"As you can see, the Spurs' lineup simply doesn't want us to enter the playoffs!" D'Antoni took a deep breath and then said: "Think about what we have experienced in the first half of the season? Losing streak. , injuries... Everyone thought the Lakers were finished, and everyone knew it was impossible for the Lakers to enter the playoffs! But now, we have one foot on the threshold of the playoffs!"
"But they want to close the door to the playoffs! They don't want us to go in!" D'Antoni pointed at the Spurs opposite, and then roared loudly: "Are you willing? Can you be willing? Are you going to do this? Is it humiliating to be locked out of the playoffs? Do you want to watch all your previous efforts go to waste at this moment?"
"No! We can't let others slaughter us!" D'Antoni answered himself, his voice suddenly became excited, and even his expression became ferocious.
"The more they don't want us to enter the playoffs, the more we have to enter the playoffs! In the past, I only went from 16 wins to 32 losses, and we were sentenced to death by everyone! But now, we have survived Now, we want to tell the whole world that we will create a miracle! An unprecedented miracle!"
At this moment, the Lakers' emotions were completely aroused.
Not only D'Antoni, but every player on the team, especially those who have experienced the first half of the season, are excited. They recall that they suffered a series of tragic defeats in the first half of the season, and now they are about to be rewarded. , but encountered a stumbling block like the Spurs.
"Kill San Antonio!"
"We must win!" The Lakers' morale suddenly increased.
…
The game between Memphis, the Mavericks and the Grizzlies entered the first official timeout.
"Guys, I have good news to tell you. In San Antonio, the Spurs have sent all their main players! They are going to fight the Lakers!" Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said.
After hearing the news, the Grizzlies bench, whether it was resting players or substitutes who had no chance to play, all their eyes lit up. The Grizzlies were most worried about the Spurs letting the Lakers go. After all, the Spurs The team is currently sitting firmly in the first position in the Western Conference. They are fighting against the Lakers but cannot improve their ranking. Moreover, the Spurs' main force entered a state of rest half a month ago.
But now, the Spurs have actually fielded their main lineup, which shows that they are not prepared to let the Lakers go.
"The Spurs play all the main lineup, and the Lakers will lose!" Coach Joger continued: "Our opportunity has come! If we win this game, we will have a chance to enter the playoffs!"
Coach Joger doesn’t need to say much, the Grizzlies players already know what to do.
For the Grizzlies, their only chance to enter the playoffs is if the Lakers lose to the Spurs and they defeat the Mavericks in front of them!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the bench, the Mavericks had gotten the same news.
"The Spurs fielded their strongest lineup, which shows that they do not intend to let the Lakers go in the last game of the regular season. Once the Lakers lose at the same time as us, the Grizzlies opposite us will become seventh in the Western Conference. And we will fall to eighth in the Western Conference." Coach Carlisle continued: "Popovich must also know this, they think it will be easier to play us in the playoffs than to play the Lakers."
Coach Carlisle said while looking at his players. The faces of Nowitzki, Monta Ellis, Marion, Calderon, Carter and others became solemn. Obviously they don't want to encounter the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. To be precise, no team in the league wants to meet the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
"You guys don't want to meet our old enemies in the first round of the playoffs!" Coach Carlisle said.
As teams in the same state of Texas and both strong teams at the playoff level, the Spurs and the Mavericks are really old enemies. Since Duncan and Nowitzki both entered the NBA, the two have fought for almost the entire rest of their careers. Needless to say about the regular season, just the history of the playoffs is enough to make an NBA blockbuster.
In the 2001 playoffs, the first round of the playoffs was still a best-of-five game. In the second round, it was a best-of-seven game. At that time, David Robinson led the young Duncan to defeat 4-1. Nowitzki, Nash and Finley formed the Mavericks troika. It was the first meeting between Duncan and Nowitzki in the playoffs.
In the 2003 playoffs, when the Mavericks troika was at its peak, they met the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. At that time, Parker was a sophomore and Ginobili was a rookie. However, this was not the case yet. The formed "GDP" combination defeated the Mavericks 4-2.
