Chapter 667: Playoff Analysis
The New York Knicks secured the final Playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a 40 and 42 record, entering as the 8th seed.
The teams ranked 1st through 7th in the Eastern Conference were the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Magic, Hawks, Nets, 76ers, and Chicago Bulls.
In the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs had the best record at 61 and 21, followed closely by the Los Angeles Lakers and Mavericks, who both finished with 60 wins.
The 4th through 8th seeds were the Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Hornets, Denver Nuggets, Thunder, and Grizzlies.
It was truly regrettable that the Phoenix Suns only ranked 8th in the West this year.
For a team that had won 2 championships in 3 years, this was a disastrous result.
Suns fans furiously attacked owner Sarver on social media, believing the team's collapse was directly related to ownership forcing Chen Yan out.
From the fans perspective, they would never forgive Phoenix management.
The Suns forcing Chen Yan out was like the Bulls letting Jordan leave, or the Lakers letting Kobe leave.
It was something fans could not imagine and absolutely could not accept.
Of course, Phoenix's rapid decline was not caused by only 1 factor.
Many players on the team were already quite dissatisfied with management's attitude.
Aside from the team atmosphere, injuries were also a very important reason.
Nash played only 33 games this season due to intermittent injuries.
Over the previous 2 seasons, Nash had often played through pain for the championship, overdrawing his body.
After Chen Yan's departure, Nash's mindset also changed.
To summarize it in 4 words, he chose to lie flat.
For him as a player, his career was already perfect.
He had 2 championships and 2 regular season MVPs.
Nash stated, "I have played basketball my whole life. What is wrong with enjoying myself now?"
Another team supported by fans, the Rockets, also missed the Playoffs.
In previous seasons, the Rockets had been a false contender.
They had Yao Ming and McGrady, so on paper, their strength looked good.
But their role players were weak, and the fit between Yao and McGrady also had issues. Because of that, they were always unable to go further in the Playoffs.
After McGrady left, the Rockets fully embraced tanking.
However, for Yao Ming, this was not necessarily a bad thing.
Even if the Rockets had not tanked, they were still far away from a championship.
Rather than pushing through another hopeless season, it was better for Yao Ming to get more rest and properly recover from his injuries.
In any case, compared with the previous timeline, Yao Ming's career had indeed been extended.
At least now, he could still play on the court.
In 2010, Yao Ming signed a 3 year contract with the Rockets, with the final year being a player option.
This meant Yao Ming could opt out after next season.
Yao Ming's previous renewal with the team came from loyalty.
It was not because he never wanted to leave the Rockets, but because he was a grateful person.
However, seeing the Rockets completely committed to tanking over these 2 seasons, Yao Ming also began to waver.
Every player hoped to win a championship ring before the end of his career.
Yao Ming was no exception.
He did not want to leave regrets in his career.
Perhaps next summer, he would reconsider the direction of his career.
Chen Yan once again won the scoring title.
This season, he averaged 34.5 points per game.
Because of the controversy and disruption caused by changing teams, his numbers declined compared with last season, but he still led the field by a large margin.
On the offensive end, he was undoubtedly the league's top scorer.
Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves recorded an astonishing 15.2 rebounds per game this season, surpassing Howard to win the rebounding title.
Kevin Love was different from Howard.
He was not a man who played based on pure athletic ability, but he had unmatched rebounding instinct and judgment.
The assist list was led by Rondo, who had joined the Phoenix Suns last year.
He averaged 11.4 assists per game this season, which might have been the only consolation for Suns fans this year.
Chen Yan ranked 10th on the assist list.
The steals champion was Chris Paul, who averaged 2.4 steals per game this season.
Chen Yan ranked 2nd, averaging 2.3 steals.
The blocks champion was Bogut.
Chen Yan's individual statistics were still brilliant, but he was definitely out of contention for this year's regular season MVP.
The selection criteria for MVP required both outstanding individual performance and strong team results.
The 3 most promising candidates this year were Durant, Kobe, and James.
Recently, the league had shown a clear inclination to promote Durant.
David Stern wanted to build Durant and Chen Yan into the new generation of peerless rivals.
The 2 had history.
They had story.
Fans would be very happy to see friction and confrontation between them.
As for 23 vs 24, that was already a thing of the past.
There were 2 days left until the 1st round of the Playoffs.
During this period, the league heavily promoted the Knicks vs Celtics series, calling the matchup a Battle of Destiny.
Chen Yan vs Durant was the biggest highlight of this round.
Of course, the clash between Stoudemire and Chen Yan, these old teammates, was also something fans loved to see.
The battle between new generation guards Derrick Rose and Stephen Curry also drew attention from some fans.
Experts also made predictions for this series.
"Oh, the 1st seed in the Eastern Conference against the 8th seed," Barkley analyzed. "This should have been a one sided Playoff series, but because of one man's arrival, it suddenly has suspense."
Kenny Smith laughed. "I think this series still has no suspense. Chen will play well and put up very impressive stats, but the Knicks will struggle to win because their interior defense is simply too weak. Amare Stoudemire might average 35 points in this series. No, maybe 40. I do not know. What I mean is, Chen's offense cannot completely make up for their defensive holes, especially inside."
Kenny glanced at Barkley.
"So why do you think this series has suspense?"
"Because they have Chen," Barkley said with a shrug.
"At point guard, Derrick Rose is also ahead of Stephen Curry," Kenny continued. "Maybe Curry can hit a few ultra long 3 pointers, but Rose can pull up in front of him, drive into the paint against him, and dunk over him. Compared with Curry, Rose is the more explosive player, and that is another area New York will find very hard to defend."
"But the Knicks have Chen," Barkley repeated.
"In terms of bench players, Boston is also superior," Kenny said. "The Knicks bench relies too heavily on Barea's firepower, but his height disadvantage will be magnified in the Playoffs, where defensive intensity rises."
Barkley continued, "The Knicks have Chen."
Kenny Smith could not help rolling his eyes.
Barkley was a pure Chen Yan fanatic.
Although Kenny was also a fan of Chen Yan, he was clearly calmer and more rational than Barkley.
The 2 then argued about the topic for a while.
All of this was scripted, deliberately arranged by the television station to create discussion.
That was their usual trick.
"Can I go to Boston to watch the game?" Taylor asked while the 2 of them were resting at home.
"Of course you can, but I would prefer you stay in New York and come when I play at home."
"Why?" Taylor asked, looking puzzled.
"Boston fans are crazy. I am afraid that if I make them angry, those fans will attack you," Chen Yan explained.
"I can handle it. Easily handle it," Taylor said.
"I am still not at ease," Chen Yan said.
"You always treat me like a child," Taylor said.
"Haha, in my eyes, you are just a kid," Chen Yan replied.
"I just want to go support you!" Taylor's attitude was very firm.
Seeing that he could not argue with her, Chen Yan could only agree.
After everything was ready, Chen Yan followed the team to Boston.
Chen Yan's Playoff debut as a New York Knick was finally about to begin.
.....
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