Raptors relied on the strong dominance of Regular season to dominate Eastern Conference, while Cavaliers had only 50 wins and 32 losses due to the turmoil at the beginning of the season.
Philadelphia also achieved good results with Third in the Eastern Conference while Embiid and Simmons remained healthy. This made the team and Fans full of unlimited daydreams about their future.
Bulls, under the leadership of the already rising Oladipo, once again broke into Playoffs and ranked fifth in Eastern Conference In the position, they used Odie, LaVine, and Markkanen to form a simplified version of the Big Three. The team was built with three people as the core. The unexpected effect was not bad.
This is also one of the reasons why Odie can be selected as All-Star this season. The awards for Odie and Most Improved Player this season are basically confirmed.
Averaged 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game, very comprehensive data.
Wizards's performance plummeted in the second half of the season due to Wall's injury, and in the end he could barely keep his seat at Playoffs.
It all relies on the support of peers. The following teams, Pistons, Hornets, Knicks, are worse than the other.
There is also Nets. Last year, I enthusiastically signed Jeremy Lin for 36 million in three years, hoping to replicate the high-profile performance of Knicks.
As a result, due to injuries, Jeremy Lin only played 36 games for Nets last season, averaging 24.5 minutes per game, scoring 14.5 points, 5.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals.
After finally waiting for this season, I thought that Jeremy Lin, who finally recovered his health, would lead the team to improve after his comeback.
As a result, in the first game of the season, Jeremy Lin suffered an injury during the match against Pacers, ruptured the patellar ligament, and was reimbursed for the season.
Five minutes before the end of the game, Jeremy Lin's breakthrough was blocked by Turner and he fell directly off the court. Jeremy Lin injured his right knee when he landed. He lay on the ground for 3 minutes before standing up.
No one expected that after landing, Jeremy Lin lost control of his emotions. He covered his right knee, kept shaking his head, and said "I'm done, I'm done". When his knee moved a little, his face immediately showed a very painful expression, and he even fell to the ground and cried bitterly.
Apparently, he also realized that something was broken on his knee.
This injury also caused Jeremy Lin to slump and completely bid farewell to the core and Starting Lineup's position.
From now on, I can only move around in various teams, looking for opportunities to come on as a substitute.
And as his age increases, whether he can continue to play in the NBA is also a question.
As the saying goes, you will die before you leave the army.
All players don't want to encounter injuries, but they are always inevitable.
The 2017-2018 season was undoubtedly a tragic season.
This season, too many people have been injured.
Regular season is over, but there are still many people whose work is not over.
Playoffs is about to begin, and each team that is qualified to enter the top eight in the division has started preparations more urgently.
Thunder is naturally no exception.
After the smooth transition to Playoffs, Donovan relaxed a bit, but soon it became even tighter again.
I can breathe a sigh of relief because, thanks to a reasonable and even a bit excessive rest strategy, Thunder successfully maintained the integrity of the lineup and entered Playoffs.
This is not easy, especially in this year's situation, which highlights the value of health.
The reason for the tension is that after entering Playoffs, the intensity of the game will be higher, the scale will be larger, and the risk of players getting injured will naturally be greater.
Last year, it was because of Chen Xi's injury that Thunder lost the series to Western Conference Finals.
What's more, this year's Thunder is stronger than last year, and the team's atmosphere is also better.
This is really the best opportunity to impact NBA Championship. It is difficult not to let people daydream about the future.
But it happened that Thunder was in an unprecedentedly powerful year.
Standing in front of them are Western Conference first Rockets, the defending champion Warriors, and the Eastern Conference champion with an unknown outcome. They don't know who will win.
Donovan must devote 100% of his energy to studying every opponent and thinking about every strategy.
This is undoubtedly very sad.
And on such rest days, he was obviously not the only one staying in the arena to work overtime.
In the stadium, Chen Xi, accompanied by the trainer, continued the extra training he was accustomed to.
Shooting the basket again and again.
He has always admired Playoffs, and he must have longed for NBA Championship.
In the world's number one Basketball league, stand at the top.
No Basketball fan can refuse this kind of thing.
And this year, he really saw the opportunity.
This year's Thunder is very strong.
Starting Lineup has amazing firepower, exaggerated depth of substitutes, and a harmonious team atmosphere.
That may not be the case next year.
Next year, Gordon will basically not be able to retain him. After he completes the last year of his contract, he will definitely seek a bigger contract.
When Thunder was traded, it was very clear that it was just a matter of taking Payne and Lovington in exchange for the one-year right to use Gordon.
This year's Gordon only costs 5.5 million, which is absolutely worth the money.
It is impossible for Gordon to endure this price next season. There will definitely be a team that offers him an annual salary of tens of millions or even twenty million.
And if Thunder matches the offer and offers him such a big contract, it will inevitably occupy a lot of the team's salary space, which is a disaster rather than a blessing.
And after the contract is larger, it is not certain whether Gordon is still worth the price.
After all, he is a Interior player without shooting.
No coincidence.
Wade may not be able to keep it either.
This year Thunder itself is also a friendly price, although this friendly price is signed by Wade and Cavaliers...
But a salary of 1.47 million is obviously impossible to match his current level of performance.
His performance in Thunder proved to people that he can still play.
In addition, he has no shortage of NBA Championship, so he would be happy to have one more, but if not, he would not be so heartbroken.
And Grant has also reached the contract year.
On June 28, 2017, Thunder exercised the team option of Grant with an annual salary of 1.5 million. This was his last year as Rookie Contract.
Next year we will definitely face the issue of contract renewal.
This eliminates one more child labor contract.
Fortunately, Little Sabonis's Rookie Contract still has two years left and will not expire until 2019. Thunder can still enjoy his child labor benefits for a while.
To sum up, there are actually various problems in the future of Thunder.
It may not be better than this year.
That's why Chen Xi is more cautious.
If I missed this year, will there be better opportunities in the future?
Hard to say.
So instead of looking to the future, it's better to keep our feet on the ground and look ahead.