At the same time, another matchup in the Western Conference also had a winner.
The Nuggets, fourth in the Western Conference, unfortunately lost 123:125 at home to the fifth-ranked Clippers.
The Nuggets are a civilian team. There is no real superstar in the team. The highest scorer in the regular season is Ty Lawson, who averages 16.7 points per game. In addition, five others also score in double figures, and the other three
The average scoring per game is also around 8 or 9 points.
Historically, the Warriors ranked sixth in the Western Conference this season. In the playoffs, they successfully defeated the Nuggets with the outstanding performance of the Splash Brothers. They succeeded in the Black Six and officially entered everyone's field of vision.
Historically, Curry also gained recognition based on his performance in the playoffs that year. In the second year, he was directly selected as the starting point guard for the All-Stars. From then on, Chris Paul was no longer a starter in the Western Conference All-Stars!
Of course, the Nuggets were missing their second-leading scorer Gallinari in that playoff round, so some people said the Warriors took advantage that year.
But you must know that the Warriors were also missing their second-leading scorer, David Lee, and David Lee was much more famous than Gallinari at the time. At least David Lee entered the Western All-Star Game that year.
Substitute list.
Of course, for the Warriors, the absence of David Lee, who was strong in offense and weak in defense, gave Green an opportunity. Green also began to emerge that season.
The final score between the Warriors and the Nuggets in that series was 4:2. Although the Warriors had just emerged, it could be seen that the Nuggets were quite strong.
But the Clippers are still very strong.
This is Paul's second season with the Clippers. They have been in the lob city for two seasons. This season they are ambitious and definitely want to do something.
The Nuggets have a lot of people playing basketball, and the Clippers have a lot of people playing basketball.
Paul, Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Billups, Crawford, Matt Barnes, Caron Butler, Bledsoe, these people are all very capable.
Compared with the Nuggets, the Clippers' advantage is that they have superstars on the team, but their disadvantage is that these players are easily affected by injuries and their forward line is somewhat weak.
The Nuggets have a lot of people playing, and the pace of the game is very fast, but the Clippers also have a lot of people playing, and the pace is not slow either.
More importantly, with Paul on the court, the Clippers can play fast or slow, while the Nuggets become a little annoyed when they fall into a positional battle.
The referee's whistle was very loose in this game, and the two teams started a fierce battle. The winner was not decided until the last minute of the game.
The two teams were tied with 5 seconds left in the game. Paul succeeded in a one-on-one challenge against Ty Lawson, beating the Nuggets and narrowly won the away game.
This is what superstars do!
After losing this game, the Denver Nuggets immediately found Deng Fang.
Nothing else, just to treat Gallinari!
Like Kobe, the Nuggets approached Deng Fang at the end of the regular season and wanted to treat Gallinari, but Deng Fang refused.
When the playoffs first started, the Nuggets management took a chance and did not approach Deng Fang.
The Nuggets are ranked fourth in the Western Conference, and the Clippers are ranked fifth in the Western Conference. The Nuggets have an advantage in the regular season showdown without Gallinari, so the Nuggets want to save this money.
Anyway, it will be difficult to beat the Warriors after passing the Clippers, so why spend a lot of money?
The Nuggets cannot compare to the Lakers. The Nuggets are a small-market team and cannot be so generous.
But the loss in the first game made the Nuggets realize the seriousness of the problem.
Against the Clippers, the Nuggets have no advantage in any position!
The Clippers are both strong in the backcourt and frontcourt, only the forwards are weak.
But Gallinari, the Nuggets' strongest striker, is injured and can't play!
It’s not worth it if you lose to the Clippers just to save money!
Although there is no hope of winning against the Warriors in the second round, the Nuggets also want to try!
There is hope only if you do some things; if you don't do them, there will never be hope!
Even the slightest hope is better than nothing!
Besides, even if there is no hope of winning, playing a series with the Warriors is what every boss wants to do!
Because it makes money!
The Warriors are the hottest team in the entire league, with the largest fan base and the greatest attention!
As long as it's a Warriors game, no matter who the opponent is, there will be a large number of fans willing to pay to watch!
Even if they know that the home team will lose, as long as the opponent is the Warriors, fans will still buy tickets to enter the stadium!
If they advance to the second round, the Nuggets can play at least two games at home, which is a lot of money!
Even if the money spent on treating Gallinari is offset by no profit, the popularity will always be there!
Anyone can settle this account.
Of course, the most important thing is that treating Gallinari shouldn't cost much.
Because Gallinari's salary this season is only $9.44 million.
Deng Fang usually asks no more than the player's annual salary.
I wanted to save this money before, but now it seems I can’t.
Since what needs to be spent must be spent, it is better to spend it earlier.
It was out of these considerations that the Nuggets found Deng Fang immediately.
Deng Fang did not refuse and offered 10 million!
It's too low and not worth taking a shot at!
You are probably my opponent in the next round, why shouldn’t I take more points?
The Nuggets hesitated for a moment and immediately agreed to the offer.
Although it is a bit higher than Gallinari's annual salary, it is still not much compared with Kobe and James.
Deng Fang didn't waste any words, took Gallinari to a small dark room, and quickly healed his injury.
Get 10 million immediately!
…
At the same time, the first game of the Eastern Conference's first round playoffs was also completed.
The Heat easily defeated the Bucks 110:87 at home.
The Bucks' record is 38 wins and 44 losses, with a winning rate of less than 50%. They can reach the playoffs mainly because of their advantage in the Eastern Conference!
The Bucks are led by Jennings and Monta Ellis, who control a large amount of the team's ball in the backcourt.
Jennings and Monta Ellis are both thin and short guards who focus on offense and are poor defensively.
Jennings is better, at least his three-pointers are reliable, while Monta Ellis doesn't even have three-pointers and can only rely on breakthroughs and mid-range scoring.
If these two people are allowed to serve as the starting backcourt, you can imagine how low the team's offensive efficiency is and how bad the defense is.
There was no suspense in this game. The Heat led the whole game and ended up with a big victory.
…
In another game, the Knicks, second in the Eastern Conference, defeated the Boston Celtics 85:78.
In this game, the two teams have been fighting hand-to-hand, completely at the Celtics' pace.
The main reason why the Celtics lost was due to lack of personnel.
Rondo was injured for the season, Ray Allen left, and Garnett was aging seriously. The team only ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference and made the playoffs.
If Rondo is just injured and the team ranks well, Celtics general manager Ainge may have some ideas, but with the Celtics' current state, even if Rondo comes back, it won't be of much use.
Rondo has never been known for his scoring, and the Celtics' defense without Rondo isn't much worse!
Therefore, Anji did not seek treatment from Deng Fang after the playoffs started.
It’s just a round trip anyway, so why spend the extra money!
It’s better to plan for the future and see if there is any easy prey coming to your door...
