At the beginning of the season, the difference between victory and defeat is nothing at all.
As long as the Warriors lose a game, the Lakers will overtake them in minutes.
Moreover, the Lakers will play against the Warriors in a few days. As long as they win that game, the Lakers will be first in the Western Conference.
Moreover, both teams are from the Pacific Division and will face each other four times each season.
As long as the Lakers win three of these four games, if nothing else happens, the boss position will still belong to the Lakers.
Except for the Lakers, the top eight teams in the Western Conference all have good records.
The Mavericks, later renamed the Mavericks, played twelve games and lost two, ranking third in the Western Conference.
The Suns are also very good, losing only two games and ranking fourth in the Western Conference.
Moreover, the game between them and the Warriors was a fierce battle until the last minute, and they regrettably lost because of Curry's incredible kill.
The top three in the Northwest Division also performed well. The Nuggets, Jazz, and Trail Blazers had the same record. They all lost three games and ranked fifth, sixth, and seventh in the Western Conference respectively.
Even the Spurs and Thunder, ranked eighth or ninth, only lost four games!
And they both played 2 more games.
In a word, these strong teams in the Western Conference are too terrifying!
They have to play against each other, and the internal consumption is very high. The fact that they can maintain this winning rate is enough to show how strong the Western Conference is this year.
The Warriors' ability to rank first in the Western Conference is largely due to luck.
They both won decisively against the Suns and Celtics. As long as they lose one of these two games, the Warriors will no longer be number one in the Western Conference.
In addition to the strong teams in the West, the Cavaliers, Magic, Hawks, and Celtics in the East also performed well.
Especially the Cavaliers and Magic. Both teams have only lost two games and are ranked first and second in the Eastern Conference respectively.
Led by James, the new MVP last season, the Cavaliers are in high morale.
Although James was ejected for hitting someone in the previous game against the Warriors and the team suffered a disastrous defeat, James showed off his power and scored 35+ points in three consecutive games. The Cavaliers also won three games in a row, which reversed the team's low morale.
Under the leadership of Howard, the Magic suddenly emerged last season. They defeated the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals and went on to the Finals, where they ultimately lost to the Lakers.
This season the Magic's performance is also very impressive, and their morale is also very high.
The Celtics are back in contention after Garnett returns.
Even for the Hawks, although no player is a superstar, due to the efforts of a group of capable players, the record is quite good, ranking ahead of the Celtics.
Of course, apart from these four teams, the other teams in the Eastern Conference are not good, and their records are all terrible.
Overall, the Warriors' record is very impressive, but other strong teams are also outstanding.
This is a season of great competition.
Everyone has some ideas.
Although many people were surprised by the sudden rise of the Warriors, they didn't take it too seriously.
It’s nothing more than winning one or two more games!
Let’s talk about facing a strong team later!
Don't look at you having fun now, I'll let you make a list later!
Besides, what’s the use of having a good record now?
The Warriors are a group of new recruits who have no experience at all. Once the intensity of competition increases in the playoffs, they will be finished immediately!
…
Soon, two days passed.
At 8:30 pm on November 20, the game between the Trail Blazers and Warriors started at Oracle Arena.
Curry and Azubuike are out due to injuries.
After these two days of rest, both Curry and Azubuike are 60% better.
Although too strenuous exercise is not possible, both of them can walk without crutches.
This seems like a miracle to many people!
Especially Azubuike, he was seriously injured!
That was a season-ending injury.
I was able to walk in two or three days!
magic!
Of course, outsiders didn’t know the inside story. Many people thought that Azubuike’s injury was not serious in the first place and that the warrior was lying about the military situation!
Deng Fang didn't want to care about what outsiders speculated.
Anyway, he made excuses, and there are people who will take the blame.
Without Curry and Azubuike, Deng Fang sent Livingston and Belinelli.
Livingston's defense is better than Curry's, but he doesn't have three-pointers, which is a fatal flaw.
If the point guard doesn't have a three-pointer and the ball is in your hands, your opponent can retreat boldly and confidently.
Five against four, how do you want to pass the ball?
Fortunately, Livingston can use his height advantage to back-up the opponent's smaller defender.
Belinelli's three-pointers are very accurate, but his problem is defense and holding the ball.
Without the ability to hold the ball, Belinelli can only take advantage of the open position.
If he doesn't defend well, his opponents will often take advantage of him and beat him to death.
Once a fuss is made about his defense, it will be difficult for Belinelli to perform well on the offensive end.
All the energy is consumed on the defensive end!
The Trail Blazers' starting five are Brandon Roy, Oden, Andre Miller, Aldridge and Blake.
The main scorers on the bench are Fernandez and Bayless.
Brandon Roy, nicknamed the Yellow Mamba, only played six seasons in the NBA.
However, since he can get the title of Yellow Mamba, Brandon Roy must be very strong.
Brandon Roy is an older rookie with a very mature style of play.
Not only can he skillfully use his left and right hands to hit shots, but his reading of the game's defense is also at a master level.
Especially in the 2008-09 season, after Roy developed a stable mid-range shot, you will find that he is the best scoring shooting guard in the Western Conference besides Kobe Bryant.
His singles and breakthroughs after holding the ball, as well as his layup after easily mismatching singles with speed in the low post, even Kobe had to lament: He is the most difficult player to guard in the West, even harder to guard than Durant.
But Deng Fang knows that last season was Roy's peak.
The 2009-10 season was an important turning point in Roy's career. He had just signed a five-year, 82 million contract with the Trail Blazers in the off-season, and was selected to the All-Star for the third time in the middle of the season.
Roy should have taken a step further, but unfortunately God seemed to play a joke on him. He tore his meniscus near the end of the regular season and had to undergo surgery.
From then on, Roy suffered from constant injuries and eventually sadly left the league.
Of course, Roy is still fine at this time and is still a big trouble for every team.
Oden is a tragic figure and a genius ruined by injuries.
You know, the person who can put Durant in second place in the draft must be extremely talented.
Although in hindsight, choosing Oden was a wrong decision, the Blazers general manager has said many times that if they had it to do over again, they would still choose Oden.
This shows how powerful Oden is.
This season is Oden's second year. Last year he only played 61 games due to injuries.
After resting for more than half a year, Oden finally made his comeback.
The season has just started and Oden is in good shape.
For Lopez, Oden is a big problem.
In addition, Aldridge is also difficult to deal with.
Aldridge is characterized by his accurate shooting, especially the mid-range shot, which he is very sure of.
Most power forwards would have a headache against Aldridge, let alone Prince at the third position.
