rpbooks Chapter 618 Final Chapter of Regular Season
Chapter 618 Final Chapter of Regular Season
Chapter 618 Final Chapter of Regular Season
A four-game losing streak is a terrible thing for any team.If it happened to a defending champion like the Thunder, there would be more topics.In addition, several of the opponents lost were at the playoff level or even the championship level.Thunder's pressure is really not small!
However, when many people were waiting to see Thunder's joke, they walked out of the quagmire.
On March 3, the Thunder moved to Toronto to fight the Raptors again.The lineups on both sides are exactly the same as the day before, but the process and results of the game are completely different.
At the beginning of the game, the Thunder played their most powerful offense.Under Westbrook's tandem, An Luo and Paul George made repeated hits from beyond the three-point line, and Adams and Grant also succeeded at the basket.Even on the defensive end, the Thunder are still tough.The Raptors' Leonard, Siakam, and Van Fleet have all been greatly affected.In fact, the Thunder's defense in the last game was not inferior to the pre-season level.
The rhythm of the entire game has been controlled by the Thunder.The Raptors have been in the process of chasing points.They played a wave of 8:0 spurts at the end of the fourth quarter, reducing the point difference to only 5 points.But An Luo then faced Siakam's "three plus one", which made the Raptors' efforts come to naught.In the end, Lei Ting succeeded in revenge and stopped his losing streak.
In this game, the Thunder made 22 three-pointers, and An Luo and Paul George accounted for 15 of them.It can be seen that the Thunder's offense, especially the perimeter offense, is still strong.
After leaving Toronto, the Thunder will play at home this month.
They first struggled to defeat the hopeless Memphis Grizzlies in the playoffs.This team, which has been ranked in the top eight in the Western Conference at the beginning of the season, finally failed to withstand the impact of the teams behind it.After sending Gasol away last month, it can be regarded as a complete reconstruction.However, during this period of time, the Grizzlies broke out with extremely strong combat effectiveness, even defeating the Spurs and Rockets.It also brought a lot of trouble to the Thunder.
Then, the Thunder fought the visiting Indiana Pacers for 48 minutes, and finally won the game in one go under An Luo's explosion in the fourth quarter.Avenged the regretful away game some time ago.
This part of the schedule that is about to end the season is relatively difficult for the Thunder.Most of the teams encountered are at the Eastern and Western playoff level.Like the Grizzlies, they are already their weakest opponent at the end of the regular season.
In the last game in March, the Thunder once again lost to the Denver Nuggets.
The title of "Thunder Killer" is firmly worn by Denver people.The Nuggets have won three of their four meetings this season.Every time the Thunder met the Nuggets, they played very hard.This makes everyone worried about the Thunder's trip to the playoffs this year.Of course, judging from the rankings of these two teams, it must be the Western Conference Finals if they want to meet.
At this point, the competition in March is all over.This month, Lei Ting's life can be said to have been a catastrophe, full of suffering.Their record of 8 wins and 7 losses is basically the worst level among Western Conference playoff teams.And in the battle against strong teams, more loses than wins.This also made the Thunder finally lose its top spot in the league's team power rankings.Their road to defending the title has also begun to be looked down upon.
Entering April, Donovan began to rest his core players in rotation.Of course, other teams at the same level are doing the same thing.Everyone's eyes have already crossed the last few regular season games and focused on the playoffs.
In the first game in April, Westbrook led the team alone against the Dallas Mavericks.This is another team known as the "Thunder Killers".However, unlike the Nuggets, this killer will have to wait until next season if he wants to cause damage to the Thunder.In this game, the Thunder lost easily!Westbrook used up to 30 shots in exchange for a 30+ triple-double.His condition is not good!
Subsequently, An Luo returned from injury and faced the Lakers with Westbrook.If you want to say which team is the most disappointing this season, it must be the Lakers.Of course, it is also the most regrettable team.There is no doubt that the Lakers are definitely a playoff team under the leadership of a healthy James.But James was sidelined for a long time due to injury.By the time he returned from his injury, the situation was gone.Therefore, after confirming that he missed the playoffs, James directly set his sights on the next season.
However, it was not easy for the Thunder to win this game.The players of the Lakers are in excellent condition, and they have been entangled with the Thunder until the last quarter before losing.Westbrook, who scored a super triple-double of 22 points, 20 rebounds and 24 assists, became the focus of the league that day!
Subsequently, the Thunder beat the Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets and Milwaukee Bucks in a row.In these few games, except for the last game against the Bucks, the Thunder went all out, and the rest of the games were paddling.
In the last game, the 66-win Thunder met the 62-win Bucks.It became the last focus battle of the regular season this season.Although the Bucks have been unable to surpass the Thunder to become the number one in the league, Budenholzer still let Antetokounmpo lead all the main players to face the Thunder.And Donovan did the same.
The difference from the first meeting between the two sides is that the main four positions on both sides have changed.However, Grant performed very well in this game.Especially the two blocks he blocked Antetokounmpo in the paint made Donovan feel very relieved.
In this game, more shots from both sides were made from outside the three-point line.After all, the playoffs are about to enter, and no one wants to fight hard in the paint.Even Antetokounmpo took 6 shots from beyond the three-point line!The Bucks' shooters have performed fairly well, but compared with An Luo and Paul George, they are still inferior.The two teamed up and scored 15 three-pointers again, directly bringing the game to a three-point battle.
It was also under such an excellent touch that the Thunder won the game.After the 2017-18 season, they once again advanced to the playoffs with the league's first record.
The Bucks have grown up completely this season, and they have become another 60-win team besides the Thunder.You know, the Bucks only won 44 last season!For this alone, Budenholzer is worthy of the league's best head coach trophy.Of course, this is inseparable from Antetokounmpo's outstanding performance.He also happens to be at the top of the regular season MVP list so far.
Of course, none of this matters.The championship is always the most anticipated prize for every team!
(End of this chapter)