This year's playoffs are set.
All regular season games will be played on April 12th. After two days of rest, the playoff schedule will officially begin on April 15th.
The Los Angeles Lakers' opponent in the first round should be the seventh-place Oklahoma City Thunder in the regular season.
In fact, it is very dramatic for the Thunder to become the opponent of the Lakers.
Even this suspense was only officially revealed last night.
The Thunder, Trail Blazers and Grizzlies started a bloody "war" over who should be ranked seventh in the Western Conference. It really made the fans feel like they were watching a big show.
As the third place in last year's regular season, this year's Oklahoma City Thunder are unlucky.
Not only did they lose their biggest superstar, Kevin Durant, but they were firmly pressed into seventh place. In the first round, they had to play the Los Angeles Lakers, who had Shen Huan again.
It's not like the Thunder haven't struggled.
At the end of the season, with about ten games left, they were desperately losing, just hoping that they could fall to eighth place. Their hope of beating the Golden State Warriors was greater than their hope of beating the Los Angeles Lakers.
As it turned out, the Thunder were naive.
Who was the eighth-place Portland Trail Blazers behind them
The opponent of the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round last year was their Trail Blazers!
In April last year, the Portland Trail Blazers could be said to have suffered the most painful defeat in the history of the team.
Not only was they defeated 4-0 by the Lakers, but more importantly, their players suffered the most painful loss.
Shen Huan's first miracle was created by Trail Blazers player Ed Davis.
When the conflict broke out, Shen Huan strangled Ed Davis' neck with one hand and lifted him 20 centimeters off the ground.
Such a miracle is simply astonishing.
You know, Ed Davis is 2.06 meters tall and weighs more than 200 pounds!
What kind of strength is needed to lift him off the ground with one hand? !
This video was also one of the most popular videos on YouTube last year, with more than 2 billion views.
It also had a consequence.
When the Portland Trail Blazers clashed with other teams this year, no matter whether there was something about Ed Davis or not, someone from the other team would definitely come forward, grab Ed Davis by the neck, and try to kill him. He picked it up.
This hurt Ed Davis.
He tried his best to resist every time, but he was never able to stop NBA players who wanted to imitate Shen Huan.
Ed Davis, whose mind has been traumatized by endless harassment, has ended his season early and received psychiatric treatment.
According to the doctor, he may not be able to return to the game.
Ed Davis is not actually the main player of the Trail Blazers, but the main force of the Trail Blazers suffered even more heavy losses in the hands of Shen Huan.
The main power forward El Aminu was the first to collide with Shen Huan and was knocked away. Two ribs were broken and he lay in the hospital for three months before returning.
Starting center Plumlee tried to push Shen Huan in the air, but was "unintentionally" kicked in the chin by Shen Huan, causing his jaw bone to be directly broken. He missed half a season before returning, and now he still wears a pair of special gloves when he plays. Customized "iron chin".
Even so, Plumli and El Aminu are half useless.
If it weren't for the explosion of their stars Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum this year, they wouldn't be ranked eighth.
Tell me, how could the Trail Blazers, who had been beaten to pieces by Shen Huan, still be willing to face Shen Huan in the first round
Are they not afraid that Shen Huan will also cripple the leading player
Therefore, the Trail Blazers once lost worse than the Thunder. By the last three games, they were only one game away from the ninth-place Memphis Grizzlies.
At this time, the Thunder and Trail Blazers were also tied by one win or loss, two more wins than the Grizzlies.
If the Thunder dare to compete with the Trail Blazers in the end, then maybe the Trail Blazers will fall directly to ninth place, pushing the Memphis Grizzlies up.
If the Thunder aren't careful, they could even take the Trail Blazers' spot as ninth, leaving the Memphis Grizzlies in seventh and the Portland Trail Blazers in eighth.
In any case, it is impossible for the Thunder to accept that they have dropped from seventh to ninth and cannot even participate in the playoffs.
No matter how powerful Shen Huan is, he is the only one who gets swept away. Can't I bear it
Therefore, in the final third game, the Thunder defeated their opponents and continued to maintain control of the victory field.
Seeing that there were only two games left, the Portland Trail Blazers, who had a huge sense of fear in their hearts, directly lost the third and second games from the bottom - that is, they lost again last night.
This leaves the Thunder in seventh place, one win-loss game ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies, while the Portland Trail Blazers, in turn, are two games behind the Memphis Grizzlies.
Now the Trail Blazers are completely out of luck.
From being in eighth place with the potential to enter the playoffs, we have become a team that doesn't even qualify for the playoffs.
This means that after one more round of games, they can enjoy a four- to five-month break.
In this regard, the Portland Trail Blazers not only did not feel ashamed, but felt relieved.
It is definitely a great blessing to no longer have to worry about facing the big devil Shen Huan!
If you ask a few of their main players, except for Damian Lillard and CJ McCrum, no one dares to play against Shen Huan.
Even these two leading players were feeling guilty, fearing that Shen Huan would get inspired and slap his own head off - everyone had seen Shen Huan's power to smash the basket.
Originally, the Trail Blazers had a grudge against Shen Huan, which caused Shen Huan to be suspended. How dare you guarantee that Shen Huan will not do anything wrong
With Shen Huan's current status, even if he had done something wrong, would the alliance dare to pursue him
The league wants to pursue it, will the fans agree
Aren't you the only one suffering in silence, like Ed Davis, Al Aminu and Plumlee
Anyway, Shen Huan only plays in the playoffs of this season and will not play NBA games for a long time. Why should I fight with Shen Huan
The future is long, why lose the opportunity to make big money in the NBA just for the sake of a playoff
After figuring this out, the two bosses of the Trail Blazers figured it out like the other players and didn't care whether the team ranked ninth in disgrace.
But in this case, the Thunder were completely fooled.
There is one game left, and they have one more win-loss field than the Memphis Grizzlies. Even if they lose, it depends on whether the Memphis Grizzlies are willing to rise to seventh place.
If the Memphis Grizzlies are unwilling to play the Lakers, then it would be too easy for them to lose, just go on the bench.
In the NBA, there is no such thing as fair competition. Everything is for the championship. Strategically giving up some games is what every team will do.
If we had to compete for victory in every game, the Bulls had two Jordans back then, and they couldn't guarantee two three consecutive championships.
Are the Memphis Grizzlies stupid
Of course not stupid!
They lost the last game and still beat the Trail Blazers by one game. They were firmly in eighth place and still entered the playoffs.
Why are you so stupid, insisting on getting seventh place, and then being tortured by Shen Huan and nailed to the pillar of shame
It's the same loss. Losing to the Golden State Warriors is always more honorable, and there won't be all kinds of surprises. What's wrong with that
Their general manager said, "Although playing against Shen Huan is a rare experience, I think my players are not ready yet."
Damn it!
The Thunder almost cried when they looked at their shameless looks.
We can obviously go further, but it's you bastards who have caused us to be completely ruined now!