVP. His strength is not inferior to Wang Chong's Garnett and Wade's O'Neal when he won the championship.
Although Iverson was no longer at the peak of his career when he came to the Nuggets from the 76ers, in his two seasons with the Nuggets, Iverson was still able to contribute consistently with around 26 points and 7 assists, and is definitely still going strong. de.
Anthony, who has this level of assists, can't even compare to James' team performance, not to mention Wang Chong and Wade. This can only show that there is indeed a big gap in strength between Anthony and the other three.
Fortunately, Anthony's attention is much less than James, so the pressure is much less and he doesn't need to bear the huge pressure like James.
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first-round games in the East and West have ended back-to-back. Besides the Bulls and Lakers who swept their opponents 4:0, the teams that advanced to the second round in the East and West are the Cavaliers and Pistons. and Magic in the East, and the Hornets, Spurs and Spurs in the West.
As in the original time and space, the battle between the Jazz and Rockets ended with the Jazz winning.
Due to the butterfly effect caused by Wang Chong, the Rockets were unable to win 22 consecutive games during the regular season. However, the Rockets' winning rate during that period was also extremely high, with a 12-game winning streak and a 7-game winning streak.
It's just that Dayao was still injured as before. This injury not only made Dayao miss the playoffs directly, but also affected Dayao's subsequent Olympic competition status.
In the Capital Olympic Games in August, Dayao himself played injured and was not in a position to win outright.
Originally, Wang Chong hoped that Dayao would not be injured due to the butterfly effect in this time and space, but now it seems that Dayao's injury is an inevitable result. In the high-intensity competitive state of the NBA, Dayao's injury itself is simply. it is a matter of time, unless specifically targeted, sexual prevention is certainly inevitable.
The first round is over and the second round matchups between the East and West are officially announced.
Chicago Bulls vs. Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons.
The two sets of duels in the Eastern Conference will likely lead to a repeat of last season's Eastern Conference Finals matchup, Bulls vs. Cavaliers.
The two Western Conference matchups are Lakers vs Jazz and Hornets vs Spurs.
Prior to the start of the second round of competition, the results of the first wave of awards of the season were announced.
Awards were called for three groups of best teams and two groups of best defensive teams, in which up to 25 players will participate.
The specific list is as follows.
Best first team: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Wang Chong, LeBron James, Dwight Howard.
Best Second Team: Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan
Best third team: Tracy McGrady, Manu Ginóbili, Pau Gasol, Amare Stoudemire, Dayao.
First team All-Defensive: Bruce Bowen, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Marcus.
Second team defense: Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, Shane Battier, Wang Chong, Dwight Howard.
End of this chapter
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