The Clippers ranked fifth in the Western Conference with a record of 54 wins and 28 losses.

Kobe and Gasol's tacit understanding is surprisingly good.

Unlike the Cavaliers, head coach Dunleavy soon mentioned Matt Barnes to the starter after finding out that Harrington was not suitable for starting.

Facts also prove that the Clippers management's judgment is correct. With Kobe's side, Barnes is particularly focused on playing.

His three-pointers, defense, and even his passion for the game are actively affecting the Clippers.

And they were in excellent form, ending with an eight-game winning streak at the end of the season.

The Mavericks ranked sixth in the Western Conference with a record of 54 wins and 28 losses.

The turmoil at the beginning of the season made the Mavericks' record plummet, but the team quickly got into the state after that four-party deal.

It was just because Josh Howard suffered an injury at the end of the season and the team's record had some ups and downs, which made them have some disadvantages in rankings.

The Jazz ranked seventh in the Western Conference with 44 wins and 40 losses.

This Jazz team has Oku, Kirirenko, and Boozer, but there is no Deron.

Some people will definitely ask, who is the main controller of the Jazz now?

Felton!

In the first draft, the three point guards, Paul, Deron and Felton.

Although two years have passed, Felton's talent seems to be a little worse than the other two, he still has strength.

He averaged 14.4 points and 7.4 assists per game, and his pick-and-roll with Boozer also had the same meaning as the Utah double evil spirits at the time.

The Hornets ranked eighth in the Western Conference with 39 wins and 42 losses.

You read that right, there was a very obvious gap in the Western Conference record after sixth place.

Even the eighth Hornets won less than 40 games.

Some people may ask, has this happened in the NBA before?

Yes, and more than once.

In the 2003-04 seasons, the Celtics had 36 wins to the playoffs.

Earlier, the Celtics were still in the 1994-95 season, with a record of 35 wins entering the playoffs.

Both of these are non-shrinkable seasons, and one thing in common is that the strong team is too strong.

This is easy to understand, because from a mathematical perspective, the total winning and losing field of an alliance is fixed.

If the strong team has good record, the weak team will naturally have poor record.

If the strong team has an amazing record, the weak team will naturally have worse results, and even more teams will have poorer results.

What's more, the quality of the draft next year is high, and many teams start to play badly early, which has led to this grand occasion in the league.

Some people may ask, with such a good opportunity, why don’t some teams take the opportunity to make the playoffs?

Of course, the Jazz and Hornets took the opportunity to enter the playoffs.

As for whether there are any other ones that are bad, they are really the best this season like the Trail Blazers, Warriors, Grizzlies...

And from the records of the East and West, you will find that the overall strength of the East has surpassed that of the West this season.

The situation of strong West and weak East is completely broken this season.

Let’s look at the matchup in the West:

Lakers vs Hornets

This Hornets are very different from the Hornets in history.

The biggest highlight of this round of series is the match between Delong and Sun Hao.

Deron averaged 18.9 points and 9.3 assists per game in his second season of his career.

Although the team's overall strength is not as good as the Bulls, his performance and Delong can also be collectively called "05 point guard double walls".

With a huge gap in strength, the Hornets' goal is definitely to win.

For the Lakers, what they need to do is to move their game form in the first round.

Although the problem will not be too big in the first round, in the second round, whether it is playing against the Spurs or the Clippers, the intensity of the game will be greatly improved.

If they cannot adjust their condition properly, they will likely encounter a blow in the second round.

Nuggets vs Jazz

The Nuggets are the strongest in recent years, but the Jazz are not as weak as they imagined.

Especially Kirilenko's defensive ability is at the same level as Artest, and may even be better.

James will face the biggest defensive challenge of his career.

Sun vs Mavericks

Although the Suns failed to strengthen through the trade, Nash, Marion, Stoudemire, and Dior are competitive together.

The Mavericks also got the best lineup for them through Kobe's trade.

The only worry is that Howard's absence will put the Mavericks at a certain disadvantage in the fight.

Spurs vs. Clippers

This will be the most suspenseful group of matches in the West.

Even if you ask Sun Hao to say that he doesn't know which team will become their second round opponent.

Because both sides have their own advantages and disadvantages.

On the Spurs, they are the champion team this season in history. Finley was replaced by Jackson, and their strength has not changed much.

On the Clippers, Kobe is known as the Spurs killer, especially after changing his jersey number, his playing style has changed a lot.

There is no victory or defeat in this kind of matchup without 6 or 7 games.

...

It is worth mentioning that there is a very dangerous signal in the playoffs this year.

Before the game started, there were already key players in the east and west missing the game due to injuries.

As mentioned earlier, Josh Howard of the Mavericks, and Nelson on the Wizards has long since been out of the battle-free card.

Before the playoffs began, we could already feel the tragic atmosphere.

Like in previous years, before the playoffs started, the league announced its first batch of season awards: the fastest progress award, the best sixth man and the best head coach.

The fastest progress award this year was won by Kings' Kevin Martin.

He averaged 20+ points per game with the Kings this season and has become the new team leader.

Domestic fans, including Sun Hao, have impressions of him.

This person is probably the protagonist of the video studied by Harden late at night.

It is worth mentioning that Lakers' Lou Wei also received nearly 10% of the votes.

Lou Wei averaged 10.8 points per game in the Lakers this season, with a huge improvement and a potential to become the sixth man.

The best sixth man was won by Barbosa of the Suns.

He lost to Miller last year, but this year he averaged 18.1 points per game.

It is also worth mentioning that JR Smith received more than 20% of the votes in the sixth person selection and defeated Barbosa.

After Smith entered the bench, he averaged 15.2 points per game, and his performance was also very impressive.

Finally, the best head coach.

You may not believe it if you say it, because the best head coach this year is Phil Jackson!

After leading the team to win 70 wins, Zen Master finally won the second best head coach of his career!!
Chapter completed!