From the end of the regular season to the start of the playoffs, all teams participating in the playoffs received two to three days of rest.

As for those teams in the lottery area, they will be on holidays directly.

Li Ke, who was preparing for the playoffs with the team, got up early and practiced as usual, while continuing the practice of the past two years, turning on his mobile phone and WeChat.

But this time, Li Ke paused for a moment.

"Xiao Du has also entered the playoffs this year. I can't send this thing to him, but I can also send it to Westbrook and Jiba..."

In this way, Detroit, packing its luggage, returning to Westbrook in Long Beach;

And New Jersey, who had just contacted a deadly trainer and was about to start a sweaty summer on the spot, all received a WeChat message sent by Li Ke.

Specifically-

"Hey, buddy, are you ready to start your holiday? I'm so envious!"

Westbrook knew Li Ke very well. He knew that this message could not be replied to. As long as it was once, it would be the Versailles scene immediately.

Jiba didn't know much about this, so he took a photo of the training hall and replied to Li Ke.

As a result, this photo can't mess with Li Ke anymore.

"this……"

"Try it, Jimmy, you'll be great!"

The slutty words that had already reached the end of the mouth were put in the silence photo in front of this training hall photo.

Turning around, Li Ke was not ready to spare Xiao Du.

"Are you ready for the first round of the playoffs? KD?"

Xiao Du should be a surfing expert, so he quickly answered several question marks.

“???”

Seeing these question marks, Li Ke knew that Xiao Du was powerless to refute.

In the first round of the Thunder, there may be Black Eighths against the defending champion, but the ones that are swept may be even higher.

It can be said that if nothing unexpected happens, Xiao Du's first playoff journey will end in a round of games.

However, Li Ke, is it difficult for the Bobcats to compete against the Bucks in the first round? There is no difficulty...

emmm, this is about the gap between the east and the west again.

Although the regular season, the Bobcats won 8 more games than the Thunder.

But if the Bobcats are switched to the West, those opponents that the Bobcats have to play in the regular season will be played four games, such as the Wizards, Heat, and Celtics...

If it is replaced by the Warriors, Spurs, Lakers... the Bobcats will lose these 8 games again, which is also very likely.

"The gap between the strong west and the weak east is still too big."

...

In the Bobcat Training Hall, Li Ke started a day of extra training.

In the playoffs, Tim Graver changed his training plan and practiced all the more, more to help Li Ke stay in shape, so the intensity was not high.

From Li Ke's perspective, the previous training similar to moving horizontally with a solid ball was cancelled, which is the biggest change.

Now, he only needs to hold a light basketball and complete hundreds of shots, even if he completes the extra practice early in the morning.

The low-intensity shooting training, the atmosphere in the training hall was quite dull, until Boss Qiao suddenly visited.

"I won't practice low position today?"

"It has been switched to playoff mode..."

Li Ke was still shooting, and Tim Graver helped Li Ke answer.

In the playoffs, Boss Qiao is obviously nervous. He is looking forward to the reappearance of a 08 miracle, but he also knows that the Bobcats' lineup team is actually not capable of creating miracles.

But he still wants to see the team's preparations and predict where the Bobcats can go this year.

"How about it, do you have any special thoughts about this year's playoffs?"

Only Li Ke can answer this question.

He paused: "I know what you mean, Michael, but to be honest, no..."

The special idea that Boss Qiao mentioned was about the 08 miracle.

Li Ke's rationality told him that there are no other similar injuries or unexpected situations of bans. Any Eastern team this year will have no chance to enter the finals.

If the West is strong and the East is weak, it is the usual NBA pattern after the 21st century, the years when the gap between the East and the East is the two years when the Lakers won two consecutive championships.

As for the current trend this year, the Lakers are a strong S-level team, the Nuggets are also close to S-level, and a group of A-level teams in the East are fighting.

The gap in strength is quite significant.

"However, no matter what kind of prediction is, it is useless until the game starts..."

Li Ke followed and left some expectations for Lao Qiao.

...

The first round of the playoffs began on April 18, and the first round of the Bobcats and the Bucks was scheduled for this day.

