After Gasol's comeback, the Lakers finished with a record of 5 wins and 2 losses in the final stage of the regular season. (?Net [

April 19 passed, and the regular season of the 2o16-2o17 season officially came to an end.

With the end of the season, the teams shortlisted for the playoffs in the East and West have also been officially released.

In the East, the Cavaliers are still unique, with a record of 61 wins and 20 losses after the end of the season, ranking high in the Eastern Conference.

In addition to the Cavaliers, the other teams have a much worse record than that.

The Celtics ranked second with a record of 52 wins and 29 losses. The Youth League is no longer limited to the word "promising future". They will have to prove their potential in this year's playoffs.

The Celtics are followed by the Pacers, who have performed well in the new season under George and Teague, and finally won a record of 51, which allowed them to rank third in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks, with 5o wins and 31 losses, ranked fourth in the second place. Their summer signings and Anthony's hot state finally allowed them to return to the playoffs after three years.

The Bulls ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 49 wins and 33 losses.

The sixth-ranked team is the "King of the North" Raptors, who won 48 wins. The backcourt double-gun performance this season has declined compared to last season, but it is still enough to ensure that they enter the playoffs.

The last two places for the Eastern Conference belong to the Hawks and Pistons, who won 45 and 43 respectively.

The Eastern Conference matchup was also released. The Pistons challenged the powerful Cavaliers for the second consecutive year, while the Celtics also met the Hawks that they had played against last year. The Pacers will fight the Raptors again. The two teams with the biggest changes in two days officially encountered each other in the playoffs.

The overall record of the Eastern Conference is much worse than last year, but the highlights are quite a bit. Three of the four pairs are old opponents they fought last year, and the remaining group is the two teams that have just traded, which will inevitably spark fiercely.

Compared with the East, the overall record of the West is unprecedentedly strong under the leadership of the Warriors.

The undisputed Warriors, who ranked first in the West and also ranked first in the league, finally won 74 wins and 8 losses, breaking the regular season record they just set last season, and setting the regular season record for two consecutive years. It is an unprecedented performance.

After experiencing the embarrassment of winning the regular season title last season but being eliminated in the semi-finals, their goal this year is to fail if they don’t win the championship.

In addition to the Warriors, the Spurs' future success was against the Timberwolves and the Clippers, ranking second with a record of 65 wins and 16 wins.

The Spurs were followed by the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves performed well in the All-Star Game, but after the All-Star Game, the shortcomings of inexperienced gradually became exposed, and the winning rate of the game dropped a lot compared to before, but even so, they still ranked third in the West with a 58 win.

The fourth-ranked Clippers, Ingram finally found a feeling in the second half of the season, and with his outstanding performance, the Clippers' record also rose, and they ranked fourth in the West with 57 wins and 24 losses.

The Clippers were followed by the Rockets, and the shelling tactics allowed them to finally win 55 wins and 26 losses. It is worth mentioning that this is the third consecutive year between the Rockets and the Clippers in the NBA playoffs, which is also a history.

The Lakers relied on a series of consecutive victories after Gasol's comeback to save their previous decline and finally won a record of 53 wins and 28 losses. They will meet the youth Timberwolves in the round.

The Lakers are followed by the Thunder and Jazz, who have won 5o wins and 48 wins respectively.

The winning games of the former Western Conference team are below 50 wins!

In addition, the youth Trail Blazers, who entered the playoffs last season and the Grizzlies, which spent a lot of money on the offseason, missed the playoffs with a record of 47 wins. From this, we can see that the competition for the Western Conference playoffs this season is a terrible and stagnant game.

When the league rankings finally came to an end, fans from all over the world could be said to have a huge response. In comparison, fans in Los Angeles are much happier. The Clippers and Lakers have entered the playoffs again after the 2o12-2o13 season!

The alternating appearance of the two teams also makes them not feel bored in late April.

On April 2o, the Lakers and Clippers, who had just finished their regular journey, performed the final training before the start of the playoffs at the Staples Center.

After regular training, Tang Shuai and Stephenson went to the Clippers' locker room to visit his former teammates.

"Guys!" Tang Shuai suddenly went in and shouted. After scaring the members of the Clippers, there was a loud shouting and scolding, but soon, the shouting and scolding turned into laughter.

After saying hello to everyone else, Tang Shuai sat down and talked with Paul.

He has been Paul's substitute and Paul's backcourt partner. The relationship between Tang Shuai and Paul can be said to be the closest one besides Stephenson.

