The NBA regular season has all come to an end, and the rankings of the top 10 teams in the East and West have been completely released. In the chaotic Western Conference, if the regular season is not over, the current standings will be a state of change one day at a time, but anyway, now the West finally has an answer. In addition to the Thunder and Nuggets, who are first and second in the West, they do not know their final first-round opponents, and the other two Timberwolves and Clippers in the West with first-round home-court advantage have begun to prepare for the first-round series.
The Clippers receive a big gift!
With the release of the matchup format, fans have been discussing who is better and who is the more dominant side between the Clippers and the Mavericks for nearly a week. But let's be honest, from the Clippers' point of view, their coaching staff and players need to care about the Mavericks, and fans don't really need to worry about the Mavericks, because since the Clippers formed the Big Three, they have only one goal, and that is to win the championship. If you can't even get past the first round, to put it mildly, this team should be disbanded on the spot. From the perspective of competing for the championship, the Clippers can be said to have drawn the upper sign. The Thunder's comfortable 135-86 win over the Mavericks in the final game was a big gift to the Clippers.
When the Nuggets led the Grizzlies by a large score and the Timberwolves looked like they were going to lose to the Suns, fortunately, the Thunder did not choose to let go of the water, they played with all the core, plus the Mavericks' rotation, the ending of this game was already doomed at the moment of kickoff. Because from the perspective of the Thunder, while winning to lock the first place in the West, their opponents in the first round series are likely to be Lakers and Warriors, teams that have received a lot of attention and have rich playoff and even championship experience. In the last few regular season games, to be honest, the performance of the top 3 teams in the West has been inaccurate, and there are not a few upsets, which can't help but make people speculate that they want to avoid the first place in the West.
The Clippers pave the way for the championship!
If the first place in the West is really a hot potato, and the Thunder also rotate all the main cores, then the situation may really be different, once the Nuggets occupy the first seat in the West, then the Clippers will be consumed by the Mavericks in the first round, and the Western Conference semifinals will directly face the defending champions, to be honest, the Clippers themselves are at a disadvantage, and they do not have a home-court advantage, and the Clippers' championship dream may stop in the second round. But fortunately, the Thunder's mentality is tough enough, young they are not afraid of any opponent, at least in terms of experience, the Clippers meet the Thunder, will be much more comfortable than playing the Nuggets, the Thunder's three cores (Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet) are very young, and without exception, no playoff experience, Alexander is even after the league encourages the number of free throws to fall, there has been a significant decline, and the MVP list has plummeted.
All of this is excellent news for the Clippers. And once they break into the Western Conference finals, the Nuggets are eliminated by other teams halfway, and if the two teams meet and compete at the top, the Clippers will not have any regrets. Winning is basically a championship, losing, the offseason to make up for the lack of relief, they still have a chance in the future. In short, such a script is what the Clippers are happy to see, their road to the championship has been paved, and the next thing the Clippers have to do is to let every player do their best in their respective roles and leave no regrets. Of course, the Clippers still have a big hidden danger on the road to the championship.
Leonard becomes the lifeblood of the Clippers!
Leonard missed the final eight games of the regular season, which must have been abnormal. In preparation for the regular season, any team will play a half in the preseason with their core playing for ten minutes to find their feelings, and everyone knows that training is not going to be effective. As a result, Leonard is sitting on the bench for long periods of time now for the playoffs, which is not a normal situation. And according to reports, Leonard did not participate in shooting training during training, let alone confrontation training, and it is irresponsible to let him play directly in the playoffs all of a sudden, and there is no clear statement on whether Leonard can play in the first round of G1.
In fact, what are the hidden dangers of the interior line, the weakness of the No. 4 position, these are not hidden dangers, because the Clippers can't change anything, the only thing is Leonard's health, if he is healthy and in good condition, the Clippers and everyone have a dozen. But if Leonard's physical condition is not satisfactory and he can't even finish the season healthy, then it's hard to say, the Clippers' season basically ended early.