basketball dreams

Chapter 144 Playoff ambitions

For the remaining games in January, Yunchen felt that they played very fast, maybe because of their own strength, or maybe because the opponents on the schedule were generally of average strength.

Although their state fluctuated slightly, and there were still times when they played poorly in the following games, in general, their record in January was quite good.

When February came, their record came to 35 wins and 21 losses, stable in the fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

The No.5 Bucks are 2.5 games away from them, and they are 4 games away from the third Raptors.

The number one in the Eastern Conference is still the Celtics. They have a record of 42 wins and 14 losses, and they are firmly in control of the top spot.

In the West, the first is still the Warriors. In January they achieved a record of 14 wins and 2 losses. The two losses were due to Curry and Durant taking turns.

The second place in the Western Conference is still the Rockets, and their condition is quite good. Although they are 4 games short of the Warriors, they still achieved a proud record.

The third in the West is the Trail Blazers, and the fourth is the Lakers who have just climbed up.

Although LeBron James is still superb, and has won the top ticket in the Western Conference, the overall strength of the team is really not strong. Their outside ability has become the biggest weakness. When they encounter a team with strong three-point ability, they will not be able to beat them. .

February is the month when all teams start to change their game strategies. Because the playoffs are approaching, all teams are trying their best to get an ideal ranking.

The Cavaliers are a little annoyed at this time, because they don't know whether they should continue to improve their record, or let the Bucks climb up.

They are fourth, while the Bucks are fifth. If they really keep playing to maintain this ranking, then they will have to fight against Antetokounmpo in the first round. This is not the result they want to see.

The last time the Bucks were able to win, luck accounted for a large part. If they met in the playoffs, their chances of winning would be slim.

Therefore, Tyronn Lue advocates that they let it go, play a little bit, fall to the bottom half and try to match the Raptors as much as possible, because they swept the Raptors last year and have a psychological advantage.

But this proposal was rejected by Yun Chen and Le Fu at the same time as soon as it was put forward.

Both of them believe that the Raptors that replaced DeRozan with Leonard have undergone a sea change and are no longer the team that they can bully.

"Then what should we do? Are we really going to fight Antetokounmpo for the first round?" Tyronn Lue rolled his eyes, this is the best way he can think of so far.

It was more than two o'clock in the afternoon, and they were waiting in the locker room at home. Tonight they will play against the visiting Pacers.

"Head coach, why don't we think of a way to climb to a higher ranking? If we can get third or even second record, can't we play against weaker teams?" At this time, Seth Curry spoke Yes, he took the problem very simply.

"The Raptors have 4 more wins than us, so it's hard to catch up, and our schedule is not dominant." Yun Chen said, he carefully studied their upcoming schedule.

In the remaining 26 games, they will play against the Lakers, Warriors, Spurs, Celtics, Trail Blazers, Thunder and other strong teams. It can be said that the situation is very serious.

If they don't get it right, they are likely to suffer a losing streak.

On the other hand, the Raptors have a very friendly schedule. In the previous 56 games, they have already played most of the games against strong teams, and the rest of the games are played against small and medium teams.

"Bang!" Hearing Yun Chen's words, JR arrogantly punched the seat and said angrily, "It's all caused by the league's arrangement. The schedule given to us is really uncomfortable."

He is telling the truth, they are indeed very unpopular with the league this season.

However, next season should be better. After all, with the existence of Yunchen, the king of popularity, the league must be embarrassed to make things difficult for them.

"Who is our opponent tonight?" Just when everyone fell silent, Osman spoke, and he asked such a question.

It's a stupid question, players don't remember who their opponents are, that's a big no-no for professional players.

"Pacer, what's the matter?" Yun Chen subconsciously replied.

"What is their current record? What is their ranking?" Osman asked again.

"31 wins and 25 losses, currently ranked sixth, what's the matter?" Love also spoke. He saw a hint of cunning in Osman's eyes, but he didn't know what this person was thinking.

Osman laughed loudly when he heard the words, and then said: "Why don't we do this? If we lose tonight's game, then we will follow the head coach's method, let the water go, drop the ranking and try our best to match the opponents." Dragons."

"Then what if we win?" Yun Chen was puzzled, not trying to understand what he meant.

"If you win...hehe, then try to hit the third place and play the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs!" Osman continued, his voice was loud, and everyone could hear it clearly.

……

At six o'clock in the evening, the game between the Cavaliers and the Pacers started on time.

Before the start of the game, everyone on the Pacers looked at the players of the Cavaliers in a daze.

They didn't understand why everyone in the Cavaliers looked overly excited after they came up today, especially Love and Li Yunchen, looking at them as if they saw some delicious food.

"What is this... for?" Seeing Yun Chen's terrifying eyes, the corners of Oladipo's mouth twitched.

"Hey..." Yun Chen smiled without saying a word.

In fact, in the hearts of everyone in the Cavaliers, the game was basically over before it even started...

In the game, from the first quarter, oh no, from the first minute, the balance of victory has been biased towards the Cavaliers.

With a 10-0 start, the Cavaliers played terrifying dominance on both ends of the offense and defense. Everyone was as motivated as chicken blood!

At the end of the first quarter, 16-29, the Cavaliers led by 13 points.

In the second quarter, it was still a big victory, 38-57, and the Cavaliers led by 19 points.

Just after the first half, the Cavaliers basically announced the end of the game, and they successfully made the entire second half garbage time.

In the third quarter, the Cavaliers, who were all on the bench, were chased by them for some points, but it did not affect the overall situation. They still maintained their advantage relying on Seth Curry's unsolvable three-pointer. 64-80, the Cavaliers led by 16 points.

In the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers played starters at the beginning. Yun Chen and Love came up to score and then went down again. In the end, the game ended 89-107, and the Cavaliers won a big victory.

After the game, the tearful Oladipo looked at Yun Chen with hazy eyes. In today's game, Yun Chen almost cast him as a sieve and beat him completely out of temper.

"It's okay, brother. When the All-Stars choose their teammates, I will definitely choose you." Yun Chen grinned, revealing a silly and cute smile.

(End of this chapter)