In 2006, the Mavericks troika had already disintegrated, but the Spurs' GDP combination gradually entered a golden era, and the Spurs were the defending champions. However, in the second round of the playoffs this year, the Mavericks fought hard for seven games and finally eliminated the Spurs at the Spurs' home court. In this series of playoffs, Duncan averaged 32 points and 11 rebounds per game, while Nowitzki averaged 32 points and 11 rebounds per game. With an average of 27 points and 13 rebounds, this is considered a peak showdown between Nowitzki and Duncan.
In 2009, the Mavericks and the Spurs met in the first round of the playoffs. This was perhaps the least suspenseful matchup between the "Cows and Horses". Injuries affected the Spurs, and the Mavericks defeated the Spurs 4-1.
In 2010, the two teams met again in the first round of the playoffs. In this round, the Spurs successfully revenged themselves 4-2.
If Zhang Guan had not appeared, this year's Mavericks would have finished eighth in the Western Conference, met the Spurs again, and would have become the only team in this year's playoffs that could compete with the Spurs until the seventh game.
After more than ten years of playing against each other, Nowitzki knows very well how difficult the Spurs are to deal with, and how difficult Duncan is to deal with.
"I don't want to face the Spurs in the first round! Our destiny must be in our own hands!" Nowitzki clenched his fists.
In this game, if the Mavericks can beat the Grizzlies, then no matter what the result is between the Lakers and the Spurs, the Mavericks can avoid the Spurs.
…
San Antonio.
Gasol had a ferocious look on his face. Facing Duncan who was defending with his arms raised, he jumped up and hit the basket from the front.
Duncan looked depressed. In his impression, Gasol was rarely so offensive.
"What's wrong with Paul today? He plays so tough. When he played with me in the past, he usually shot the ball. Why did he change to playing hard from the front today? This is a bit inconsistent with his usual style. Is it because of his younger brother? Possessed!" Duncan thought to himself.
The basketball hit the basket, circled around, and then bounced out.
"Get a rebound!" Duncan yelled, and Split leaned back violently, trying to get in position and block Kaman behind him.
However, a powerful force came from behind Split. Split failed to stand firm and instead lost his position. He took a big step forward and also lost his good position.
Kaman leapt high, grabbed the rebound from Split's hands, and fired a hook shot.
"Kaman! This old guy can still jump so high!" Split was slightly shocked.
In fact, Kaman was born in 1982, two years younger than Yao, and is only 32 years old this year, while Split is already 29. They are both athletes born in the 1980s and before 1985, so they are of the same generation. It's just that Kaman has gained some weight in the past two years. He looks fatter and has a big beard. In addition, he has some baldness on his head. On the surface, he looks like a man in his forties. He is said to be in his fifties. Some people may believe it.
Kaman scored this goal, and there was a burst of high cheers from the Lakers bench. Although Sacre had been laid off, Bai Bian inherited Sacre's job very well. He waved The towel looks more passionate than Thackeray. Bai Bian already has ADHD and is also a narcissist. This kind of person's camera-stealing skills are absolutely top-notch, and his various towel-waving skills are even better than Thackeray's.
Coach Popovich frowned.
There was no problem with the Spurs' tactical execution, and the players played very seriously, but Popovich felt that it would be difficult to win this game. The opposite Lakers team fought very hard. Veterans in their thirties like Gasol and Kaman played like young men in their twenties, and those young men in their twenties were all beaten. Beverley possessed him and stalked his opponent like a mad dog.
"I expected the Lakers to fight hard, but I didn't expect them to fight so hard!" Popovich suddenly felt a trace of regret in his heart, but now the Spurs are already riding a tiger.
If the Spurs just send a bunch of substitutes on the field, it doesn't matter if they lose. But the Spurs fielded their main lineup in this game. If they still lose, it means that they will also lose to the Lakers in the playoffs. This is not good for the team's confidence. Not a small blow.
Popovich finally realized that he was using a double-edged sword that could hurt the enemy, but was more likely to hurt himself.
…
"Zhang Guan, three-pointer, scored!"
"Zhang Guan, broke through with the ball, made a jump shot, and scored!"
"Zhang Guan, steal Parker, fast break, the ball goes in! Although Parker caught up, he didn't dare to foul!"
Parker had his hands on his waist and looked a little depressed. This was his fourth mistake today.
"It's better for me to guard him!" Leonard handed the ball to Parker and then found Zhang Guan.
Leonard is an athlete who started on defense. This season, Leonard has grown into a top defender. Some people have even compared him to Tony Allen. But in fact, Leonard's one-on-one defensive level is still higher than Tony Allen. Compared with Tony Allen, Leonard is taller and has longer arms, which also has advantages in defense.
