182. The situation of the Union

After a win over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, the Cavaliers improved their record to 22-19, cementing their seventh spot in the Eastern Conference and temporarily closing the gap between them and the New York Knicks behind them, while also gradually closing the gap between them and the Pacers, who finished sixth in the East

At present, as the season is gradually approaching the halfway point, the plate shape of the Eastern and Western Alliances is gradually becoming clearer.

In the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs, who suffered a heavy defeat to the Cavaliers, are firmly in the top spot, and they are currently leading the league with a 33-7 record. They are followed by a giant team from Los Angeles, the Purple and Gold Lakers. Although the defending champions are not as good as the previous two championship-winning seasons, their core lineup composed of Kobe Bryant and Gasol is still not to be underestimated.

The Lakers are currently sitting in second place in the Western Conference with a 29-9 record, and the Cavaliers challenged the Lakers at Stamp a little over a month ago, and they lost without suspense, and Kobe Bryant is still the same Kobe Bryant who can do everything on the offensive end. But time has passed, and now many people want to see if Wu Dawei, who has defended almost all the top No. 3 players in the league, can guard against Black Mamba, who may be the strongest fighting spirit in the league at the moment.

Of course, the next meeting between the two sides will have to wait for a while.

Immediately behind the Lakers is the Dallas Mavericks. This season, the Mavericks have played an unparalleled dominance on the offensive end, and although their record and ranking are not as unrivaled in the league as they were a few years ago, everyone still thinks that this chariot with German drivers is still a championship favorite!

Behind the Mavericks is the league's upstart, the Oklahoma City Thunder! This team, which is made up entirely of young people, has exploded into this terrifying fighting force this season. The team is extremely young, very talented and at the same time very united.

The Thunder don't have as many problems as other young teams, and they're a good bunch of kids, if not disciplined. Kevin. Durant, Russell. Westbrook, James. Harden and the Thunder have each had an extremely good performance this season, making everyone have extremely high expectations for this thriving team.

Everyone believes that from now on, this team will be a young force to be reckoned with in the league from now on. Perhaps in the near future, they will dominate this alliance.

Further back, there is the fifth place in the West, the Denver Nuggets, who have just undergone a big trade. Perhaps this was an outcome that no one expected, and after the trade, the Nuggets went straight to a four-game winning streak! No more Cameron. Anthony's Denver people seem to be living a better life.

In fact, the young people who came to Denver from New York did make Denver fans forget about the departure of Little Melon very quickly. It is precisely because of their current appearance that the Nuggets are able to beat Chris. Paul's Hornets are fifth in the East and could climb to fourth place at any time.

After the Hornets finished sixth in the West, the Trail Blazers and Grizzlies finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Although there are high and low rankings, at the moment, the gap between the fourth and eighth places in the West Division is very small.

The fourth-place Thunder is only four wins ahead of the eighth-place Grizzlies, which is obviously negligible compared to the East.

The ranking of the Eastern District is much clearer than that of the Western District.

The Bulls, who suddenly rose this season, are in first place in the Eastern Conference with 30 wins and 10 losses; Behind them is the gradually recovering Miami Heat, with the Big Three's condition improving and working well with RI, the Heat's record is also rising with the tide, 26-12, and the Heat are slowly approaching the Bulls in front.

In third place is the Celtics, who are getting older and older a year, and in fourth place is Dwight. The Orlando Magic, led by Howard. These two teams are currently the old powerhouses of the Eastern Conference, and they play the role of championship contenders in the Eastern Conference as always.

In fifth place is the Atlanta Hawks, a team that has been squandering their talents, and they are currently fifth in the Eastern Conference with 22 wins and 14 losses; The sixth-place Pacers are 23-17.

The Cavaliers are currently ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 22-19 record, so they don't have to worry too much about sitting in this position for the time being, as the New York Knicks behind them are currently in a bad situation.

The 21-23 New Yorkers are still grinding into their superstar roster, and if you look at the run-in time in Miami, then New York won't be able to cause any problems for the Cavaliers for a while.

Naturally, the Clevelands began to set their sights on the Pacers above. Although they have only lost one game at home recently, the current score between the two sides is only 1-1, and as rivals in the same Central Division, the two sides still have two games to meet this season.

