Thunder. Aaron and David. West's return gave Henson a great deal of confidence.

What faith? An incredible 72 wins in the regular season and the confidence to shine in the playoffs. To put it bluntly, in the case of being able to rotate and rest, the confidence of 72 wins!

Now the team is basically injury-free, and the personnel are full. This season, Henson can finally line up his squad regardless of injuries. And West and Ray. Allen's two main players can make the players' playing time more even, and injuries due to exhaustion are unlikely to happen again.

West played frantically for nearly 40 minutes, and it won't happen a second time.

After the win over the Suns on the road, Henson made it clear in a coaching staff meeting that the goal for the season was to take the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 5 with a full lineup. With a win over the Thunder, no team in the league can stop the Pacers from winning 72. After the victory over the Thunder, the team began to rest in rotation to prepare for the playoffs.

"Note that it's a rotation, not an average rotation. After the April 5 game, we had a few players resting every game until the playoffs began. In this way, we can avoid injuries as much as possible and save the players' energy. ”

In the conference room, Henson laid out his plan in its entirety. While taking a break, he still has to win 72 wins. But what sounds crazy is a plan that is becoming more and more viable.

Let's see what opponents the Pacers will have to face in April. After the game against the Thunder on April 5, the Pacers will face the Wizards, Cavaliers, Nets, Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers. None of these teams are too strong, and Henson is confident that he will only lose two of them, even with a rotating squad.

As a result, the Pacers' record can reach just 72 wins. The most important thing is that they don't have to play with an all-main lineup until the last game of the regular season, like the Chicago Bulls did back then!

Take 72 wins while taking turns off, from fantasy to reality, it's that simple!

"It's your chance to make a name for yourself, guys. If we can get 72 wins, believe me, our group will become a mark in the history of the league that can never be erased! Even in 10 or 20 years, people will talk about us! Even if they forget who won the championship 10 years ago, they won't forget who won the regular season 72! So, let's work together. Of course, don't tell the players about it, just plan for us to know for ourselves. There's no need to put that pressure on the players. When they felt the pressure, they found that 72 wins had been pocketed! ”

Once you have a clear goal, it will be easier to execute your plan after that. A season of great creations is brewing in Indianapolis

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David. West and Ray. Henson was pleased with the duo's form in training, and despite being out for almost a month, the duo did not lose their competitive form.

Before the injury, David. West has put up a wave of comeback performances, scoring 20 points in four consecutive games. Now back, West seems to have some heat left.

The most notable point is that in confrontational training, West has embarrassed Horford. And Ray. The addition of Allen allows Henson to have more variation and choice in rotation time.

"I really miss the feeling of having a complete lineup." Henson shook his head, the Pacers have lost a total of eight games so far, but four of them have been swallowed in March.

In other words, the Pacers, with their full lineup, had only lost a total of four games by March. Although the Pacers' results in March are still excellent, we have to admit that after the leakage of the roster, the Pacers also lost that absolute dominance.

Looking at the players sweating on the training ground, Henson couldn't help but clench his fists. He can't wait to remind the league of how terrible the Pacers are with a full lineup!

That unparalleled dominance is about to return to the entire Alliance!

※※※

On April 1, the Indiana Pacers have a game to play on the first day of April. Their opponents, the Los Angeles Clippers, are among the top eight in the West, but for Henson, this team is dominated by Griffin and DeAndrew. Jordan's team isn't really that strong.

So today, in the Staples Center, people find Ray. Aaron and David. West has already started to run away games with the team. Before the start of the game, they also came out to warm up.

However, during the game, the second elder didn't play for a minute, and sat on the bench in training clothes throughout the whole process.

"It seems that Coach Henson is very cautious indeed. He didn't rush to let Ray. Aaron and David. West returned to the Circle, but continued to wait and see. With the playoffs just around the corner and a half to go, no one wants to take any chances. ”

"Do you mean the Pacers are going to give up their 72-win record?"

"Maybe, for the Pacers, after all. Successfully defending the title is the biggest win. ”

Kevin commenting on the game. Harlan and Kenny. Smith was only half right. Henson really didn't want to take any more risks, but with 72 wins, he never wanted to give up.

Due to the absence of David. West, Horford and "Birdman" Anderson had to deal with Jordan Jr.'s onslaught, so today, most of the people defending Griffin fell on Yi Jianlian.

However, Yi Jianlian has to defend Griffin, which is indeed a little difficult. Griffin's impact and confrontation ability are not something that Yi Jianlian can compete with. It is a blessing that he did not suffer from Griffin today.

So today, Griffin's performance was very impressive. He scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and on 61.5 percent shooting.

It is precisely because of Griffin's outstanding performance that the Clippers have been biting the score, and it seems that they are only one breath away from overthrowing the defending champions!

However, the Clippers were stunned and did not catch their breath. By the end of the 48-minute game, the Clippers were still three points behind the Pacers. 109-106, Henson was on the off hook without West and Ray. Allen's case, narrowly beat the Clippers on the road!

"Coach Henson was so composed, the game was so intense, and he had two players sitting next to him who could change the course of the game. However, Coach Henson still went according to plan. He was able to survive and ultimately won the team. ”

At key moments, Kevin who commented on the game. Harlan could see that his palms were sweating. Henson, on the other hand, just stood on the sidelines with a blank face, as if his team was not leading by 3 points, but by 30 points.

In fact, the Clippers, although they have been close to the Pacers, have not been able to complete the comeback since the fifth minute of the third quarter.

The scorching heat of the game was just an illusion, and the Pacers kept the Clippers at bay and controlled the tempo. Otherwise, with a mere 3-point disadvantage, the Clippers would have counterattacked long ago.

The scariest thing is this, you always think that there is only a gap between you and your opponent, but what you don't know is that your opponent is not working at all.

Being able to handle this tiny gap without change proves that this opponent is actually several times stronger than you!

After the game, Blake had to eat and drink at Yi Jianlian's head. Griffin walked into the tunnel in disappointment, thinking it was a loss. But in fact, the difference in strength between the two sides in this game could not be more obvious.

"Coach Henson, congratulations on a thrilling victory."

Hearing the reporter say that it was a "thrilling victory", Henson curled the corners of his mouth slightly, but said nothing.

"Today, you still haven't activated Ray. Aaron and David. West. Will you still play them for the rest of the regular season this season? The reporter put the microphone to Henson's mouth, and there was nothing to talk about in the game itself, so the reporters had to find topics outside the game.

"No, I'm not going to let those two guys waste that salary." Henson jokingly waved his hand, "Actually, I'm going to play them in the next game." I think Ray and David will definitely be very supportive of this decision. ”

Henson's reply was blitheless, and it didn't cause much uproar. After all, God knows if he is telling the truth or not. Being deceived by Henson, have other teams experienced less? Chances are you're laboriously for the thunder. Aaron and West laid out a lot of targeted tactics, but they didn't play at all!

But just three hours after the game, reporters noticed that something was wrong.

In the next game, the Pacers' opponent is currently second in the West, and as long as they win one more game, they can surpass the Spurs to become the first Oklahoma City Thunder in the West! And if the Pacers win the Thunder again.

There will be no team that will be able to prevent them from getting 72 wins! In other words, Henson really plans to use the Pacers with a full lineup to fight the Thunder!

Reporters immediately worked overtime to build momentum for this unusual game. Among them, the front-page headline of the Oklahoma Evening Post sums it up very well.

"The Oklahoma City Thunder are the league's only hope to stop the Pacers from reaching a 72-win run."