With the Timberwolves being turned over again in the fourth quarter, the first round of this year's playoffs was over, and the Grizzlies got the last ticket to advance to the divisional finals.
And this also declares that this year's playoffs are another playoff game without grabbing seven battles in the first round since the 10-11 season, which inevitably reduces the excitement of the game.
If the playoffs are gripping from the first round, the story of the year is destined to be extraordinary. Just like in the 13-14 season, throughout the first round of matches, 8 groups of matches, 5 of which were won and lost until the last game. And the final champion of that year, the Spurs, did play a near-perfect finals, extinguishing the Heat and writing a very perfect chapter of revenge.
The No. 1 Spurs of the West beat the Eighth Ranger of the West 4-3
The hardest level of the Spurs' championship trail that year was in the first round, so much so that the Lone Ranger was often ridiculed as the overall runner-up that year. Facing the eighth-place Lone Ranger in the West, the Spurs, who won the league in the regular season, were at one point 1-2 behind. Sure enough, the contest between the old opponents cannot be judged only from the strength of the paper, the two teams know each other's roots, and the series has also developed from a technical and tactical confrontation to a competition of will quality.
It's Duncan, 37, and Nowitzki, 35, in their final showdown in the playoffs. There was no temptation and clumsiness, both were full play, Shi Fo averaged 17 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks per game, while the King averaged 19 points and 8 rebounds per game, but that round of feel was indeed not good, only 1 of 12 shots outside the three-point line.
Also on stage were Vince Carter, 37, Ginobili, 36, and Sean Marion, 35. When a group of old guys can still burst out of great energy, it is not surprising that the year's game can be repeatedly played to the end.
The Second Thunder of the West beat the Seventh Grizzlies of the West 4-3
How difficult the Grizzlies were in those years, these few people had the most to say: Durant, Westbrook, Paul, Griffin. In the years 11-14, the Grizzlies and Thunder met three times, once 4-1 light (Westbrook reimbursement), twice 3-4; similarly, they met with the Clippers for two consecutive years, the first year after the seventh game, they completed their revenge in the first round the next year.
In the 13-14 season, Durant averaged 32 points per game, was crowned MVP, and won his fourth scoring position. But with Tony Allen's death, Durant shot less than 40 percent of his first four games. And Tony Allen even played the best level of his career on the offensive end, with 12.3 points in the entire series, 23 frontcourt rebounds in 7 games, including 10 frontcourt rebounds in the fourth game, which was breathtaking.
Starting from Game 2 of the series, the two teams scored four consecutive overtime games to determine the winner, and the Grizzlies nibbled down the Battle of King's Hill on the road, but in Game 6, they not only failed to defend the home court, but also lost Randolph. Randolph was suspended by the league after the game for an unnecessary foul on Adams, which was equivalent to breaking the Grizzlies' slap and finally the Thunder crossed the border.
The third Clippers of the West beat the Sixth Warriors of the West 4-3
Third-year Klay Thompson has grown into an efficient shooter averaging 18.4 points per game, David Lee still has a double-double, Iguodala handed in the pitch, curry officially stepped into the ranks of All-Star players, so that the Warriors finally ended the regular season with a record of 50+ wins after 20 years.
The Clippers on the other side also happened to have the best record in team history of 57 wins and 25 losses in this year. So at that time, both teams had the tendency to fight bulls, and neither of them was afraid of each other.
The same is true of the actual confrontation, where the big scores between the two teams are always tightly clenched. Griffin is the Clippers' number one output point, averaging 23.3 points per game and shooting 53.2 percent from the field, while Paul consistently produces 17.4 points, nine assists, and a sizable 3.1 steals.
On the Warriors' side, Curry averaged 23 points and 8.4 assists per game, Thompson and David Lee each contributed 16 points, and Iguodala's "pretend death" tradition began at that time, and the data improved a lot compared to the regular season, coming to 13+4+4, and the shooting rate was a very good 51.6%+53.3%.
However, some things other than basketball have cast some haze over this wonderful series. Clippers owner Sterling's recording incident was exposed, which caused a great reaction from both teams of players, and at one point there was news of a joint withdrawal.
The Clippers' players were professional enough on the court that they still fought bravely to win the series. And the Warriors' side gained valuable experience, as well as chasing the dream of Green. Green has never had the opportunity and treatment in this round of playoffs, and his report card is 11.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.7 steals per game.
At this point, the fully formed Warriors have basically been declared, and the Clippers should not have imagined that the Warriors they sent away would grow into a terrifying behemoth after just one summer.
The First Pacers of the East beat the Eighth Eagles of the East 4-3
If the Spurs and Mavericks of the West can play seven games, it is because they are too familiar. Then the first and eighth in the East can also play seven games, then it can only be said that this Eagle is not a low-altitude object, it is only temporarily hovering at the eighth height, waiting for the injured wing (Horford) to repair.
The same is true, they hit the long sky the following year, with a record of 60 wins and 22 losses to win the first place in the East, the unchanged starting five tigers cut the best of the month, and the four tigers became all-stars.
Paul George played a very high-quality series, averaging 23.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game, shooting 40.4% from three-point range.
The Sixth Nets of the East beat the Third Eastern Conference Raptors 4-3
Although there are five groups of "grab seven", only this group has completed the achievements on the next gram. The Nets, which russian bosses have spent heavily on and manager Billy King overdrafted into the future, have only a 44-38 record in the regular season.
Fortunately, they met the Raptors in the first round led by the "garbage brothers", and DeRozan was the "playoff debut", and Lowry was also the core for the first time, leading the team to the playoffs, and the total shooting rate of the two in this round was less than 40%.
The Green Army ii, Delong, and singles Joe opposite them add up to almost 70 rounds of series experience. The Nets made sense to win this series, but they only won one round of the series, they lost the second round, and they lost hope for years to come.
Years later, when they had regained hope, Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum, who had sent to the Celtics that year, stabbed them in the heart. (Brown was selected directly by the net sign, and Tatum chose after the switch between the net sign and the 76ers)
Finally, we should also mention that the fifth Blazers in the West beat the rockets in fourth 4-2, and if it were not for Lillard's magical 0.9-second whistle-beating, this round of the game would also be brought back to Houston for life and death.