When Zhang Guan held the ball, Leonard did not hesitate to use his special "death coil".
"Zhang Guan, it's broken!" Amid the exclamations of the audience, Leonard dribbled toward the Lakers' half and then went straight for a layup!
"Whoosh!" A figure suddenly flew over from behind and grabbed the basketball in the air.
"What?" Leonard raised his head in surprise, only to see Zhang Guan had fallen to the ground.
"You can jump so high! I still underestimated Zhang Guan!" Leonard calmed down. He knew that if it were another person, his goal would definitely have been scored, but Zhang Guan's physical fitness was too Excellent, so he got the ball back again.
At the same time, Zhang Guan was also reflecting.
"Leonard is worthy of being the steal king. He actually stole it when I wasn't paying attention. I should have been more cautious!"
Zhang Guan thought of this, but the movements of his feet were a little faster. The next second, his figure flashed, and he rushed over close to Leonard.
…
"Leonard can't keep up with Zhang Guan's rhythm. If even Leonard can't restrict Zhang Guan, then the only defensive strategy is to rely on double-teaming." Popovich's eyes narrowed slightly.
Leonard was originally the weapon Popovich prepared for James, but now it seems that if you want to meet James, you must first pass Zhang Guan.
"Are we going to expose our defensive tactics now? It was prepared for LeBron James. If we use it now, it may not work when we play the Heat. But if we don't use it now, season will We will play the Lakers in the playoffs, and when facing Zhang Guan, we will still have to use the same defensive tactics." Popovich fell into a conflict, he hesitated, and called the assistant coach.
"Go find out the score between the Mavericks and Grizzlies." Popovich said.
Soon after, the main coach sent back the news that the score between the Mavericks and the Grizzlies was 73, and the two sides were evenly matched.
"The Grizzlies are very likely to lose. If the Grizzlies lose, even if we defeat the Lakers, the Lakers can still enter the playoffs and still encounter us in the first round of the playoffs. Do we need to expose our tactics in advance?" Popovich struggled in his mind, weighed the pros and cons, and finally decided to replace the main players.
…
"The Spurs made early substitutions! Duncan came off, Parker came off, Leonard came off, Green came off, and Splitter came off too! Five for five, is this Popovich's new tactic?" the commentator asked. said.
"No, this is not a new tactic, the Spurs have given up!" Another commentator continued: "The Spurs are currently 8 points behind. This is the third quarter. It is not time to give up the game yet. Will we give up now? Is it too early?"
"Popovich probably doesn't want to expose his tactics too much. After all, this is just the regular season, and for the Spurs, the biggest challenge comes in the playoffs!"
…
"113 to 110, congratulations to the Lakers for their victory. They got their ticket to the playoffs at the last moment of the regular season! Two months ago, who would have thought that it would be the Lakers who would finally enter the playoffs! 16 wins With a record of 32 losses, they are already close to the bottom of the Western Conference and will be destined to be blocked from the playoffs! However, in the following games, they achieved a record of 33 wins and 1 loss!"
"The moment Zhang Guan joined the NBA, when he said he would lead the Lakers into the playoffs, we all thought Zhang Guan was telling a joke, but he really did it! He really created a miracle! I I think this time, Buckley might have to kiss the donkey’s ass again!”
…
In the ESPN studio, Barkley looked embarrassed.
"What are you doing? This can get the Lakers into the playoffs, and I have to kiss the donkey's butt again! From now on, I will never talk about anything related to Chinese players!"
…
The game between Memphis, the Grizzlies and the Mavericks has entered overtime, and the news of the Lakers' 113-100 victory over the Spurs has also reached the ears of coach Joger.
"We lost, we still lost!" Qiaogel looked at the young men who were still working hard on the field and lowered his head in despair. The Lakers defeated the Spurs, and the Grizzlies' hard work has become meaningless.
…
In Los Angeles, in a mansion, Kobe Bryant walked out of the bathroom. He looked at the score displayed on the TV, but his heart was boiling.
"We won, we really entered the playoffs!" Kobe took a deep breath, with a hint of heat in his eyes.
"It's time for me to make a comeback!"
Ask for a guaranteed monthly ticket.
(End of chapter)