Chapter 900： Prepare for the playoffs, target the championship!

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Zuo Li's words challenged the outside world's remarks, and many people began to analyze the future potential of the Knicks.

However, the Knicks did not talk about any regular season topics. As Zuo Li said at the press conference, their season has just begun.

Moreover, the Knicks' playoff pressure this season is extraordinary, definitely not comparable to the previous two seasons.

In addition to the status of the defending champion, of course, there is also the "injury" caused by the regular season record.

Back in 1996, when the Bulls won 72 in the regular season, Bulls guard Ron Harper gave his teammates a T-shirt with the words "72-10 is nothing without a championship".

The Bulls that year also used it as a playoff slogan.

In fact, as far as Zuo Li knows, the Warriors did something similar in the playoffs that year when the Warriors won 73 wins and 9 losses.

And why the Bulls' slogan is well-known, but the Warriors' slogan is rarely mentioned, of course, the final result of the two playoffs is different.

It stands to reason that the 73 wins of the Warriors was the best record in history at that time, breaking the record set by Jordan. It can be said that there is no precedent in history. In addition to the different times, the influence of the Warriors' 73 wins in the world is obviously greater, but when talking about When it comes to the best team of all time, the 73-win Warriors aren't even on the table.

The fundamental reason here is the playoffs!

That season, the Bulls made it through the playoffs all the way, first sweeping the Heat, then sweeping the Knicks, and after sweeping the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls defeated the Sonics in six games and finally won the O'Brien Cup.

The playoff record of 15 wins and 2 losses was also the best in history at the time. It was not until the Lakers in the OK period that they finally broke. It can be said that the Bulls played the most dominant season in history.

Although the 16-year-old Warriors entered the playoffs with great momentum, they easily swept the Rockets and Trail Blazers in the first and second rounds, respectively, but they encountered obstacles in the Western Conference Finals, and they fought the Thunder in seven games before finally rushing to the finals.

In the final against the Eastern Champions Cavaliers, the Warriors were reversed 3-1 with the first two cities and lost the championship. It is hard to imagine that a team that is invincible in the regular season will lose, especially to the defeated Cavaliers. .

So, of course, a team that doesn't win the championship is weaker than the team that eventually wins. After all... you're not even the best team of the season, how can you enter the historical level.

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This is the biggest source of pressure for the Knicks in the playoffs this season. As Jordan said in an interview after winning 72 games: "No matter how many games you win in the regular season, if you don't win the championship, you are nothing."

So it is conceivable that if the Knicks fail to win the championship this season, their experience is estimated to be not much better than that of the Warriors of later generations.

No, maybe more serious, because the media in New York is scarier.

Therefore, D'Antoni and Zuo Li entered the locker room to emphasize the importance of this year's playoffs.

In fact, it doesn't need to be emphasized, everyone understands in their hearts, what's more, defending the championship is everyone's dream here, so on the last media day before the playoffs, you can't see it at the Knicks training ground. Any trace of celebration, everyone is seriously preparing for battle.

According to the schedule, this season's playoffs will officially start on April 18, and the Knicks will play on the first day, so the Knicks also have 3 days of preparation time.

The first thing to prepare for, of course, is to analyze the opponent. The rankings in this season's regular season and Zuo Li's memory are not very different. First, let's take a look at the West, which has nothing to do with Zuo Li for the time being.

The San Antonio Spurs scored 61 wins and 21 losses in the regular season, ranking first in the West. In the last few games, Duncan led the Spurs with an average of 25+10+3 per game to withstand the impact of the Lakers, and peaked in the West again after four years.

They are also the most stable people in the West, because behind the Spurs, it is simply Shura Field.

In second place are last season's Western Conference champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, who rallied to a 57-25 record after some midseason volatility.

This record is completely consistent with the third-ranked Mavericks. The same 57-25 Mavericks ranked third only because of the disadvantage of the regular season and the Lakers.

Ranked fourth is the Thunder, a new force in the league. The rise of the three young leaders led the team to a record of 55 wins and 27 losses, which is also the best record in the history of the Thunder.

The fifth to eighth places are the Nuggets at 50 wins and 32 losses, the Blazers at 48 wins and 34 losses, the Hornets at 46 wins and 36 losses, and the Grizzlies at the same 46 wins and 36 losses!

It can be seen that the gap between the fifth and eighth teams is very small, and the seventh and eighth teams even have the same record.

If you think it's just that, you'd be wrong. The Rockets are ranked ninth in the West without Dayao, with a record of 43 wins and 39 losses.

This is a team with more than 50% winning percentage in the West, and it can't even make the playoffs in the West. After the Rockets, the Suns with 40 wins, the Jazz with 39 wins, the Warriors with 36 wins and the Clippers with 32 wins.

The entire West, the 24-win Kings and the 17-win Timberwolves are really bad teams.

Seeing this, who doesn't say a word: Niubi!

Zuo Li saw the state of the West, and can only say that if the Knicks are in the West, it should not be easy to win 71. In this way, the first round of the Western Conference playoffs is:

Spurs vs Grizzlies, Lakers vs Hornets, Mavericks vs Blazers, Thunder vs Nuggets.

And the East is indeed a cloud of bad teams, with clear strengths and weaknesses.

In addition to the Knicks topping the list, the second place is the Bulls with 60 wins and 22 losses. After more than ten years, the Bulls finally returned to the 60 wins club.

After the Bulls, the resurgent Big Three Heat ranked third with 56 wins, the Celtics ranked fourth with 54 wins, the Magic with 50 wins were pushed to fifth, followed by the Eagles with 44 wins, and the Pacers with 39 wins. The 35-win Philadelphia 76ers occupied the last two playoff berths.

Look at the West, and then look at the East. The gap should not be too obvious. The Rockets and the Suns, the ninth and tenth in the West, did not lament that they were in the wrong position when they saw this scene. They came to the East for a few minutes to enter the playoffs.

But there is no way, this is the current ecology of the east and west, the east is simply a welfare bureau for the strong teams, and the involution in the west is really too serious.

The first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs was also released: the Knicks against the 76ers, the Bulls against the Pacers, the Heat against the Eagles, and the Celtics against the Magic.

Compared with Zuo Li's memory, it has basically changed, but it doesn't matter. The strategy formulated by D'Antoni in the first round of the playoffs is to attack with all his strength, find the state, and quickly solve the opponent by the way. After all, the Knicks playoffs, from The semi-finals are the real start.

The Knicks also submitted the 13-man roster for the 12+1 playoffs to the league on the evening of the 15th. They are:

Center: Zuo Li, Anderson, Ewing Jr.,

Power forwards: Randolph, David Lee,

Small forwards: Shane Battier, Danny Green,

Shooting Guard: Belinelli, Gram Six,

Point guards: Curry, Dragic, Beverley.

Inactive: Jones.