Jokic's injury recovery is progressing well, but he is still a long time away from his return.

The performance of Biyongbo and McGee during this period will become very important for the Pelicans.

This month and a half at the end of the season is also very critical for the Pelicans.

The previous wave of record fluctuations narrowed the record gap between the Spurs and them, and now there are only 3 wins.

Once there are big ups and downs, they are likely to be squeezed from second to third by the Spurs.

The second and third seem to be just the same ranking difference, but if both teams reach the second round of the playoffs, it means home advantage.

If the Pelicans encounter the Spurs, they will definitely not want to lose this.

So they will definitely give their all in every game in the next.

On March 8, on Women's Day, the Pelicans and the Clippers ushered in their last fight of the season.

According to the results discussed with Tang Tian, ​​Williams gave McGee about 10 minutes of playing time, and he also handed in excellent data of 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks.

The Pelicans finally won the game steadily and expanded their winning streak to 5 games.

Two days later, the Pelicans fought against the Kings again. They beat the Kings all over the game and finally defeated the opponent easily and won 6 consecutive victories.

Carl and Cousins ​​were resting during the holidays, and a fierce quarrel broke out on the bench.

It can be seen that one of the two will definitely leave next season.

The day after playing against the Kings, the Pelicans faced the Jazz back to back.

The Jazz played extremely tenaciously in this game, and Whiteside did not gain much advantage against Gobert.

The two teams also remained stalemate until the last moment. In the end, Ingles made a fairy ball and defeated the Pelicans, ending the Pelicans' six-game winning streak.

This game also reflects Jokic's disadvantage of missing outings, with their scores on substitutes being 20-40.

Three days later, the Pelicans ushered in their last match against the Spurs of the season.

In this game, the Pelicans are not just a substitute disadvantage, but the outside pitchers feel bad. The Spurs' contraction of defense makes it extremely difficult for the Pelicans to score.

In the end, the Pelicans suffered a series of losses, and the Spurs also turned the regular season match record to 1-3, avoiding the situation of being swept.

...

These games have also become the epitome of the Pelicans' month and a half.

They win more than they lose less, but the impact of Jokic's absence is obvious.

Half a month has passed, the Pelicans' record is 59 wins and 22 losses, which is the same as the Spurs' record.

Because of their advantage in the battle record, they are temporarily ranked second in the West.

At this time, the last game becomes extremely critical.

The Pelicans' last game opponent was the Thunder.

The Thunder are now ranked eighth in the West, but only half a win ahead of the ninth-ranked Lakers.

The Lakers' last game opponent was the Warriors.

Such a game makes the ranking extremely complicated and subtle.

If the Pelicans win the Thunder and the Lakers win the Warriors, the Lakers will squeeze out the Thunder at the last moment and become eighth in the West.

On the contrary, any result other than this situation will continue to rank eighth.

The Pelicans want to compete for second place with the Spurs and will definitely win in the last game. The Warriors have now secured the league first, and their main players will most likely not play in the last game.

In this way, the only possibility for the Lakers to advance becomes a high probability event.

After the Thunder team's locker room, the players all went home one after another.

The team's captain and locker room leader Nick Collison was working on the schedule in the locker room at this time.

During his recovery period of injury, Durant returned to the locker room after doing some training in the strength room.

Seeing that Collison was still there, Durant walked over and started chatting with him with a smile.

When Durant joined the Thunder, Collison was on the team. Now so many years have passed, and everyone in the team has been gone, leaving only Collison.

They also have a very good relationship.

As we chatted, the two of them naturally talked about the playoffs.

Durant looked very depressed when he talked about this.

Although he is injured and cannot play the game, he still cares about the team. Now the team's hit is in the Pelicans and in the hands of Tang Tian.

That feeling really made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Kevin, you seem to have a good relationship with Stephen. Please ask the Warriors if it is possible to win the Lakers in the end?"

Collison said suddenly.

To think from another perspective, as long as the Warriors can beat the Lakers, whether the Pelicans win or not is secondary.

"I'll ask."

Durante nodded.

In fact, to be honest, the Warriors also have reasons to beat the Lakers.

The Warriors' record this season is 67 wins, which has refreshed the team's best record in regular season history.

Recording such things is definitely the higher the better, and 68 wins are better than 67 wins.

After being separated from Collison, he called Curry.

The two had contact information for each other during the All-Star Game last year.

"No, Kevin, I won't play the last game."

However, Curry's answer directly poured him a basin of cold water.

"Why? Don't you want to hit a higher regular season history?"

Durant was a little unwilling to give up.

"That doesn't matter, I'm going to prepare for the playoffs that will start soon."

Curry's answer was very straightforward, 67 wins are already a record, so winning one more game is not that important.

They are not saying that they have a chance to hit the Bulls' 72-win regular season record.

Durant was helpless when he heard this.

After hearing this, Curry remembered the current situation of the Thunder.

"Actually, if you are interested, you can consider coming to Golden State to play with me after the contract is over. I think we will be very good."

Curry said on the other end of the phone.

Now everyone knows that the salary cap will rise sharply in the summer of 2016, when the Warriors had enough salary space to sign a maximum salary contract.

Durant's contract will expire just then, which is an absolute good opportunity.

Two people who admire each other play ball together.

Three top shooters, they will achieve a dynasty.

Durant was stunned when he heard this, but immediately refused Curry.

He couldn't leave Oklahoma. He was a principled person, so he wouldn't run back and forth like James did.

He wanted to win their championship together with Westbrook.

After hanging up the phone, he was still a little dazed. He was very firm in his heart, but for some reason, he was moved for a moment when Curry recruited him.

He shook his head immediately.

Curry won't play in the last game unless the Lakers cheat themselves, otherwise the Lakers will win over there.

In this case, whether the Thunder can advance to the playoffs really depends on the Pelicans' expression.

This damn, fucking league schedule.
Chapter completed!