The regular season is over and the playoffs will begin immediately.
This year's playoffs are highly suspenseful and can be said to be highly anticipated.
The first is the undefeated Warriors. Almost everyone wants to see if the Warriors can enter the playoffs so easily, and whether anyone will become a roadblock for the Warriors.
Although the Warriors have a smooth sailing in the regular season and the competition seems to be very intense, it is the regular season after all, and they are all encounters. In the playoffs, the intensity of the competition is still different and more targeted. In this case, the Warriors are likely to
Encounter greater challenges.
Next is the Spurs, who are considered most likely to stop the Warriors!
The Spurs' record this year is quite strong, especially their home record is incredible. If it weren't for the Warriors, the Spurs would definitely be number one in the league, and there would definitely be more attention.
Of course, the Thunder should not be underestimated either. This year they have no injuries and all players will play. No matter which team encounters them, they will have a headache.
In addition, the east side has quite a lot to see.
The Cavaliers ranked first in the Eastern Conference. They changed coaches midway, David Blatt was kicked out, and Tyronn Lue took over midway. Fortunately, in the end they ranked first in the Eastern Conference with one win difference. The same teams in the Eastern Conference
The biggest stumbling block.
Although they didn't win a game against the Warriors in the regular season, in the playoffs, a team with James always gives people a little hope.
After all, the Cavaliers have met all the emperor's requirements, including player contract renewals and head coach changes. Under such circumstances, they should do something.
…
After the regular season is over, the rankings are determined.
In the Western Conference, the Warriors are undoubtedly ranked first and have the best record in the league.
Ranked second is the Spurs, who are also second in the league.
The third place is the eyeing Thunder, with a record of 55 wins and 27 losses, ranking fifth in the league.
The fourth place is the Clippers led by Paul and Griffin, the fifth place is the Trail Blazers with two guns in the backcourt, the sixth place is the Mavericks, the seventh place is the Grizzlies, and the eighth place is the Rockets.
The Jazz are ranked ninth in the Western Conference, only one game behind the Rockets, which is a bit regretful.
In the East, the Cavaliers rank first, followed by the Raptors led by the Garbage Brothers, followed by the Heat, Hawks, Celtics, Hornets, Pacers, and Pistons.
…
After two days of rest, the playoffs officially started.
Because the team was in good shape, Deng Fang didn't practice much before the start of this year's playoffs. He mostly let the assistant coach take charge. Most of the time, he still acted as a hands-off manager.
On April 16, the 15-16 season playoffs began, and the Warriors faced the challenge of the Houston Rockets at home.
The Rockets did not perform well this season. They started with 4 wins and 7 losses. Due to pressure, they immediately fired head coach McHale.
In fact, the main reason why McHale was fired was because of Harden.
In the crucial Game 6 of the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals, coach McHale put Harden on the bench due to his poor condition at the time, which made Harden extremely dissatisfied.
Josh Smith replaced Harden in that game. Smith scored 14 points in that game. With his outstanding performance, he helped the Rockets win and eventually eliminated the Clippers. This also proved that McHale's coaching
ability.
Because of their good performance in the playoffs, the Rockets could not fire McHale immediately. When the Rockets started the new season with a poor record, McHale had no choice but to fire him.
As soon as McHale got out of class, Harden, who had been very restrained in his shots before, immediately exploded. He scored 45 points in a single game and led the team to defeat the powerful enemy Trail Blazers. This can also be seen that the problem between Harden and McHale is not small.
Former Rockets player Josh Smith gave his own evaluation of the matter on the show afterwards. The Eagle King believed that Harden fired McHale. The reason was that in the 2015 Western Conference semifinals against the Clippers in G6, McHale dismissed Harden.
Pressed on the bench, he finally completed a great comeback.
Josh Smith said: "James Harden really didn't play his best game that game, so it was our turn to help him. McHale made the rotation adjustment, he put Harden on the bench, and it was me and Brewer.
, Ariza, Jason Terry and Dwight Howard staged a comeback together. This may be the reason why he was fired, I really believe it."
The relationship between McHale and Harden was not good after leaving the team. McHale later publicly stated on a show that Harden has never been a leader, and Harden later hit back in an interview, saying that McHale
Haier is a clown.