"How about it, are you mentally prepared to fight the Timberwolves?" Paul looked at Tang Shuai and smiled.

"They have a great chance. They didn't play well after the All-Star game. After all, they are still very young." Tang Shuai nodded and said.

"Haha, you're so embarrassed to say that they're young." Paul said with a big laugh, but after laughing, he sighed for a while, then patted his shoulder and said, "Play well, you won Carl (referring to Towns) once in the All-Star period, and you'll win back this playoffs!"

"I will definitely do it." Tang Shuai nodded, then looked at the others and said: "The Rockets should be the best news for the Clippers, right?"

"Haha, you can tell from these guys' eyes. They're all trying hard. Even if they win the next round of the Warriors, it's still much better than last year."

"Well, I look forward to meeting in the finals." Tang Shuai said with a smile.

"Yeah." Paul nodded, and the two men clenched each other, which was an agreement between them.

After chatting with others for a while, Shuai Tang and Stephenson returned to the Lakers' locker room.

Compared with the relaxed expressions of the Clippers players, most Lakers players seem much more nervous.

Although most players have experience in the playoffs, they are now playing third with the sixth, so the psychological pressure can be imagined.

Moreover, most of the team play the playoffs in the Western Conference for the first time. It is still difficult for many people to adapt to the intensity of the game.

Noel was even shaking his legs to relieve his tension. He was the only young man in the team.

"Hey, Norance, stop shaking, your legs should be broken if you shake again." Stephenson couldn't help but smile.

"We really want to play in the playoffs, this is true." Noel did not respond directly to Stephenson, but instead said something on his own.

This immediately caused others to burst into laughter.

After a smile, the tense atmosphere in the locker room was relatively eased.

"Tang, it was your first time playing in the playoffs last year. How did you keep yourself from being nervous?" Noel looked up at Tang Shuai and said.

"Me?" Tang Shuai pointed at himself and said.

Everyone else looked at Tang Shuai curiously. Indeed, Tang Shuai's performance in the playoffs last year was phenomenal, especially against the Warriors. Until now, it is probably difficult for many people to tie the figure of asking for a rookie.

"Maybe..." Tang Shuai's words aroused the interest of others, "You're too nervous..."

His answer immediately attracted the "cut" look on others.

"I want to be over-never minded!" Stephenson said at this time.

A burst of laughter suddenly sounded in the locker room.

...

On the evening of April 21, US time, the Clippers were at home and faced the challenge of the Houston Rockets, which was also their first home court in the playoffs.

And at the same time, the Lakers boarded the plane to Minnesota, where they would challenge the New Army Timberwolves.

Minnesota is known for its coldness. It is connected to Canada in the north and Lake Superior in the east. It can be said to be one of the frozenest cities in the United States. In winter, their lowest temperature once reached minus forty-five degrees Celsius, while in the coldest month, their average temperature is around minus 11 degrees Celsius. The coldness can be imagined.

Before, Shuai Tang and his Lakers teammates came to Minnesota to play, and they basically didn't go to the streets except for training.

However, after April, the temperature here will be much warmer, and they don’t have to wear it like a polar bear to go out, basically with long sleeves, it’s enough to cope with it.

The Timberwolves' home court is at the Target Center Arena. After Garnett left Boston, the stadium with a capacity of 20,000 people often had a occupancy rate of less than 70%. However, as Thibodeau led the team back to the playoffs this season, the popularity of the stadium is increasing. By the time of the opening game of this playoffs, the stadium was full.

The coldness of Minnesota can not stop the fans from being enthusiastic about the game.

Before the two sides' matches began, many media and commentators made predictions for the series.

The Youth Army entered the playoffs, but in previous predictions, they were not very optimistic, after all, they still lacked a lot in terms of experience.

However, I don’t know if it is because of the outstanding performance of the Trail Blazers in the playoffs last year, but the team under Thibodeau always makes people feel at ease. Just like the regular season records of both sides, nearly 70% of journalists and media believe that the Timberwolves will win the matchup between the two sides. What’s more, in terms of predicting the score, more than half of the people chose a 4-1 score, believing that the Lakers can only steal a victory in the series.

"Billups is an excellent coach, but he is still too young. The match against Thibodeau will make him look at a loss. The Lakers' overall talent is too low. If Don is given two years of growth and Gasol is two years younger, I believe this will be a wonderful showdown, but unfortunately there is nothing."
Chapter completed!