Chapter 189 The End of the Regular Season

In the last week of the NBA regular season, flowers bloomed in both the East and West.

The strong teams at the top don't have anything to worry about, but they are hovering outside the top eight. The teams that can advance to the playoffs are still fighting for the final tickets.

As for the Jazz, after beating the Timberwolves, there are still four games left, and surprisingly... the top teams in the Western Conference have experienced a decline in record. On the contrary, the Jazz have won all four games, with a total record of 55 wins and 27 losses. In one fell swoop, they reached third place in the Western Conference.

At this point, the long regular season schedule is all over, the playoff teams in the East and West have also been settled, and the lineups are freshly released.

The top eight in the Eastern Conference are: No. 1 Knicks, No. 2 Bulls, No. 3 Cavaliers, No. 4 Celtics, No. 5 Hornets, No. 6 Hawks, No. 7 Nets, and No. 8 Pacers.

The top eight in the Western Conference are: first Suns, second Rockets, third Jazz, fourth Trail Blazers, fifth Spurs, sixth SuperSonics, seventh Clippers, and eighth Lakers.

…

Let’s talk about the situation in the east first.

The Bulls, who have won two consecutive championships, and the Knicks, who are going strong this season, will be the main force in the Eastern Conference. Of course, we cannot rule out the sudden emergence of other teams.

O'Neal's Magic ranked embarrassingly ninth in the Eastern Conference and missed the playoffs.

What is surprising is that the Charlotte Hornets are ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference.

As a new team in the NBA, this is the first time in the history of the Hornets that they have made the playoffs, and they are still ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference. It really surprised many people, but if you think about it carefully... The Hornets will not make the playoffs. It's really surprising. After all, Li Shengli played for the Hornets for most of the season, giving them a 50% winning rate. In addition, Larry Johnson does have some talent, and Jeff Malone, who traded Li Shengli, also performed well. , led the team to stabilize the situation in the second half.

Another one is the Detroit Pistons.

As a team that has won two consecutive championships, the Pistons have lost their former glory, their record has gone from bad to worse, and now they have fallen out of the playoffs. The only highlight of this season is that game... The Palace of Auburn Hills was destroyed by Li Shengli alone. Tragedy, the Pistons have really been in decline since then.

It can be said that the emergence of Li Shengli affected the Eastern Conference playoffs in just half a season. The Hornets took over and the Pistons lost.

Fortunately... Li Shengli finished his career in the Eastern Conference and was sent to the Western Jazz halfway. This made several low-ranked teams in the Eastern Conference breathe a sigh of relief. After all, the Hornets with Li Shengli and the Hornets without Li Shengli are two different concepts. Larry Johnson himself still has some difficulty in muddying the waters of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

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As for the west, there is nothing to say.

The Jazz finally reached third place. According to the playoff schedule, they will face the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round. If they reach the second round, they will face the winner of the Rockets or Clippers. Fang, of course... If nothing else happens, it is basically certain that the Jazz's opponent in the second round will be the Rockets.

As for the possibility of losing to the Sonics and the Jazz stopping in the first round?

In this regard, let alone the Jazz themselves, even the media and fans who have been paying attention to the game do not believe it. The SuperSonics led by Kemp are not strong, but the trio of Li and Mars on the Jazz team can really do it. I'll beat you to death immediately.

According to the rules at this time, in the first round of the playoffs, there are 3 wins out of 5 games. Against the higher-ranked team, they will play two home games, then two away games, and then return to the home court for the fifth game. The 221 format means that the Jazz have to Play two home games first.

Due to its geographical location, the Jazz's Triangle Center Arena is well-known in the NBA for being located in a high-altitude area. Coupled with the rich heritage accumulated by the Utah duo for the Jazz in recent years and the high enthusiasm of fans, it is definitely the most difficult home court to conquer. one.

Based on this, it will be difficult for the Sonics to win. After all, they have to face... the Li-Mars combination who is in the limelight and ushering in a new era for the Jazz.

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On April 25, the Jazz played their last game of the regular season.

On April 29, the first day of the playoffs, there were only two games in the Western Conference. The Rockets played the Clippers and the Trail Blazers played the Spurs. The game between the Jazz and the SuperSonics was played on the 30th, four days apart.

In view of the need for relaxation in training, the Jazz Corps spent the first two days resting and the next two days training to prepare for the game, and on the 26th... Li Shengli had guests at the house he rented in Salt Lake City.

The first is Crotty, whose annual salary is only 170,000 US dollars. After excluding miscellaneous taxes and other expenses, plus several suspensions and fines, he is so poor that he loses his pants.

Although the fine was blocked by Li Shengli, being suspended for more than ten games without wages was a heavy loss. In the end, Li Shengli was pulled to his side. The two lived together, and the two also found a common topic between them... poverty !

In addition to Crotty, Thompson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also made a rare trip from afar on this morning.

You know...Charlotte and Greenville were both in the same state of North Carolina, so they were relatively close to each other, but North Carolina and Utah were far apart, and it was definitely a long journey to make a special trip there.

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"Special guest commentators for the TV station? You?" Li Shengli was a little surprised. Although many retired players are still active in the NBA circle, Thompson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became guest commentators for the TV station halfway through their debut. This is their first time. .

This time, Thompson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were invited to serve as guest commentators...Turner Television Network, or TNT for short, was established in 1988. It broadcasts sports events across the United States around the clock, and the live broadcast of NBA games is the largest, so they also need professionals to serve as commentators. .

It stands to reason... for the sake of program effectiveness, it is okay for TNT to invite celebrities, but commentary is not a competition, and the qualifications of the commentator are secondary. Humor and fun are the key points.

At this point, Thompson is okay, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not really a talkative person and is not very suitable for the commentator position. However, TNT invited them. Although I don’t know what the reason was, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not Reluctantly, Thompson pulled him to accept the invitation.

Of course, they were not the only ones invited together.

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"Why, don't we have this qualification yet?" Thompson curled his lips, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said nothing.

"No, I'm just surprised that you guys don't want to get involved in these things!"

strangeness?

Weird ass!

Do you really think we don’t have to make money for retirement?

We don’t work, how about you support us?

Thompson scolded with a grim face: "Don't talk so much nonsense. Listen, Lee, the Jazz are the favorites to win the championship this season. You perform well and don't embarrass us in front of our 'old friends'!"

Li Shengli's situation really surprised Thompson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. They thought he would waste a few more seasons, but what they didn't expect was... jumping from the Hornets to the Jazz, this process was infinitely exacerbated.

Competing for the championship in his rookie season?

This is the perfect start!

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was okay with this, but Thompson really pinned all his hopes on Li Shengli. Due to some unbearable reasons, he failed to get the championship ring. This was a lifelong pain point for him, and now...he Will use another method to supervise the battle for Li Shengli.

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We haven’t seen each other for a long time, and the young and old chatted for most of the day.

Crotty, who had always had a paralyzed face, finally saw a different expression on his face. After all, he saw the NBA legend David Thompson and the old hooker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Wouldn't he be excited? possible.

Thompson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have been paying attention to Li Shengli, and of course they also know Crotty, the killer who has recently emerged in the Jazz Legion.

Although in normal times, the two bosses would be too lazy to deal with such an insignificant little role, but the Crotty in front of them was a little special. He was willing to deal with some obscenities and filthiness outside the rules for Li Shengli, so they also expressed their feelings. Their kindness made Crotty so excited that he was at a loss what to do.

Until the afternoon, Thompson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar turned away and reported to TNT headquarters, while Li Shengli was waiting for his first career playoff trip, the May Gods Melee.