In the second half of April, the Lakers won and lost.

After returning to the top four, the Lakers rested for three days and played with all their main team, beating the Jazz on the road, and with the Rockets continuing to lose, the Lakers stabilized the fourth place in the West.

They then went on to win back-to-back games against the Grizzlies and Warriors, extending their winning streak to eight.

On April 21, the Lakers lost 82-88 to the Trail Blazers, and the game was back-to-back, with Joe taking turns resting O'Neal, so that the team eventually lost and ended the winning streak.

However, most Lakers fans forgive this loss, because the Lakers have been resting in the rotation during this time, which is preparing for the playoffs, and in the final stage of the season, when the regular season standings are almost fixed, a two-game loss is nothing, even if it is a loss to the Trail Blazers, no one cares.

On April 24, the Lakers defeated the Rockets 104-88 and did not lose in a row.

Two days later, they met the Trail Blazers again, this time with a 108-89 revenge to make it two wins in a row.

In the last game of April, the Lakers won three straight games with a 91-84 supersonic at home.

Although it has been in rotation, the Lakers' state is getting hotter and hotter, any two of the Big Three can easily defeat Western Conference playoff-level opponents and win the victory, just like that, the Lakers have won 32-15 at the end of April, but the Trail Blazers have been in good control, with a current record of 34-11, and the Lakers do have no hope of overtaking.

In the last few games of May, Qiao Hai increased his rotation.

They beat the Mavericks in their first game in May, and then lost to the Trail Blazers by three points.

In the final game of the season, the Lakers will face the Spurs, who have just overtaken the Jazz to first place in the West......

Playing the Spurs is the last game of the regular season, before the Lakers crazy rotation, almost all players have played more than 30 minutes of games, and in the final game of the season, Qiao Hai decided to return to the normal rotation, starting Derrick Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Scott Pippen, Robert Horry and Shaquille O'Neal, and substitute rotation Derrick Harper, Bruce Bowen, Ruben Patterson, Rick Fox and Sean Lukes.

This is a ten-man rotation for the Lakers, saying that it is a ten-man rotation, but in fact Sean Lukes has very little playing time, strictly speaking, the Lakers' rotation is a nine-man rotation.

Rotation aside, Qiao Hai plans to use this game to practice the playoff style, the Spurs are also a strong enough opponent, in Qiao Hai's previous life, the Spurs won the championship this season, so that the sophomore Tim Duncan directly won the FMVP.

If this life continues to follow the history of the previous life, the Spurs will be the future champion, and using the future championship as their touchstone is naturally the best way.

Qiao Hai held a coaching staff meeting before the big game as always, although he knew very well that his coaching staff could not help him for the time being, but what if they had any brilliant ideas? With this in mind, Qiao Hai still held a pre-game coaching staff meeting.

"In the last game of the regular season, I decided to practice the playoff tactics, what do you think?"

To get straight to the point, Qiao Hai first asked the other three coaches what they thought about the tactics of this game.

Stanleford shrugged: "I'm okay with that. ”

Jim Eden shook his head, seemingly unfigured.

Byron Scott hesitated: "The last game against the Spurs, is it likely that they will be our opponents in the playoffs to practice their tactics against them?" And I don't think we need to change our tactical play when it comes to the playoffs. ”

What Byron Scott said made some sense, and after thinking about it carefully, Qiao Hai still decided to fight to win this innocuous game.

"No, Byron, I've figured it out, the team needs this game to warm up, don't think too much, play this game, as long as this game can be won, we won't be afraid of any team in the playoffs."

……

Gregg Popovich has been coaching at San Antonio for three years, and that's not counting his years as general manager at the Spurs.

In his first season in charge, he pulled down his face and slammed up a season, and finally got Tim Duncan.

The following season, Duncan joined and David Robinson returned, and the Spurs finished with an excellent 56-26 record before finally falling to the Jazz in the second round of the playoffs.

This season is Popovich's third season in charge, and in the face of the challenge of a shortened schedule, the Spurs, who are mostly veterans in the team, have played surprisingly well, jumping to the top two in the West at the beginning of the season, and at the end of the season, they have a chance to become the first in the West.

As long as the Spurs beat the Lakers, they will be first in the West and even first in the league.

Greg Popovich wants this number one very much, and as long as he gets this first place, he will have to win the best coach trophy this season, and it is impossible for him to pass it off.

In addition, Popovich also wants to make a contribution in the playoffs, seeing David Robinson gradually falling from the top, Popovich knows very well that if he does not win the championship, it may be difficult for the Spurs to have a chance to win the championship again, and this season may be the best opportunity for the Spurs.

And winning the first place in the league and getting home-court advantage in the playoffs is Popovich's goal.

So, before this match, Popovich set the tone: the last battle, go all out to win!

So, by mistake, the Lakers and Spurs actually had to bayonet in the last game of the season, which may not be expected by many people, because the two teams, of which the Lakers have been resting in various rotations at the end of the season, do not seem to care about a two-game loss.

The Spurs, another team, are not much different from the Lakers' style, and Popovich played the regular season very casually, and the shortened season greatly reduced the playing time of David Robinson and Shaun Elliott.

In the last game of the season, they coincidentally had to give it their all......

In the last game, the Lakers played away.

On the day of the game, the Lakers took off from Los Angeles International Airport and flew to San Antonio.

Joe's plan was to rest for half a day in San Antonio and head to the Alamo Dome in the afternoon to acclimatize to the field as the game approached the game, while warming up.

But at the airport, the Lakers were surprisingly surrounded by reporters, and Shaquille O'Neal, who was walking in the front, was directly stopped by two local reporters in San Antonio, wanting to ask something.

Qiao Hai didn't think about it, so he walked to the front and stopped these reporters.

"Okay, journalists, it's not your time to interview, it's the pre-match press conference."

The implication is that these reporters are not allowed to interview.

But when these reporters saw Qiao Hai, they pounced directly like a shark smelling blood.

Qiao Hai was stunned, and before he could react, the reporter at the front asked a question that caught Qiao Hai off guard.

"Coach Qiao Hai, may I ask the outside world that Phil Jackson will take over the Lakers next season, is there such a thing?"