Of course, in addition to the problems between the head coach and the stars, the Rockets also have problems between the stars.
Harden and Howard have always been considered the dual core of the Rockets, but they have very different personalities. They both want to be the boss and have the initiative. In the end, the team was unable to form cohesion and had to break up.
This year is the last year for the two of them to work together, which shows how bad their relationship is.
Objectively speaking, Harden is indeed better than Howard in terms of strength, especially in this era.
Harden's problem is that he lacks aggressiveness and likes to use too many tricks when playing. To put it bluntly, he is sneaky and slippery, and he is also used to being lazy on the defensive end, which leads to him stretching his hips in key battles in the playoffs.
Howard simply wants to play in the low post because of his lack of ability. He has no singles ability and still wants the ball. Of course, he is not as good as before on the defensive end.
Because Harden and Howard are here, the Rockets still have some ideas, so they made a lot of moves this season, the most important one being the introduction of Ty Lawson.
However, it later proved that the introduction of Ty Lawson was not good. Harden was not suitable to cooperate with a ball-carrying defender. Ty Lawson was also placed on the bench and was traded away in the second half of the season.
Facing such a team, the Warriors will certainly not feel any pressure.
On April 16, the first playoff game between the Warriors and Rockets officially started at Oracle Arena.
The Rockets' starting five are Trevor Ariza, Dwight Howard, Patrick Beverley, James Harden, and Corey Brewer.
The Warriors' starting five are Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson.
The Rockets' change of formation did not work. In the first 2 minutes and 48 seconds, Curry and Green each scored three points to stop the Rockets. Beverley and Curry clashed, and both sides scored T. Green completed a 2+1 attack under the basket, and then
Curry hit another three-pointer, and the Warriors took an 18-6 lead and stopped the Rockets again. After Curry made his third three-pointer, Terry fouled Terry with a shot from the outside, and made all three free throws. The Warriors' lead came to
18 points!
After the first quarter, the Warriors led the Rockets 33-15. Curry scored 16 points and 6 rebounds in the first quarter.
Three minutes into the second quarter, the Rockets trailed by 15 points. Curry immediately hit a three-pointer after returning to the court, and the Warriors opened up the point difference 47-27. Curry felt hot and scored 5 points in a row, while Harden scored consecutive points.
Turnover + foul, the Warriors lead by 26 points.
Curry sprained his right ankle before the end of the second quarter, and he returned to the locker room early for treatment.
At the end of the first half, the Warriors led the Rockets 60-33. Curry scored 24 points in the first half with 5 three-pointers.
Ariza took the lead in completing the 2+1 attack at the beginning of the third quarter. The second half lasted only 2 minutes and 48 seconds. Curry was replaced by Livingston and quickly returned to the locker room. Harden entered attack mode and he scored 3 consecutive three-pointers.
points, leading the Rockets to launch a 16-6 attack wave to narrow the point difference to 16 points. After Ariza made a three-pointer, the Warriors also used a 9-0 attack wave to re-establish a 20+ advantage.
After three quarters, the Rockets trailed the Warriors 60-82. Harden scored 13 points in a single quarter.
In the last 2 minutes of the quarter, the Rockets launched a 6-2 offensive wave and fell behind by 18 points. Speights scored 6 points in a row, then Iguodala sent a second pass under double-teaming, and Barnes dunked with both hands, making the Rockets 68-94.
Falling behind. 5 minutes and 43 seconds before the end of the game, Green and Motel clashed. After reviewing the video, the referee added a T to Green. The Rockets fell behind by 29 points. Both teams replaced their main players and the game entered garbage time.
In the end, the Warriors defeated the Rockets 104-78 and won their first victory in the series.
For the Rockets, Harden made 7 of 19 shots and scored a team-high 17 points. Howard made 4 of 11 free throws and had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
For the Warriors, Curry played 20 minutes and scored a team-high 24 points, 3 steals and 7 rebounds on 5 of 7 three-pointers. Thompson had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Green contributed 12 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.
With 4 assists and 4 blocks, Speights scored 12 points and 4 rebounds.