For the opponent of the Bucks, I have studied a lot of Bobcats these days.

If we talk about the strength gap between the two teams, there must be some.

The original star of the Bucks was Michael Reed. In the 2007-08 season, he was the No. 9 scorer in the league who averaged 23 points per game.

But in the 2008-09 season, he had a torn knee ligament and a serious injury and only played 33 games.

By this season, his return at the beginning of the season has seriously declined.

In this way, after returning, he played several games and was seriously injured and reimbursed.

Despite this, the Bucks still squeezed into the playoffs with Scott Skeles' defensive system, rookie Brandon Jennings' offensive firepower, and the weakness of the Eastern Conference.

If the Bucks have a position that threatens the Bobcats, Li Ke feels that Jennings' crazy and Tony Allen's strangle against Li Ke with the overall defense of the Bucks are two particularly prominent hidden dangers.

Why is Brandon Jennings' crazy scumbag listed? Let's talk about a transaction between the Bucks before the trading deadline.

"John Salmons cannot be emptied. Although he averaged only 12.7 points per game in the Bulls in the first half of the season, he averaged 19.9 points per game in the 30 games after transferring to the Bucks!"

Rivers' style characteristic is that he will not underestimate any player in the opponent's formation. Perhaps, this is why he is always able to activate some small characters.

Rivers chose the most cautious approach to John Salmons who joined the Bucks in the second half of the season. He decided to let Li Ke go against John Salmons.

As for the average score of 20 points in the first half of the season, and the opponents continued to target each other in the second half of the season, Brandon Jennings, who averaged only 15.5 points in the game, Rivers' choice was to let Curry defend alone, supplemented by the Bobcats' overall defense.

It's not that I underestimated Jennings. Jennings is really unpredictable. He is a little more eccentric in the second half of the season, which can be seen from his 37% shooting percentage.

Overall, the most important thing for the entire Bucks is Andrew Boggart, who performed at the peak season this season.

With a game of 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks, he is the second center in the league where Yao Yao is seriously injured and the Sharks are old...

Bogou, known as Bai Duncan, is very interested and even intends to challenge the throne of the number one center in the Sparks League.

But obviously, Li Ke would not give him this opportunity.

"This year, I actually bumped into Bogote in the first round of this playoffs. The boring game suddenly became a little more fun..."

...

Time is fast, April 18, Charlotte City.

The playoff promotional poster of the Bobcats everywhere, the Bucks were Charlotte who checked in on the day of the game. When they drove straight into the airport with highway, local Charlotte fans also welcomed them.

Speaking of which, for three consecutive years, and winning the championship in 2008, Charlotte, the small-ball market, is still a small-ball market, but the popularity of the small-ball market can be seen from the daily fullness of Time Warner Center.

"Seriously, Sheldon, do you really have to worry that Tony Allen's defense will cause you a lot of trouble?"

Two hours before the start of the game, Li Ke had already arrived at the underground parking lot of Time Warner Center.

Because he had contacted the underground parking lot before coming, he met Chen Liren, a domestic reporter stationed in Charlotte.

After a few questions, Chen Liren focused on Tony Allen's defense.

On the one hand, in those past games, there were not many defensive players who could limit Li Ke's position, and Tony Allen was one of them.

On the other hand, after the Bobcats defeated the Celtics in the regular season, public opinion generally believed that Tony Allen's departure was the main reason for the Celtics' defeat against the Bobcats.

But Li Ke's attitude towards Tony Allen just doesn't care.

"There's nothing to worry about, Lao Shen, you have to trust your teammates."

The hard power of the Bobcat is stronger than that of the Bucks, which is where Li Ke's confidence lies.

No matter how strong Tony Allen's defense is, he can only lock Li Ke, but the Bobcats also have Curry, Hua's second, Kenyon Martin in the inside, Wesley Matthews in the bench, etc.

The gap in strength between teams is the main reason why Li Ke is not worried.

After answering this question, Li Ke, who had accelerated his pace in the parking lot, had already entered the encirclement of North American journalists. More spotlights flashed and more questions were thrown out. However, Li Ke closed his mouth and quickly left with the help of the security personnel at the Time Warner Center.

