"The Suns have won 11 games in a row? Only one game lost in 18 games?" Fisher's eyes widened. The Lakers and his team returned to Los Angeles after preparing to play with the Utah Jazz, preparing for the final few games.
In fact, by this time of the season, the vast majority of teams had given up preparing for the regular season.
Playoff-level teams, because the opponents have been determined, so they will begin to prepare for the tactical layout of the first round of the playoffs in the last week of the regular season. The first round of the current playoffs is still 5 wins and 3 wins system, many top teams will also roll over in 5 games, with the example of weak wins strong than the subsequent 7 wins and 4 wins system is many times more.
Rather than playoff teams, the team's attention has shifted to the next season. The players began to enjoy the holidays or started to contact the next house, the management began to prepare for the draft and free market. Neither of them would care too much about the outcome of the last few games, just punch in and go to get off work.
There are only two situations for teams that are still struggling for the regular season.
The first is for home play advantage in the playoffs, such as the Lakers and Bulls regular season battle one is to reap honors. On the other hand, in order to gain the advantage of the home game in the finals, don't underestimate the advantage of the home game. Every weak advantage is crucial in a strong confrontation. In particular, the home advantage does exist. Each team's home win rate will always be higher than the away game. This is more obvious in some big-ball cities, where the home of fanatic fans is more obvious. Los Angeles and Chicago are obviously examples.
The second is to compete for the playoffs, for example, the current seventh Eastern Orlando Magic 43 wins 35 losses, the eighth Washington Bullets 43 wins 36 losses, the ninth Cleveland Cavaliers 42 wins 36 losses. The three teams' records are tightly tied together. It is difficult to say which of the last two teams will make it to the playoffs, and what will be the seventh and eighth rankings.
Hardaway, Weber, Brandon, three stars are desperately trying to bring the team into the playoffs.
On the one hand for honor, on the other. The money rewards for entering the playoffs are also amazing. At present, the salary of the US Basketball only includes the regular season, and all the playoff bonuses are provided by the team owner. The league's best record, one to six in the division, the first round of the playoffs, the second round of the winner, the division final winner, the finals winner and the losing team, can all get a generous bonus.
Even the first round of games, can also receive a valuable bonus from the team owner. If the team owner is happy if he wins a few more games, then there will be a lot of rewards. The richer the boss, the richer the reward. The better the players, the more bonuses they get!
This year's prize pool has a total of 6.5 million US dollars, Bryant knows that this prize pool will rise to 10 million in a few years. Although it is not much for superstars, for most players and working players, it is also a very happy thing to be able to get this salary.
The performance of the Suns in March and April is really amazing. Kevin Johnson seems to have become the flying and omnipotent explosive point guard again. This representative of the flying guard point guard is Wei Shao. Screw Wall. Before them, a player named Kevin Johnson had already played like this.
"It is said that the best player in April is Kevin Johnson's bag." Campbell was also telling the gossip.
After returning to Los Angeles on April 9, the Lakers immediately took a day off. On April 11, the Lakers returned to the Great Western Forum Arena. This time the Lakers had no understanding of the sun and went up to Harris and down to Fisher. Everyone hasn’t even watched the Suns’ recent video of the game. At present, I just know that Kevin Johnson has recovered the status of competing for MVP, and he led the team to a wave of 11 consecutive wins, dragging the team into Playoffs.
"Hey, we have Kobe and Shaq!" Most of the Lakers players seem a little careless. This is a common pride of the giants. After O'Neal returned, the Lakers won these games easily. Wang fried in hand, it is not too cool to fight. The offensive space created by Kobe and O'Neill makes the role players very comfortable. No wonder these players have a sense of arrogance.
"Don't be careless." Kirtlandbis looked at the Lakers players with some concerns. Now the Lakers players are very excited, but the body is really tired. At the end of a long season, the Lakers have very few injuries, which is very lucky. But almost all players play more than 70 games. In such a rookie team, the players' physical energy consumption is very large.
Especially the game against the Jazz the day before yesterday, although I won. But every player went all out in that game and ended up exhausted.
Barry is only half of 90!
Kirtlandbis was very worried about the status of the Lakers players.
Sure enough, the game against Phoenix Suns fell behind from the start.
The Lakers' starting lineup returned to normal, Kobe, Jones, Bowen, Campbell, O'Neal.
The starting lineup for the Suns is PG Jason Kidd SG Kevin Johnson SF Cedric Ceballos PF Danny Manning C Holt Rod Williams.
Danny Angie's defensive arrangement is very similar to that of the Jazz.
Kidd's single defense against Kobe, the effect is very good, Kidd is a rare strength and speed and defensive skills are very good point guard. At the age of 24, he is in his prime, and his defense of Kobe is no worse than Payton.
Danny Manning resisted O'Neal on the inside and Hot Williams waited for the opportunity to defend. Two physical qualities and excellent inside makes O'Neill a bit awkward ~EbookFREE.me~ is also pinch inside, single defense outside. This is already a standard way of defending the Lakers. The main point of this defense is that it needs a player who can prevent Kobe from shooting one-on-one. At the same time, the first defender inside can resist O'Neal's direct scoring and wait for the second inside to complete the double. This can reduce the offensive threat of the OK combination to a minimum.
If Kobe and Eddie Jones have a great feel, then they can complete the offense with a large number of mid-range shots.
It is a pity that the Lakers players in this game are not in the state, their shots have been missed again and again, and O'Neill is stalemate by two talented men on the inside.
Harris continued to adjust the lineup, Horry and Dell Curry came off the bench to give the Lakers a certain vitality. The offense and defense of the two veterans are still very stable, but the Suns' bench also has Rex Chapman, Steve Nash, Wesley Posen and other tyrants. The benches of both sides are invincible.
Kobe forced to change his name in the early quarter of the fourth quarter, and even scored consecutive shots. Kevin Johnson returned to the color, with no inferior Kobe's scoring explosive power, firmly maintained the lead.
The final score freezes the Sun 114:98 Lakers.
Kevin Johnson was elected the best player of the game, 11 of 17, scored 31 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Kidd scored 9 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. Ceballos had 21 points and 7 rebounds. The trio formed a trident, and Danny Angie's mobilization directly dispersed the Lakers' defense.
Kobe Bryant had 27 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers.
O'Neal had 26 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 5 turnovers.
The Phoenix Suns ushered in a 12-game winning streak, and the Lakers scored their tenth loss of the season.
