The Godfather of Basketball

The playoffs kicked off, and ESPN was not idle, and started its annual forecast again.

The Warriors and Cavaliers are the only two teams considered 100 percent to make the cut.

"They will face each other in the Finals for another year." This is the most direct evaluation given by the official.

Thunder and Spurs are also expected to advance strongly, but their promotion probability is much lower than that of Qi Yong, at about 90%.

After these four popular teams, the Nets have the exclusive one.

They are considered to have an 80% chance of eliminating the Pacers and reaching the second round of the playoffs.

"The Pacers' starting power forward last season, David West, was on the bench for the Nets. Maybe Paul George will cause some trouble for the Nets, but the Nets will eventually win the game."

At the beginning of the season, ESPN's predictions, whether it was the Nets, Wizards, Knicks, or even the Pacers, were very accurate.

It is precisely because of this that ESPN has swept away the image of tainted milk in the past, and this year's playoff predictions have also attracted attention and popularity.

Except for these five teams, the probabilities of the other teams are basically 50-50.

On April 18, the NBA playoffs officially kicked off, and the Warriors in the West took the lead.

Although the Rockets have experienced a bad season, but the background of the dynasty team, coupled with their good paper strength, fans have not low expectations for them.

Many people feel that this pairing will not be as bad as ESPN predicted.

But after the real fight, the game is not like that at all.

In the first quarter, the Warriors beat the Rockets 33 to 15, leading by 18 points in a single quarter.

Harden made 1 of 9 shots, and the defensive end was targeted in various ways. The Rockets were helpless.

At halftime, the Warriors' lead reached 27 points.

Many people worry that the Warriors will lose their offensive firepower in the playoffs due to the increase in the opponent's defensive intensity as before. Facts have proved that their worries are completely unnecessary.

But what was a little worse was that Curry accidentally sprained his ankle in the fight with Beverly before halftime, and was directly supported by the team doctor to leave the court. Before leaving the court, he made 8 of 13 shots and 7 three-pointers. He made 4 shots and scored 24 points at halftime.

Curry did not come back in the second half. Relying on the depth of the lineup and the advantages established in the first half, the Warriors finally won the first victory of the series with a 104-78 victory over the Rockets.

Curry's injury and retreat cast a shadow over the 73-win Warriors, but the good news is that Curry's ankle MRI test was negative after the game, and there is no serious problem. In theory, he can return after 4 to 5 days of rest up.

This is already a blessing in misfortune.

Injuries were something no one wanted to see, but similar to the situation in his previous life, Tang Tian realized that this Warriors team was the same as in his previous life, and not as invincible as the outside media made it seem.

After the Warriors, the game between the Clippers and the Trail Blazers also started immediately. The Clippers beat the Trail Blazers 115 to 95, which was also an easy victory.

After the two big victories, the game in the Eastern Conference started immediately.

The Nets and Pacers are the first opponents in the Eastern Conference.

The two games in the Western District have made a good warm-up for the playoffs. In addition, the Cavaliers game is tomorrow, and this game has received a lot of attention.

Before the game between the two sides, the media conducted pre-match interviews with the core players of both sides, and the reactions of the two sides were completely opposite.

"The Pacers are a strong opponent, and we must go all out in the game." Jokic still appears very low-key in front of the media.

"ESPN thinks we only have 20% chance of qualifying, and I will use my performance on the court to prove that their prediction is meaningless." Paul George said bluntly in front of the media.

Because they are both top small forwards, George is one of the players who are compared with James the most, and because they are in the East, he wants to win the championship, and James' team is also a hurdle he must cross.

Before that, any opponent is for him to defeat.

The team's record is not good this year, but he still has high morale.

The Barclays Center was packed that night, and the fans were full of fighting spirit.

Last year they were underdogs for the entire playoffs. No matter who they were, they played two away games first to suppress the surprise. This year they finally turned around. This time the series opener is at home.

Moreover, their status as the second seed also gave them greater confidence in the home team.

The opening ceremony before the game was full of voices, and the starters of both sides also appeared one after another.

For the Nets, Tang Tian sent a regular lineup, with Deron and Gordon on the outside, Butler and Yi Jianlian on the front line, and Jokic at the center.

On the Pacers side, Vogel sent a somewhat unconventional lineup, a combination of Hill and Monta Ellis on the outside, George and Lavoy Allen on the front, and Mahinmi at center.

From the perspective of paper strength alone, the Nets are obviously more dominant.

Yi Jianlian and Mahinmi's jump ball, he jumped high and turned the ball back to the Nets half.

Deron advanced with the ball, and the Nets got the first chance to attack.

Deron greeted Yi Jianlian's pick-and-roll and went straight to the basket. Allen obviously couldn't keep up with the speed. He went to the basket and directly layup.

But at this moment, a figure burst out from the side, flying to block the cover.

Deron pulled the bar in the air to dodge, and the difficult shot finally missed, and the rebound was directly accepted by the figure.

Paul George.

George, like Butler, started out defensively, but he has better physical talent than Butler, and has the potential to become a super giant player.

After George grabbed the rebound, he went straight to the fast break.

Unlike his previous life, because he did not suffer from a devastating ankle injury, he was so fast that he threw off Butler who was chasing him, and rushed to the frontcourt to push the ball against Gordon.

The Pacers took the lead.

There was a commotion at the scene.

Encouraged by George's opening, the Pacers were very active in defense. Deron's frontcourt organization didn't have a good chance, and he directly gave Yi Jianlian a low post.

Allen couldn't stand up to Yi Jianlian, so Yi Jianlian chose to turn around and make a backward shot to the free throw line.

He is tall and big, and Allen's interference is limited.

Yi Jianlian shot at the frame.

But at this moment, he suddenly felt a burst of force.

Still George!

He didn't know when he came behind Yi Jianlian, jumped up and grabbed the ball.

Yi Jianlian reacted quickly and grabbed the ball with both hands in the air without letting go.

The confrontation between the two went from the air to the ground, and then fell together, and finally the referee called a scrimmage.

Yi Jianlian bounced better, but George took off earlier. From between Yi Jianlian, he barely passed the ball to Ellis, and the Pacers advanced directly and quickly.

George caught the ball while running, rushed to the three-point line and directly faced the retreating Butler and chose to chase the three-pointer.

Butler's jumping interference.

"Shua!"

George scored against the interfering three-pointer!

After scoring the goal, George couldn't help roaring excitedly, and thumped his chest hard at the audience!

After the opening, he played a wave of personal 5-0 attacks!

Tang Tian stood up when he saw this.