Chapter 872 [Win Again, Smash the Signboard]
The strongest outside three-point firepower and the strongest rebounding efficiency, these two points together make the Clippers invincible this season.
The Clippers also lost only two games in the second half, losing to the Spurs on the road and the Grizzlies at home.
The Grizzlies are a playoff team, Lillard and McRum have the upper hand in the outside and the Clippers have the upper hand in three-point shooting, Lillard shot 9 three-pointers, slashed 51 points, 7 assists and 6 steals, setting a personal career scoring record.
Lillard said after the game that he has a lot of respect for Curry, but he doesn't like people saying that he looks like Curry. "His performance is amazing, but I am myself, so don't say I'm imitating him, it's disrespectful for me to say something like that."
In fact, their playing styles are really very similar, that is, Lillard is not as accurate as Curry.
On April 13, the Clippers played their last away game against the Suns, who missed the playoffs, and they also used their best to win 115-94, and the final record was fixed at 78-4, improving the regular season record by one more game.
No player of the Clippers has suffered serious injuries throughout the season, Whiteside and Gasol have each rested 10 games, Jokic and David West are not weak and can be topped, and Draymond Green can also play a cameo role as a center; Outside Devin Booker missed six games with a sprained ankle and Middleton missed 11 games with a shoulder injury, neither of which was serious.
The Clippers are averaging 118.5 points per game this season and conceding only 102.7 points, and their performance on both ends of the floor is amazing.
With the likes of "Returning the Beads", Middleton, Antetokounmpo, Whiteside, etc., the Clippers really want to focus on defense, and it is entirely possible to limit opponents to 90 points in a single season.
The Spurs, who are second in the West, are not bad either, with 63 wins, and no other team has 60+ wins.
The Rockets ended up in eighth place in the West, which is a very humiliating statistic for the Big Three. In addition to the problems of Harden and Howard, the three-leader Bosh was reimbursed for the mid-season due to blood clots.
Before last season's All-Star break, Bosh missed many games due to blood clots. He played in the 2015 All-Star Game in New York, playing 11 minutes and finishing with 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. After the match, Bosh suddenly felt short of breath and was rushed to the hospital.
After a thorough examination, doctors found that Bosh's blood clot had metastasized to the calf and lungs, becoming a rare disease.
This year, Bosh's illness recurred, and if it wasn't for Bosh's wife insisting that he go to the hospital for examination, if it wasn't detected early, Bosh would have died in the arena. So Bosh has been sidelined since February.
met the Clippers in the first round, and the Rockets went through the playoffs this year.
As expected, the bottom team in the West is the Lakers again, and the "Great" Embiid is reimbursed again, and the Lakers have no one available inside except Hibbert, with only 15 wins in the season, setting a new loss record. Kobe Bryant retired to the applause of the Los Angeles fans, and no one listed the data, and everyone was not unpopular.
The Eastern Wizards ranked first with 59 wins, and the Cavaliers had an excellent record in the second half, ranking second with 53 wins, and no team could win 50+ games after that, with less than half of the 7th and 8th place winning percentages.
At the bottom of the East is the Bucks, 21-61.
Adam Silva continues to have headaches. Why most NBA stars are reluctant to play in the East has been debated from the 20th century to the 21st century, and there is no clear explanation to this day. But here's the thing, even if many cities in the east have low taxes and stars can make more money, they just don't want to join.
Curry averaged 34 minutes per game, scoring 30.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.1 steals, winning the scoring and steal kings.
In addition, he shot 50.4% from the field, 45.4% from three-point range, and 90.8% from the free throw line, making his first career entry in the 180 Club. He has an efficiency rating of 31.5 and averages 5.1 three-pointers per game, which is also the most in the league.
With terrifying statistics, there is no suspense that Curry will win the regular season MVP this season, and if Silva dares to present this award to others, then this award can be canceled next year.
Pistons center Andre Drummond won the rebounding title, averaging 14.8 per game.
The Thunder's Russell Westbrook won the assist title for the first time in his career, averaging 10.4 per game.
The block king is Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who averages 2.7 per game.
With the team resting for two days, Clippers veteran Andre Miller and junior Norman Powell were not included in the 13-man playoff squad.
Yang Rui trusts Richard Jefferson's experience more than Powell, who is very inconsistent. As for Miller, he was a back-to-back coach with the Clippers and barely played.
There was no suspense in the first round, and the Clippers easily swept the unformed Rockets 4-0.
Harden was extremely poor, shooting 41% from the field and 31% from three-point range, averaging 26.5 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists on 20 shots per game. Looking at the data, he seems to be a star, but in fact, such a low hit rate is undercover.
Howard's performance is worse than Harden's, averaging 13 points and 14 rebounds per game while shooting just 36.8 percent from the free-throw line, and Howard is definitely leaving Houston in the summer, where he is no longer popular.
The Rockets' third-highest scorer in the playoffs turned out to be Michael Beasley, a mid-term free agent, with 10.4 points. With such a lineup, it is not surprising that the Clippers lose by an average of 28 points per game.
The second round was just as easy, with the Clippers sweeping the Grizzlies 4-0.
The Grizzlies eliminated the Warriors to advance to the second round, and the weaknesses are obvious, the offense mainly relies on the outside double shots, and the interior has almost no offensive power. Jordan Jr.'s offense is impossible to practice, and the opponent only needs to foul him and send him free throws to prevent it.
To the horror of fans, Curry sprained his knee in the second game of the series, was helped off the court by his teammates, and immediately went to the hospital.
If Curry is out of the playoffs, the Clippers will be missing the number one star, and it will definitely be much more difficult to defend the title. Fortunately, he had a negative MRI and suffered a first-degree sprain, which he is expected to miss for two weeks.
Yang Rui let Curry recuperate with peace of mind, no need to rush back, just take this opportunity to train the newcomer. With less player rotation in the playoffs and Curry not playing, Booker can get more playing time.
Relying on the play of Antetokounmpo, Gasol, Whiteside, LaVine and others, the Clippers won two more away games.
Grizzlies fans thought that the home team would have a chance, the Clippers would be weaker without MVP, and the Clippers would indeed be weaker without Curry, but the lineup was not comparable to the Grizzlies.
After a few days of waiting, the winner and loser of the other round series in the West were decided, and the Thunder eliminated the very favored Spurs 4-2.
The Spurs players cooperate very well, but they can't compete with talent.
The regular season awards were announced, and Yang Rui and Curry won the award smoothly, and they were unanimously elected as the best coach and MVP.
Whiteside unexpectedly won the Sixth Man of the Year award, averaging a double-double per game, playing on both ends of the floor and being extremely efficient. He is competing with Pacers sixth man Jamal Crawford, who averages 14.2 points and 2.3 assists per game.
The Rookie of the Year was won by Timberwolves' Towns, who had a double-double of 18.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2 assists in his rookie season. Booker didn't play much, averaging 10.6 points per game and was named to the rookie second team.
There is no dispute that the best defensive player was won by the Spurs' Kawhi Leonard, who topped all defensive stats, conceding just 92.9 points per game. Draymond Green also had a catch, once again being named to the All-Defensive First Team.
Curry led the All-NBA team for a while, and Draymond and Gasol were both selected for three teams.
The Clippers have a great harvest of honors, and some people are very disappointed.
Griffin, who joined the Heat, only played 48 games all season, failed to mix even three teams, and the Heat were eliminated in the first round. "Golden Operator" Pat Riley's signature is completely smashed.