And the next one, it's not far off.

After the win over the Timberwolves, the Cavaliers need to play two games on the road before returning home to face their arch-rivals Indiana Pacers.

On January 23, the Cavaliers traveled to Atlanta to challenge the Hawks. There is no doubt that while the Eagles have not always reached the level of the top team, they do have the potential to reach that level of talent.

The Cavaliers have won once at home in their first meeting this season, but this time they came to the opponent's home court, and they were unable to extend the victory. A regrettable defeat makes people feel a little sorry.

And the second defeat that followed was really a bit depressing. After playing in Atlanta, the Cavaliers traveled to Milwaukee that night to play the second back-to-back game on the road against the Bucks.

Fitness and fatigue were obviously a big part of the failure of this game, and the intensity of NBA games and the dense schedule, especially the back-to-back games on the road, have always been a great physical challenge for the players.

Very few teams can come away from back-to-back away games, no matter how weak their opponents may be. There is always a limit, and back-to-back away games can easily bring that limit to the top.

Therefore, the Cavaliers can only reluctantly accept the situation of two consecutive losses and return to Cleveland.

However, the 22-21 record did not make their seventh position jeopardized all of a sudden, as the Knicks' record was not satisfactory either, and during the Cavaliers' two-game losing streak, the Knicks only improved their record to 22-24, which was still a one-game advantage for the Cavaliers.

Therefore, the next thing the Cavaliers have to worry about is their matchup with the Pacers. As Larry. Bird has worked hard to build a youth army over the years, and the Pacers are starting to play their game this season.

Young Roy. Hibbert propped up the team's interior and became another super interior that was pinned on hope, and the combination of Granger and Collison also gave the Pacers a reliable outside combination.

This team has almost everything, and all it owes is experience.

While the Pacers' youngsters lack some playoff experience, they don't lack any experience against the Cavaliers.

Because this season, the two sides have already played each other twice. And the last time has only been a little more than a week now, and the young people of the Pacers have some confidence in the Cavaliers, a team that they only beat a week ago.

Although this time, they are on the home court of the Cleveland Cavaliers again. But apparently, the last win made them forget about the last defeat in the quick loan center.

This belongs to young self-confidence.

On January 27, the Cavaliers returned to Cleveland for three days to face the Indianas at home at the Quick Loan Center. Like the confident Indiana, the Cavaliers have confidence in this game.

It comes from the fact that they had beaten this team on their home turf a month ago. And the Cavaliers have a very good home record this season, with 15 of their 22 wins so far coming at home.

So at home, the Cavaliers' confidence has always been much higher than on the road.

Even if they're going to play a team tonight that beat them a week ago and is still above them in the standings, the Cavaliers aren't too nervous at home.

Cleveland fans still filled the Quick-Loan Center that night, and such a lively atmosphere also made the Pacers players who came to Cleveland feel a little envious. It's also not a famous big city in the United States, but Cleveland obviously has a better ball market than Indiana!

No player likes to play in an empty globe every night, and if possible, who wouldn't want tens of thousands of people cheering them on every night?

Of course, there are tens of thousands of fans watching the Indiana Pacers game tonight, but these people are not here to cheer them on as the visitors, but to be hostile to them......

It's not easy to get the support of fans on the road, so the Indiana Pacers players are just a little envious of the Cavaliers' home stadium sold-out.

All that's left is the excitement of beating the Cavaliers in front of so many people!

The visiting visitors want to beat them, and that's not what the Cleveland players with home advantage do. In particular, Wu Dawei is still a little haunted by the loss in the last game. Because in his opinion, if it weren't for Darren. If Collison and Hibbert had combined to play extraordinarily, the Indians would not have been able to win that game at all.

Wu didn't know what the result would be tonight, but he knew he would be able to overwhelm the star No. 3 player on the court. Granger, because in the past two matches between the two sides, Wu Dawei has not felt too much pressure from Granger.

On the contrary, it is Roy who sits on the inside. Hibbert & Darren. Collison made him a little worried. After all, Vallejo isn't really a true center, he looks more like a big power forward. (To be continued.)

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