When the locker room of Time Warner Center was filled with Bobcats, Rivers finally entered and closed the door, and the playoffs officially kicked off.

"I know, among us are players like Sheldon, Gerald who have won the final victory in the playoffs, and veterans like Kenyon who have participated in the playoffs many times, but among us are also playoff rookies like Stephen and Wesley."

"So, I still have to emphasize that in the playoffs, defense must be ahead of the offense. Before you attack with all your strength, be sure to ensure that your defense is perfect!"

Li Ke agreed with Rivers's words.

Why is there a saying "Offset wins the game, defense wins the championship"?

The reason is that the playoffs are a continuous battle that can only be decided after multiple games.

Offense is the upper limit, defense is the lower limit, and the lower limit guarantees is the most basic combat power in each game.

Only when the defense is in place can the team have the strength to continue attacking and continue to win.

After repeated emphasis in the locker room, the door opened, Li Ke's third playoffs began, and Curry, Wesley, Matthews and others' first playoffs also began.

Li Ke finally walked out of the locker room and clearly saw that Curry was taking deep breaths.

"Don't be too nervous, Stephen, play bravely, the playoffs will be your stage."

Speaking of which, since Li Ke’s training camp last summer, after a season of getting along, Curry’s disgust towards Li Ke has been erased.

Is Li Ke a villain? That's just for his opponent.

As a teammate, Li Ke is the best!

...

At the moment when the Bobcats appeared in Time Warner Center, Charlotte fans burst into cheers that were far beyond the regular season.

When the Bucks appeared, the Time Warner Center also set off a boo like a bombardment.

The biggest difference between the playoffs and the regular season is that the playoffs are life-and-death battles.

Although the first round of the playoffs also had 7 games and 4 wins, the final victory was accumulated in any case, and it was extremely critical to each game.

Although judging from the regular season record, the strength gap between the Bucks and the Bobcats is huge.

But before the game really begins, even the weak Bucks are determined to win.

Winning the playoffs will make people excited, and holding up the O'Brien Cup will make people excited, but what is really exciting and unstoppable are the so-called dark horse legends.

Black Eight is called a miracle, and so is Black Eight.

After a long journey from Milwaukee, the Bucks were just holding the Black Eight Bobcats.

In the distance, Tony Allen's eyes were firm. Before the game, Scott Skeles had repeatedly instructed: the key to this game was his defense against Li Ke.

"Tony, in this game, the team will not give you much help, you will face Sheldon alone..."

It was this sentence that when Tony Allen heard it, the first thing he thought of was not fear, but excitement, and even more excited.

Speaking of which, this season, after Tony Allen transferred to the Bucks, he met Scott Skeles, which was also considered a wise master.

Under Skeles, he got the most playing time in his career and became the Bucks' locker room leader.

What made him feel overwhelmed was the public opinion's evaluation of him.

Public opinion generally believes that Tony Allen's defense this season can be able to enter the defense lineup.

You should know that the defense lineup only has one defense and two defenses. In the past few seasons, Li Ke and Kobe have basically occupied two defenders, and the remaining two places, such as Kidd, Rondo, Paul, and Wade, have taken away.

If Tony Allen enters the defense this season, it means that his defense is on the same level as the above group of people.

Such an evaluation is not bad.

"I will guard him, sir!"

On the court, during a brief warm-up, Li Ke also felt the threat from Tony Allen.

Although Li Ke is not worried about the winning or losing of this game, he still attaches some importance to Teacher Tony's defense.

"This guy is already red-eyed, maybe he will really be locked..."

With the referee's whistle urging, the starters from both sides gathered in the center of the court.

Commentary seat, Kenny Smith also announced: "The game is about to begin, let's take a look at the starters on both sides..."

The Bobcats' starting lineup is also the regular season starter of the five tigers, Curry, Li Ke, Hua's second, Kenyon Martin and Jordan Jr.

On the other side of the Bucks, point guard Jennings, shooting guard Tony Allen, small forward John Salmons, power forward Iliasova, center Bodogte.
Chapter completed!